Short or Long Breaks? Same Muscle Gains!
Comparison between 20-s and 2-min inter-set rest intervals on changes in muscle cross-sectional area and maximum strength under volume-load-equated resistance training
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
The vastii muscles (side quads) grew only 6–7%, while the rectus femoris (front quad) grew 14–17%—even though both were trained the same way.
Most people assume all muscles in a group grow equally. This shows regional differences in responsiveness, meaning some muscles may need different training approaches.
Practical Takeaways
If you’re short on time, cut rest intervals to 20–30 seconds and add 1–2 extra sets to match your usual volume—you’ll get the same gains.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
The vastii muscles (side quads) grew only 6–7%, while the rectus femoris (front quad) grew 14–17%—even though both were trained the same way.
Most people assume all muscles in a group grow equally. This shows regional differences in responsiveness, meaning some muscles may need different training approaches.
Practical Takeaways
If you’re short on time, cut rest intervals to 20–30 seconds and add 1–2 extra sets to match your usual volume—you’ll get the same gains.
Publication
Journal
Sport Sciences for Health
Year
2026
Authors
Parsa Attarieh, J. P. Nunes, Saman Negahdar, Saeed Khani, Amirali Goli, M. H. Fallah, Hamed Nazarirad, Shahriar Nazarirad, S. Mojtahedi, R. Soori
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Claims (10)
By having each person train one leg with short rests and the other with long rests, researchers can be more sure that any differences (or lack of differences) are really due to rest time, not individual differences.
If you lift heavy weights with either short or long breaks between sets—while doing the same total work—you’ll get about the same stronger in your leg muscles after 10 weeks.
When people train just one leg with heavy weights, their thigh muscles get bigger and stronger—and this method works well for studying how different rest times affect muscle growth.
When you’re just starting out, how much total work you do matters more than how long you rest between sets—your muscles grow and get stronger either way.
The strength gains from this study are about what you’d expect from regular weight training—whether you rest a little or a lot—so rest time doesn’t seem to change how much stronger you get.