pinky0926 posted... I've spent a stupid amount of time looking at this topic and here's your answer:
Time you rest is completely arbitrary. You should rest for however long you need to recover between sets. This will depend on the exercise and the goal. Smaller muscles for hypertrophy movements require less rest. Bigger muscles and compound lifts and particular for strength - more rest.
If you're doing some lateral raises or wrist curls or something, you may only need 30 seconds of rest.
If you are doing squats, you'll need a few minutes.
If your primary goal is maximal strength, e.g. you're a powerlifter and you're doing squats, you may need upwards of 6 to 10 minutes between sets.
In summary, go again when you are ready to complete the work you've set out. If you feel completely prepared to hit those 10 lat pulldowns again and you're just randomly waiting for the timer to hit 0, maybe just go already.
A caveat I will say is that keeping your rests consistent gives you a better idea of your current conditioning. If you are setting out 2 minutes to rest between each set of squats but every time the timer runs out you are still out of breath, you know your conditioning sucks and you need to work on that.
Great post, I agree. Especially with the bolded. Go as soon as you're ready. That length of time varies by person and by the exercise, and by what you're training for.
I personally catch my breath as quickly as possible and get right back to it. 30 seconds to a minute max generally. I prefer to be as quick and productive as possible and that helps me be more intense too.