Advantages/disadvantages in taking longer rest

[whooty]

Hey guys,

I've been looking on the internet a bit and can't find a conclusive answer, perhaps some of you could weigh in. I was wondering what the advantages/disadvantages are of taking more or less rest time.

Consider the following workout (simple example)
6 sets of:
5 pistol squats each side
10 diamond pushups
10 jumping lunges each side
10 handstand pushups
10 pullups

Now, let's say someone takes 1 min rest between these exersizes, it would take him approx 1 hour to complete. He'll probably be at least a little sweaty with a decent raise in heartrate.

But, let's say the same person does the exact same exersizes but spreads them during the day, taking 4 minutes rest between them, it'll take him 3-4 hours. The heartrate will stay down and he won't be sweating.

In terms of STRENGTH gain, will these 2 gain him the same results? Or which one will benefit?

 

[MandirigmaFit]

How quick and powerful are you performing these exercises? Is it relatively slow and controlled or is it fast and powerful?

Will these have added resistance or simply body weight?

 

[Dan O]

Sounds like crossfit lol

 

[JauntyAngle]

Well, you won't gain much strength doing that anyway, unless you are pretty untrained. Except for handstand pressups, I guess.

But anyway, this is what I understand:

* For circuit training, you need short and controlled rests. They are basically training low to moderate power output in a state of fatigue. So you need to maintain that fatigue. If you take long rests, you are not training what you are meant to be training.

* For strength, you should be pretty fresh. For strength you are training the exertion of maximum possible force. If, during training, you are always too tired to get close to your maximum possible, again, you won't train what you are meant to be training. Of course, when you're lifting, a lot of the time you are too tired to give it your all. But quite a bit of the lifting should be something reasonably close to what is your true maximum exertion. This means quite long rests are optimal. A lot of lifters throw around the figure of 3-5 minute rests.

* For muscle, and here I am on very shaky ground because I don't know much about this and I believe the science isn't super-clear... I believe that what matters is the amount of work that you do that is at least somewhat heavy, including somewhat heavy (or heavier) work done while you are in a state of fatigue. Just lifting and eating does get you bigger. But I believe that grinding out a lot of extra work while tired, while not necessarily great for max strength, is also helpful. This means that shorter and controlled rests could be optimal, or at least have a place. (Prepares to get shot down by the many more knowledgeable forum goers.)