Rest Breaks and Reset due to Chin-Ups?

[zootvall]

Hi,

I'm new to the forum. I've been on SS for 6 weeks and making great progress.

I've got two questions (I have the 2nd edition of the book, so I apologize if these questions are answered in the 3rd edition):

1) Rest Breaks: I started with 3min per set for each exercise and quickly realized this was too little. I now use 4min breaks and this has been much better. But I am curious if there's a recommended rest break to use. My squats are getting tough on 4min breaks and I am considering moving to 5min breaks to continue with my linear progression, but I'm not so sure that really counts as linear progression. Increasing rest breaks is a bit like decreasing the weight, the reps, or the number of sets - its less demand on my system. So is there a consensus on this? Has Rip spoken to it?

2) Today was the first day that I failed to make an increase on one of the exercises: BW chin-ups. I've been alternating weighted and BW chin-ups on my benching days and I've made consistent progress. But last time I did BW chin-ups I did 3 sets totaling 34 reps (15, 10, 9) and today only got 32 reps (14, 10, 8). I know if I fail on my other exercises it counts as a reset time, but chin-ups are a bit of an assistance exercise. Do I still reset, or do I keep plugging away and wait for one of the non-assistance exercises to fail? I'm sure my BW has increased, but I doubt enough to cause a 2 rep loss in performance. I don't weigh myself often and so I have no measure of it.

Thanks.

[brianrichard]

1)an extra minute of rest is not like taking weight off the bar. however, it's a lot like a good idea, because it may allow you to lift MORE weight. You'll get answers anywhere from 3-15 minutes of rest between sets, just based on the past posts I've seen on this topic. but really it's about making sure you A)can complete the next set, and B) do not cool down to the point where you need to warm up again.

2) you sound light.... to be a novice and be able to do that many chins makes me think you probably need to eat more, though I don't know your weight, height, athletic/training background, etc, so this is just speculation. That being said, just do 3 sets to failure and don't worry too much about failing on chins as your bodyweight fluctuates daily and believe it or not, adding 5lbs could cause you to miss a rep or two. Just be consistent.

also, post your stats

[scwot]

I'm curious as to how you were going to reset BW chins?

As above for rest periods, take what you need, although I can't see any benefit above 10 mins. 3-8mins seems to be the norm.

[Subsistence]

Brian is pretty much spot on.

I would not reset for chins. But I would consider transitioning to weighted chins. You can do more chins than I can though.

Also do consider that as your other lifts become closer to your max you will be more fatigued going into chins. This combined with the weight gain can cause you to lose a rep or two. But the weight gain alone could definitely cause that loss in reps.

[zootvall]

Thanks for the responses.

scwot: It was my understanding that once you fail on any lift that you reset and switch to the mid-week light squats to decrease overall stress and allow a bit more recovery. Maybe that's not the case. Do we just hold back on the one failed lift and then continue linear progress, only switching the light squats mid-week when the squats fail?

I will allow for more rest to make sure I complete the reps. That will probably let me continue to progress for months.

Stats:
Height: 6'0
Weight: 200
Squat: 205 > 255
Dead: 225 > 305
Press: 95 > 125
Bench: 165 > 190

Thanks.

[scwot]

Do we just hold back on the one failed lift and then continue linear progress, only switching the light squats mid-week when the squats fail?

Yes.