TAKING more rest between sets of weightlifting can promote muscle growth according to researchers at the University of Birmingham who have recently published a study in the journal Experimental Psychology. Conventional belief is that the shorter the rest period, the better when it comes to weight training. But Dr Leigh Breen and her team found that cutting recovery to a minute or less may actually impair the processes that trigger muscles to growth.
In their study, the Birmingham scientists recruited 16 men who performed a resistance session with either one or five minutes of rest between sets. Muscles biopsies were taken at four stages during the 28 hours following their workout with the researchers analysing myofibrillar protein synthesis (MPS) and intercellular signals, signs of growth.