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Later in 2014, Schoenfeld et al. compared 2 work matched programs – a ‘powerlifting type’ program of 7 sets of 3 reps with 3-minute rest periods and a more traditionally bodybuilding type program of 3 sets of 10 reps with 1.5-minute rest periods – and found similar muscle growth. These results were replicated by Souza-Junior et al. In 2010, De Souza et al. found similar muscular development in a group resting a consistent 2 minutes compared to a group gradually cutting their rest periods down to 30 seconds over the course of the program. In 2009, Buresh et al. actually found greater muscle growth in a strength training program with 2.5-minute rest periods than the same program performed with 1-minute rest periods. Importantly, this study was work equated, which meant the shorter rest period group performed an average of one extra set for each exercise to compensate for their lower work capacity. In 2005, Ahtiainen et al. found similar muscle growth when training with 5 vs.
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Yet there wasn’t a single study to support that shorter rest periods actually benefit muscle growth. Later the idea of chasing the pump was rationalized into the theory of metabolic stress. The real reason was probably that bodybuilders chased the pump and burn they get from shorter rest periods. There never seemed to be much of a formal argument for why other than that people traditionally trained this way. Traditional bro wisdom holds short rest periods of 1-3 minutes are optimal for bodybuilding. His thesis is that peer-reviewed studies prove bodybuilder lore is wrong in lots of places.
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Fitness researcher Menno Henselmans writes about optimal program design for bodybuilders.