Today's Sally

[Mossdog]

30 reps - 3 mins rest - 21 reps! Not sure what happened to the last set. Too much lactic acid from the strain of the first I'm guessing.

[Mike T]

25 and 19 with 5 minutes rest.

My down position is everything on the floor - feet/thighs/pelvis/abdomen/chest/forehead/hands. I don't "hands off" - I just relax my elbows.

[Mossdog]

Any thoughts about the physiological trade-off between a shorter rest leading to fewer reps, vs longer rest and possibly more reps? What's the best for strength gains? Or is it just a case of 6 or 2x3?

[Mike T]

I found this:

"To increase strength and power, the best rest period is 2-5 minutes between sets. To increase hypertrophy (muscle growth), the best rest period is 30-90 seconds between sets. To increase muscular endurance, the best rest period is 30 seconds or less between sets."

Whether it is true or not is another matter. But doing the exercise to failure is probably the most important thing.

[Mossdog]

I found this:

"To increase strength and power, the best rest period is 2-5 minutes between sets. To increase hypertrophy (muscle growth), the best rest period is 30-90 seconds between sets. To increase muscular endurance, the best rest period is 30 seconds or less between sets."

Whether it is true or not is another matter. But doing the exercise to failure is probably the most important thing.

Cheers Mike - that's helpful.

Re your other post, I also have to rest my abs and pelvis on the ground simultaneously, as mechanically I found it too difficult to touch just my chest down meaningfully.

[Mossdog]

26 reps (what happened there! Regression)
3 mins rest
20 reps
3 mins rest
16 reps
3 mins rest
12 reps
3 mins rest
11 reps
3 mins rest
12 reps (!)
3 mins rest
8 reps (thought it best to stop - indeed it was 'an effort to get up off the floor )

I'm not going to make a routine of this, but I did wonder how long I could go before 'failure-failure'.

[Mike T]

24, five minutes rest, then 18. I had been thinking of adding at least 1 more set - I will give it a go at some stage.

[Mike T]

24 - 18 - 18, with five minutes rest between sets. Interesting. I was going to do another set or two but needed to get out as rain was forecast.

[Mossdog]

DIY chores and visitors meant a delay in today's efforts. So, with 3 mins rests in between...

30
21
18
15
12
12
11
10
10

I'd planned on continuing until a single figure rep was reached, but the pattern seems to be an exponential decline and there might have been a set or two more perhaps to obtain that level.

Is this exponential decline typical?

I'm not sure how best to utilise the 3 mins rest periods, but have been trying to shake the lactic acid out of my muscles (like that's going to work ) and pumping air into my lungs.

[Mike T]

25 - 18 - 18 - 17 - 15. Five minutes rest between sets. I am trying to use the five minutes to get ready to go out for my run rather than just "recovering".