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And as I've grown as a strength trainer and as someone who really takes my fitness seriously, giving myself that rest in between sets has been massive in terms of my ability to get stronger and to build more muscle.
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What's going on, Podcast family? My name is Michael Chernow, and this is the Creatures of Habit podcast. Our habits will make us or they will break us. I've lived on both sides of the tracks and have experienced some of the best and the worst that habits have in store. The decisions we make on a consistent basis truly define who we are as human beings. This episode will be a solo episode where traditionally I interview guests. This is a solo episode where I share with you guys experiences that I've had, things that are relevant in my life today that I think could potentially be interesting for you to hear, things that I simply just want to share or quotes or activities that I've done over the last few weeks that have inspired me. So sit back, relax, and get out your pen and paper, because what you hear in this podcast could potentially make.
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Some big changes in your life. Let's go. What's up, guys? Welcome back to Monday Moments. Monday, Monday, Monday. I want to talk to you guys about three things. Three questions that I get asked a lot when it comes to fitness. I have been training for 20 years now. I've been in the world of fitness and training hard for 20 years, and the last decade, I would say, has really been focused on strength training. So three things that I think are important to talk about. Now, I'm not a doctor, I'm not a scientist, but these are things that I have sort of learned on my own through getting coached and my own personal experience. Rest periods in between sets. The best form of cardio for fat loss and progressive overload. Three very important things when talking about strength training. And if you're not strength training, you should be. Doesn't matter what modality of fitness you are. You're a runner, you do yoga, you are, you're a martial artist. Whatever modality or form of fitness you is, your choice. Strength training, resistance training, I do believe should be a part of that picture. I want to kick off with rest periods. So over the years, I have done so many different programs. I've done strength building programs, I've done hypertrophy programs. And the question that I get asked a lot is how long are your rest periods in between sets? So here's what I've sort of, I guess, uncovered for me personally. Now I'm sure that there's going to be a lot of people out there that might, that this might contradict or they, they might not agree with me, but this is, this is where I've sort of shook out. When it comes to lower rep range, heavy weightlifting, the minimum rest period between sets should be three minutes. Now that sounds like a long time to rest in between a set of anywhere from 2 to 5 reps. However, if you are trying to make the most out of that lift, if you are trying to progressively overload, which we'll talk about too, but if you are trying to make the most out of that lift, resting three minutes to five minutes in between those sets is going to give you the best chance at getting back up to that bar and lifting with optimization. Anything less than 3 minutes, you have not really given your muscles an opportunity to recover from the last set. So when it comes to heavy weights and lower rep ranges that 2, 3 to 5 rep range, I always wait anywhere from 3 to 5 minutes depending on how my body feels. And then when I get back up to that bar, I have, I have 100% tested this. That three to five minute rest gives me a much better opportunity to get strong reps in with the right form because I've allowed my muscles to recover. Now, in the lighter rep, higher rep range, I like to rest anywhere from 60 seconds to 120 seconds. I've done, you know, a lot of super sets which are a little bit different. I've done giant sets which are more like circuits. But when it comes to hypertrophy, which is typically that higher rep range, mid weight, I like to give myself at least a minute up to two minutes of rest because again, I want to get perfect form and I want to be able to get into that set. And in many cases I'm progressively overloading every set. I want to be able to get the most out of that set. You got to think about it like not just moving the weight. You are literally trying to make the most out of every single set. And resting is so, so important so that when you pick up those weights again, you make the most of it. So for the, for the lower rep range, three to five minutes. For the higher rep range, a minute to two minutes. I don't think resting less, I think resting less than a minute in between sets, you're, you're, you're, you're certainly not making the most of it. So if you're really trying to be efficient and you're really trying to optimize those rests, those rest periods are critical. They're critical. And I didn't Think that in my earlier days of strength training I, I would rest 30 to 45 seconds in the hypertrophy work or the, the isolation work, and a minute and a half on the higher rep range, on the lower rep range. Heavier weight stuff. And as I've grown as a strength trainer and as someone who really takes my fitness seriously, giving myself that rest in between sets has been massive in terms of my ability to get stronger and, and to build more muscle. So that's important. I also want to talk about cardio and the best way to burn fat. I have long run, I've been a runner, I've done a lot of work on the bike. Without a doubt, without a doubt, the most effective way to burn fat, from my experience, is uphill walking on a treadmill, post lifting. Again, this is my experience, but I have been coached by a lot of unbelievable coaches. And after the years and years of competitive bodybuilding, what I have found to be the most effective way to burn fat and retain muscle is uphill walking. On a treadmill, you are going to sweat, you're going to get into that zone 2 area and, and you are going to burn fat and burn very little, if any muscle by doing that. Walking is underestimated, especially uphill walking. Uphill walking is unbelievable and it is low impact, so you're not going to get injured from uphill walking and you're going to retain a lot of muscle and ultimately burn fat. So I highly recommend 20 to 30 minutes of uphill walking if you're trying to burn fat after a lifting session. I really do like to do it after lifting, so I just get it all done and I find that to be the most successful way to get great cardio in, to get your steps in. Low impact, burn fat, retain muscle. Lastly, progressive overload. What is progressive overload? Progressive overload is what you should be gunning for every single strength training session. What does it mean? It means increasing volume or intensity on either every set or in every lift every week. Let me break that down a little bit. There's a number of ways to progressively overload. You can add weight to the lift, you can slow down the movement, so you can take three seconds to push that weight up, three seconds to bring that weight back down, a second or two in the hole. So at the bottom of that rep you can fire the weight up and slowly bring it down. That's another way to progressively overload. And then lastly, you can add reps. So there's really three ways to progressively overload and you should be looking to progressively overload every single week. Once you get to a certain place, it's going to be hard to add weight to every single set. So you can start adding weight every single week. And once you get to a place where you've plateaued on adding weight every single week, meaning if you are doing a push day and you're bench pressing in the beginning of a program, maybe you're able to add weight every single set. So you add two and a half pounds to every single set. Once you get to a point where that weight is hard to move, you just keep it the same weight that week and then the following week, instead of adding weight every single set, you just add weight every single week. You plateau there. Then you try to add an extra rep, so you add an extra rep to the week. And then every set that week, you just try to get an extra rep. And then once you plateau, there's then you bring in time under tension, meaning you bring that weight up slower, you bring that weight down slower. You give yourself a second at the bottom of every rep to sit in a squat or to have that bar down on your chest or to have that pause before you pull that barbell up in a deadlift. Progressive overload is really, really important for strength goals, for muscle building goals, and just for progressing in general when strength training. So those are the three things that I really wanted to talk to you guys about today. If you have more questions, you can always shoot me a DM Ichael Chernow. I'm happy to answer those questions again. Remember, I'm not a doctor, I'm not a scientist. I have been doing this a really, really long time and I've learned a lot along the journey and I've coached a lot of dudes and this has been the lessons that I've learned and they work. So pass this off to somebody who you think might want to, who might be interested in this. These are a lot of the questions that I get, and I felt like this was a good time to answer them. So until the next one, y'all.
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Peace.