Rest/Pause Training found superior for power

Traditional weight training involves lifting a weight for the prescribed number of repetitions, then racking the bar (or putting it down), resting for a predetermined amount of time, then repeating the process. However, a body of literature exists from old Russian strength training manuals, that suggests the use of intraset rest periods. This is exactly what it sounds liks, doing a certain amount of reps, then racking the bar and resting briefly, then finishing the set. So if you do ten reps with 225lbs in the bench press, then rack it and rest for a couple of minutes, this modality would have you doing 5 reps, racking the bar for a minute, then doing 5 more reps. The idea here is that power output for each of the reps would be higher (assuming a tempo in the area of 2-1-X-1 or whatever – lowering the weight for two seconds, a one second pause, an explosive lift, then a pause at the top).  The study at hand compared the gains in power and hypertrophy (muscle growth) in one group doing compound lifts for 4 sets of 10 reps with 90 seconds of rest between sets,  versus another group doing a rest/pause style of training with 8 sets of 5 (five reps were completed, then the subject rested for 60 seconds, then did another 5, etc…).

Four supervised workouts a week were performed: 2 days on, 1 day off, 2 days on, 2 days off. Besides the major compound lifts, rep schemes and rest were the same for assistance work.

Significant differences in power gains were noted at 4, 8, and 12 weeks in the Intra Set Rest (ISR)  protocol versus Traditional Rest Design:

While lean mass gains and fat loss were similar between groups:

The lean gains and fat reduction are impressive, but take a look at this final graph, which we think shows the most impressive part, namely the increases in bench press power, squat power, and vertical jump:

Here’s a look at the abstract:

Abstract: Oliver, JM, Jagim, AR, Sanchez, AC, Mardock, MA, Kelly, KA, Meredith, HJ, Smith, GL, Greenwood, M, Parker, JL, Riechman, SE, Fluckey, JD, Crouse, SF, and Kreider, RB. Greater gains in strength and power with intraset rest intervals in hypertrophic training. J Strength Cond Res 27(11): 3116–3131, 2013—We sought to determine if hypertrophic training with intraset rest intervals (ISRs) produced greater gains in power compared with traditional rest (TRD) hypertrophic training. Twenty-two men (age 25 ± 5 years, height 179.71 ± 5.04 cm, weight 82.1 ± 10.6 kg, 6.5 ± 4.5 years of training) matched according to baseline characteristics were assigned to 12 weeks of training using TRD or ISR. Body composition, strength (1-repetition maximum [1RM] bench and squat), and power output (60% 1RM bench and squat, and vertical jump) were assessed at baseline, 4, 8, and 12 weeks. Determination of myosin heavy chain (MHC) percentage from the vastus lateralis was performed pretraining and posttraining. Body composition was analyzed by analysis of variance, whereas performance measures and MHC were analyzed by analysis of covariance with baseline values as the covariate. Data are presented as mean ± SD changes pre to post. The ISR produced greater power output in bench (TRD 32.8 ± 53.4 W; ISR 83.0 ± 49.9 W, p = 0.020) and vertical jump (TRD 91.6 ± 59.8 W; ISR 147.7 ± 52.0 W; p = 0.036) with squat power approaching significance (TRD 204.9 ± 70.2 W; ISR 282.1 ± 104.2 W; p = 0.053) after post hoc analysis (p < 0.10). The ISR produced greater gains in bench (TRD 9.1 ± 3.7 kg; ISR 15.1 ± 8.3 kg; p = 0.010) and squat (TRD 48.5 ± 17.4 kg; ISR 63.8 ± 12.0 kg; p = 0.002) strength. Both protocols produced significant gains in lean mass with no significant differences between groups (1.6 ± 2.1 kg; p = 0.869). The MHC_IIx percentage decreased (−31.0 ± 24.5%; p = 0.001), whereas the MHC_IIA percentage increased (28.9 ± 28.5%; p = 0.001) with no significant differences between groups. Results indicate that hypertrophy training with ISR produces greater gains in strength and power, with similar gains in lean mass and MHC alterations as TRD. The ISR may be best used in hypertrophic training for strength and power sports.