to four weeks of training; at that point, consider adding a second or even
third set for each muscle group. However, if your goal is simply to build
enough strength for good health, one challenging set may be sufficient.
If you’re aiming for maximum strength or a physique like the ones you see on
ESPN body-building competitions, you need to do at least 10 to 20 sets per
muscle group!
How long should I rest between sets? ............................................
The amount of rest you take in between sets is another variable that you can
toy around with. If you’re a beginner, rest about 90 seconds between sets to
give your muscles adequate time to recover. As you get in better shape, you
need less rest — only about 30 seconds — before your muscles feel ready for
another set. If you follow a chest exercise with, say, a thigh exercise, you typi-
cally need less rest than if you do consecutive exercises for the same muscle
group, such as two chest exercises in a row.
After the first few weeks of training, you can fine-tune the amount of rest you
take between sets according to your goals. If you’re using really heavy weights
and doing fewer reps in order to bulk up, you can take up to 5 minutes between
sets so that your muscles can pump out their greatest effort each time.
If you’re short on time or you like a fast-paced workout, try circuit training:
You move quickly from exercise to exercise with little or no rest at all. Circuit
training does a decent job of building strength, and can be a good substitute
for an aerobic workout, especially if you start and end with a fairly long aero-
bic warm-up and cooldown. See Chapter 15 for details.
In what order should I do my exercises? ........................................
In general, exercise larger muscles before smaller ones. Work your back and
chest before your shoulders and arms, and your butt before your thighs and
calves. Smaller muscles assist the larger muscles. If the smaller muscles are
too tired to pitch in and do their job, they give out long before your big mus-
cles get an adequate workout. For example, your biceps help out your upper
back when you do a lat pull-down,an exercise where you pull a bar down to
your chest. If you work your biceps first, they’ll be too tired to do their job
during the pull-down, and your back muscles won’t get as good a workout.
As for which muscles to start with — chest, back, or legs — that’s up to you.
You may want to begin with all your chest exercises and then move on to your
back. Or you can alternate chest and back moves. You can fit your abdominal
exercises in whenever you like, as long as you remember to do them. (See the
“All about Abs” section for more on exercising your abdominals.)
Chapter 14: Designing a Strength-Training Program 209