BY EBENEZER SAMUEL, CSCS
Not all reps are created equal.The reps your muscles crave are what’s called “effective reps”. When you do just about any set of any exercise, the weight will move relatively quickly over the first few reps. But as your muscles fatigue, the reps will slow down.
Battling through these slow reps produces high amounts of mechanical tension, and this tension drives muscle growth. Thing is, you can typically only manage 4 to 6 of these reps in any given set, before your form starts to fade.
This is where rest-pause reps come in. A rest-pause is exactly like it sounds: A quick “rest” midway through a set. Used wisely, the technique can cut training time, pushing you to pile up more effective reps in every single set. You’re also pushing your muscles closer to fatigue in fewer sets.
Rest-pause sets work great with SMRTFT dumbbells too: The slightly-flat section of each bell makes it easy to put these down for a moment, then get back to work without the bells rolling away. So how do you use rest-pause? Let’s dive in.
THE TECHNIQUE
To do a rest-pause set, you’ll choose a challenging weight for any move, then do a set of 8 to 10 reps. The final 3 or 4 reps of the set should challenge you. Gut out those reps (or as many as you can do). When you’re nearly tapped out, put the dumbbells down, and take 5 deep breaths.
Then pick up the weight again and squeeze out a few more reps. Since you’re already fatigued, you won’t get many reps after your “pause,” but you will be doing effective, muscle-enhancing reps.
Rest-pause doesn’t work well for all exercises. Skip them on dumbbell presses and goblet squats, because resetting after the pause is simply too cumbersome. But they’re great for Romanian deadlifts, and the rest of the moves in this total-body workout.
TRY THIS WORKOUT
Do a quick warmup, working through 1 minute each of jumping jacks and reverse lunges. Then, for each of the three exercises in this session, do 1 easy warmup set and 2 working sets that incorporate rest-pauses.
BIRD-DOG ROW
A combo of ab work and back work here, and the SMRTFT dumbbells really shine on this one, letting you conveniently place the dumbbell on the ground or bench to take your “pause”. Aim for higher reps on this one, pushing for 8 to 10 before the pause, then 3-5 after.
SPIDER CURL
The incline bench setup of a spider curl makes it easy to hold your form on the second phase of the rest-pause. Aim for 6 to 8 reps before the rest-pause, then 2-4 reps after. A bonus: You can do a double-rest-pause on small-muscle moves like the spider curl to push for even more training effect.
ROMANIAN DEADLIFT
The RDL is a great example of a rest-pause movement that maximizes lighter loads. I can deadlift more than 400 pounds, but using a pair of 100-pound Nuobells for a rest-pause set still pushes me. Take these heavy if you can. Aim for 6 to 8 reps before the rest-pause moment, and 3-4 reps after in each set.