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Rest is a crucial part of strength training. Depending on the exercise and your goals, you may find yourself resting 30 seconds, or one minute, or three to five minutes. So what do you actually do during that time? Lets talk about your options, both in terms of training effectiveness and gym etiquette.Literally do nothingAs awkward as it may feel at first, this is the best option for most people, most of the time. Actually rest. Dont stretch, dont work a different muscle; just allow your body to recover.Some gyms will have stools, benches, or folding chairs near the platforms where people are lifting heavy (and thus need the longest rests). Im mostly thinking of powerlifting and weightlifting gyms, but Ive been to big-box gyms like Crunch that provide seating as well. And impromptu seats are common in many other placeswho hasnt sat on a plyo box or some other convenient surface?Do choresThere are plenty of little actions that you take at the gym (or should take) that are not explicitly exercise. The rest between sets is the perfect time to do these little maintenance tasks. Things like:Change the weights to what youll need for your next set.Write down what you just lifted in your notebook or lifting app.If you took a video, watch it to give yourself feedback for the next set.Trim that video so that you (or your coach, or your friends) dont have to watch all 20 seconds of you fumbling with the camera and adjusting your belt before you actually lift.Have a drink of water and, if needed, a snack.Clean up after yourself! Rack any plates and dumbbells you arent using.Start warming up for your next exerciseDuring the last few sets of an exercise, its time to start thinking about what youll do next. This could mean grabbing the equipment youll need or changing your shoes, but it's also an excellent opportunity to start warming upespecially if its an exercise that can benefit from a little gentle mobility work.Lets say you have a few sets of squats left, but after that youll do some overhead press. You probably want to warm up your shoulders with some mobility work so that you wont be so tight when you hit that nice stable overhead position. Or maybe its the other way around, and youre pressing, but next youll do squats. Its a great time to start doing some ankle mobility work so that youll be able to comfortably hit a deeper squat.Walk (or dance)When the weights are routine, I sit and chill. When they get heavy, I need to pace. (At weightlifting competitions, I not only stake out a warmup platform, I also pick out a walking path that I can pace between attempts.)Or if youre more of a cheerful, high-energy person, maybe you just want to dance. Youll see this most often from people who lift at home, or at a chummy small gym where an impromptu dance party might occur between friends. (Alone in my garage gym, Ive been known to put on some good karaoke songs and sing along, with or without dancing.)The idea is not to get some extra cardio or get your steps in, but just to stay busy and loose and have funor, if youre nervous about a big lift, to keep your head. At a busy commercial gym, make sure not to walk too far away, and consider leaving your water bottle or gym bag on your equipment to let people know its still taken.Read or scroll your phoneI promise that it is actually OK to look at your phone between sets. Youre probably doing it anyway. Theres your lifting app, your videos that you took to check your squat formand, yes, your usual texting and social media stuff.The risk youre taking here is that youll get distracted and rest too long. From your own point of view, a 10-minute rest between sets may interfere with your next set, making you mentally and physically unprepared. It can also lengthen your workout; sticking to the minimum necessary rest times will get you in and out of the gym a lot faster.From others perspective, a person who sits on a machine for 10 minutes scrolling is committing an unforgivable sin in gym etiquette. Dont take longer rests than you need, if youre holding up equipment. (That said, if youre polite to others who approach, and you accept requests to work in (take turns) while you scroll, youre morally in the clear.)For your own sake, set a timer when you do anything that might distract you between sets. I like how I can program rest times into a Garmin watch workout, but Hevy also has a timer, and you can always use a regular ol timer from your watch or phone.Another tip: Be mindful about what youre doing on your phone. Now is not the time to get into an argument on the internet, or check your work email and see what will be waiting for you back at the office. It is a good time to play little games on your phone, or read an ebook, or put together your next great workout playlist.Superset (sparingly)Im leaving this option for last because I dont want it to be your go-to. Just because you can do one exercise while resting for another, doesnt mean you should.Why not? If you really want to give squats your full energy, for example, dont do pull-ups on the squat rack in between. Youll fatigue yourself more than you realize, and you wont do your best on those squats.But supersets can be great if youre willing to sacrifice a little weight for a lot of time. Theyre best for exercises where the exact weight doesnt matteryou can pair bicep curls with tricep extensions, or pull-ups with dips (so long as youre a person who can bang out multiple reps of each with ease).To do a superset, you just do a set of the first exercise, then a set of the second, then rest a short time (if needed at all), and repeat. I have a list of the best superset pairs hereusually youll want to do opposing muscles, like a push exercise with a pull exercise.
