How Much Rest is Enough?
As a general rule, the more one rests, the less they do. That is true not only in working out, but at work, play, and any other activities. As far as I have observed, the most out of shape people, are those who do very little — if anything at all. Such people obviously don’t need more rest — while world-class athletes, can benefit from as much rest as they need — before their inner clock compels them to make another attempt. But then, one need not tell the world-champion in that event what more or less they should be doing, because their distinction tells it all.
However, for those in the poorest health and condition, any strategy that gets them in motion and keeps them in motion, is the much better strategy — until they become the world champion at whatever they want to be good at. Among the less proficient, the better advice is to practice until one becomes good at what one is doing, and the rest and inactivity are what they are already good at, and don’t need more practice. They need to practice what they seldom do — and not rest up over generously from the little they already do.
That is the obvious reason most people who workout in gyms or any other venue, don’t get any, or much results: they are resting too much — thinking that is the major part of the program they like to do, and so they double up on that, rather than the hard part. Some justify that by making the hard part harder, rather than making the hard part easier — so that people actually like doing them — instead of not doing it as much as possible — and getting that result.
In the 1960s, two forms of exercise became popular: one promoting what is today called “High-intensity (interval) training,” and the other, “aerobics” or “cardio” training — and were promoted as though they are two different things, rather than two-sides of the same thing — resulting in superior health and outcomes. Back then, high-intensity training meant higher levels of effort that couldn’t be sustained for more than a minute — or less. The 100 yard sprint is the best example of this, while a marathon run would be an example of the ultimate cardio event. Same activity (running) — but conducted at levels that could be sustained by vastly different durations.
As most have observed, marathoners are usually ultrathin people not carrying excessive muscle mass, while strength athletes carry as much weight as their weight-class will allow. The lesson here is that if one’s primary goal is to lose and control weight, they should be actually exercising most of their workout time — rather than resting 95% of the time — presumably to recover from their 10 second at maximum effort. Even the world champion at that event will insist on at least 10 minutes of rest before their next heat.
The problem lies with people used to putting out little effort and then taking overly long rest breaks. That is likely to be your novice exerciser — not strong enough to exert themselves requiring much if any time for recovery. Such people don’t need maximum rest to recover from minimal efforts. They just need the practice — or “reps” until they become much more proficient at their movements to become serious threats to their own well-being and safety. That is a danger posed in a “non-contact injury,” which become the majority of injuries among the aging and old — so that they give up on competitive events because they recognize that they are their own greatest risk to their well-being and continued success.
But rather than maintaining or increasing those loads, the better strategy is to lower the intensity so that it can be sustained for the proper amount of time — rather than resting to compensate for those overloads. The obvious would be using minimal resistance and eliminating the rest entirely — which then makes resistance training cardio as well, and cardio, muscle building — to converge as the one thing that builds strength as well as endurance.
That is to say that for the majority of those exercising for complete and comprehensive health benefits, they should do high reps of different movements while eliminating the rest periods entirely. Low reps and overly long rest between, won’t get one into the shape one wants to be in.