Tip Rest Periods Sit or Walk Around Search Skip to content Menu Menu follow us Store Articles Community Loyal-T Club Loyal-T Points Rewards Subscribe to Save Search Search The World s Trusted Source & Community for Elite Fitness Training Tip Rest Periods Sit or Walk Around What' s more important active recovery between sets or resting as much as possible This new study on CrossFitters sheds some light by Shawn Wayland March 6, 2018August 18, 2019 Tags CrossFit, Metabolic Conditioning, Tips, Training There's a debate that training geeks have been having for a while now. Some coaches recommend that you completely rest between sets or circuits. Sit down or even lie down, they say. That way when it's time to do your next set, you'll be able to put more into it and get better results. The other side of the debate says that you shouldn't totally rest during your rest periods. Instead, they say, walk around between sets or circuits. They say that's "active recovery." Who's right? Let's take a look at the science. The Study This study was conducted with 10 female and 5 male CrossFitters with at least 6 months of CrossFit experience. After the initial baseline testing in the first workout, subjects performed the same workout once each week (4 weeks total) with either slow treadmill walking, sitting, or lying down on their backs during the rest periods. The Workout Three sets of 10 thrusters followed by two minutes of going as hard as possible on the rowing machine. The CrossFitters rested for one minute between sets, then rested 2.5 minutes before continuing the workout. Three sets of 8 deadlifts followed by two minutes of going as hard as possible on a spin bike. They rested two minutes between sets 1 and 2, then rested 5 minutes after set 3. What They Found Heart rate and VO2 (the amount of oxygen being used by the body) dropped lower during the rest periods while sitting and lying down compared to walking. No big surprise there. The interesting part is they were able to do more total work on the cycle and rower after sitting or lying down compared to when they walked around during rest periods. What This Means Let's make this clear: you don't need to sit down on a bench between your sets of bicep curls. But complete rest during really tough sets or circuits involving large musculature and a high level of both anaerobic and aerobic work means that you'll be able to get more work done during the active part of the workout. If you're going hard during your work periods, then stop walking around and "actively recovering" during your rest periods. Instead, REST. That active recovery is just making your work sets less effective. Relax as much as you can before you hit it again. If you're going hard enough during your work periods, it's okay to take a breather during your rest periods. Don't make the work periods less effective my doing mindless movements in your rest periods. Reference Ouellette, KA, Brusseau, TA, Davidson, LE, Ford, CN, Hatfield, DL, Shaw, JM, and Eisenman, PA. Comparison of the effects of seated, supine, and walking interset rest strategies on work rate. J Strength Cond Res 30(12): 3396–3404, 2016 Get The T Nation Newsletters Don' t Miss Out Expert Insights To Get Stronger, Gain Muscle Faster, And Take Your Lifting To The Next Level related posts Training Tip 60 Seconds to a Better Squat This simple trick will teach you how to balance your squat and start targeting your quads and glutes more effectively. Training Jesse Irizarry March 5 Training Semi-Fasted Cardio Solution Triple fat loss without losing an ounce of muscle: the smartest, fastest way to lose fat while doing cardio. Here’s how to do it. Diet Strategy, Fat Loss Training, Metcon, Training Chris Shugart October 10 Training Shoulder the Load Since I've started writing for the T-Nation, I've gotten 100's of e-mails asking me varying questions about the rotator cuff and its many somewhat magical qualities. While it may not be as cool as big quads or a great set of guns, a well-developed rotator cuff is sexy in its own, injury-free kind of way. Training Mike Robertson December 29 Training Tip Fine Tune Your Glute Training You need more than squats and deadlifts. Add a couple of these glute-focused exercises into your program. Bodybuilding, Glutes, Tips, Training Paul Carter September 14