Press one and it is loaded
- Tabata Timer8 × 0:20 / 0:10Seven to eight sets of twenty seconds with ten of rest between them, handed over whole by the 1996 paper.Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise
- HIIT Timer8 × 0:40 / 0:20Forty hard and twenty easy, eight times over: a gym circuit format for near-maximal work, with time to reach the next station.
- EMOM Timer10 × 1:00A cue once a minute and no scheduled recovery, so you earn your rest by finishing the repetitions early.CrossFit
- Rest Timer1 × 2:00LoadedTwo minutes of rest, started as you rack the bar: the top of the ACSM range for muscle growth and the NSCA floor for big lifts.American College of Sports Medicine · National Strength and Conditioning Association
- Plank Timer3 × 0:30 / 0:30Three holds of thirty seconds with thirty between them, the front plank in the USA Gymnastics exercise progression sheet.USA Gymnastics
- CrossFit Timer1 × 20:00One twenty minute clock with no rounds and no rest inside it, the length the published benchmark Cindy is scored over.CrossFit
- Stretching Timer10 × 0:30 / 0:10Thirty second holds taken twice a muscle group, which is the sixty seconds the ACSM position stand asks for.American College of Sports Medicine
What longer rests between sets did for strength
In a 2016 trial, 21 trained young men lifted three times a week for eight weeks: 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps on seven exercises. Half of them rested 1 minute between sets and half rested 3. The 3 minute group gained more strength in the squat and the bench press, and more muscle on the front of the thigh. Upper-body muscular endurance improved in both groups, with no significant difference between them.
A 2018 review of 23 studies and 491 people came to a similar view. You can get stronger on rests under a minute, but trained lifters seem to need more than 2 minutes to get the most from their training. For people new to lifting, 60 to 120 seconds looked like enough.
Sports MedicineGrgic et al., 2018, Sports Med 48(1):137 to 151, PMID 28933024
The protocol
Heavy strength work, 1 to 6 reps: 3 to 5 minutes between sets.
Muscle growth, 6 to 12 reps: 1 to 2 minutes.
Muscular endurance, more than 15 reps with light loads: under 90 seconds.
Squats, deadlifts and other big lifts need at least 2 minutes, and up to 5 is fine. Curls and calf raises usually need 1 to 2. Rest can also grow through an exercise: 2 minutes after the first set, 3 after the second.
This timer opens on 2 minutes, where the ACSM range for muscle growth meets the NSCA floor for big lifts.
American College of Sports MedicinePosition stand, 2009, Med Sci Sports Exerc 41(3):687 to 708, PMID 19204579National Strength and Conditioning AssociationMortara, How to Manipulate Rest Intervals, Personal Training Quarterly 10.1, 2023
This timer rings a bell when the clock starts and when it runs out, warns ten seconds before the end, has a fullscreen key, and keeps the screen awake where the browser allows; it is free and needs no account. Keep this tab in front, because a browser may pause the sound of a tab you cannot see.
Sessions to try
These are our suggestions. Where one follows a published source, that source is cited under it.
- Strength day
Squat, 5 sets of 3 to 5 reps. Set Rest to 3:00, and give the last two sets 4:00 if the bar starts to slow.
- Muscle building
Three exercises, 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps each, with 2:00 between sets. Press Start the moment the weight is down.
- Endurance
Light loads, 2 or 3 sets of 15 to 20 reps, with 1:00 between sets. Set Rest to 1:00 in Edit intervals and leave it there.
- Supersets
Pair a push with a pull, such as bench press and rows. Do one set of each back to back, then rest 2:00.
Do a few lighter sets before the first heavy one.
Common mistakes
Cutting the rest short on heavy days. In the 2016 trial, 1 minute between sets gave smaller strength gains than 3.
Starting the clock late. Press Start as you rack the bar. If you wait until you have your breath back, those seconds never get counted.
Guessing the time. A quick look at your phone between sets turns into scrolling, and two minutes become five.
Using one rest for every exercise. A heavy squat can need 5 minutes, while a set of curls rarely needs more than 2.
Questions
How long should I rest between sets?
It depends on the goal. The ACSM gives 3 to 5 minutes for heavy strength work, 1 to 2 minutes for muscle growth and under 90 seconds for muscular endurance.
Is 2 minutes of rest enough?
For muscle growth it is the top of the ACSM range, though in the 2016 trial 3 minutes built more thigh muscle than 1. For heavy squats and deadlifts the NSCA makes 2 minutes the minimum, and the 2018 review suggests trained lifters need more than 2 to make the most strength gains.
American College of Sports MedicinePosition stand, 2009, Med Sci Sports Exerc 41(3):687 to 708, PMID 19204579Journal of Strength and Conditioning ResearchSchoenfeld et al., 2016, J Strength Cond Res 30(7):1805 to 1812, PMID 26605807National Strength and Conditioning AssociationMortara, How to Manipulate Rest Intervals, Personal Training Quarterly 10.1, 2023Sports MedicineGrgic et al., 2018, Sports Med 48(1):137 to 151, PMID 28933024
Does rest time matter for building muscle?
In the 2016 trial it did: trained men who rested 3 minutes added more thigh muscle than those who rested 1.
Six palettes, and a phase keeps its meaning in all of them
The same four grounds, drawn six ways. Each is solved so that get ready, work, rest and done stay apart, and so the clock stays readable from across a gym. Pick one and the whole page turns with it; this browser remembers the choice.
The app
The same clock, in your pocket
Bursta is being finished for phones. Android comes first and iPhone after it. It is the timer you have above, built as an app: the same reading of the wall clock every frame, so a locked screen, a phone call or a backgrounded app does not make it drift.
It keeps sounding with the screen off
The bell lands with the phone locked in your bag and your music still playing. A page in a tab cannot do that.
Your own workouts, and a record of them
A builder, a library you name and reorder, a history that fills itself in, and a calendar with repeats and reminders.
Made to be read while you are breathing hard
Six palettes, five text sizes, and the phase in the colour of the whole screen. English and Ukrainian.
Soon on Google PlaySoon on the App Store
