129. How Your Rest Periods Are Limiting Your Strength Gains
The Rest Period Fix: Why You're Working Hard But Not Getting Stronger
Broads Podcast | Episode 129
You're showing up. You're sweating. You're putting in the reps. So why does it feel like your lifts aren't going anywhere, or worse, why does one workout feel impossible and the next feel weirdly easy?
Here's the thing: it might not be your programming, your sleep, or even your diet. It could be something you've been skipping over entirely, your rest periods between sets.
In Episode 129 of the Broads podcast, Tara digs into one of the most overlooked variables in women's strength training: how long you actually rest. Spoiler alert, the answer isn't "until you feel like going again," and it's definitely not "as short as possible so you keep your heart rate up." This episode is all about removing the guesswork and training smarter, not just harder.
More Sweat ≠ More Strength
We've all been conditioned to think that a good workout means being completely gassed by the end. If you're not dripping sweat and slightly dying, did you even train? But Tara makes a really important distinction here: exhaustion and progress are not the same thing.
When you cut your rest short to keep the intensity high, you're actually undermining your ability to lift heavier, move well, and build real strength over time. The reason comes down to basic exercise physiology, and once you understand it, you can't un-see it.
What's Actually Happening Between Your Sets
Here's the science, kept simple: your muscles run primarily on a fuel system called ATP-creatine phosphate during heavy strength work. Think of it like a rechargeable battery. When you lift, you drain it. When you rest, it recharges. If you jump back into your next set before it's sufficiently recharged, you're working with a depleted battery, and your performance tanks as a result.
This is why your lifts can feel inconsistent. It's not random. It's chemistry.
Tara breaks down exactly what recovers during rest and why that recovery window is different depending on what you're trying to accomplish in your training.
Rest Periods Are Goal-Specific, Here's How to Match Them
One of the most practical takeaways from this episode is that your ideal rest period depends entirely on what you're training for. There's no one-size-fits-all answer, and that's actually great news, it means you can dial in your rest to match your specific goals.
For strength and heavy lifting: You need longer rest, somewhere in the 3 to 5 minute range. This is the window where your ATP-creatine phosphate system can fully recover so you can come back to the bar and actually lift heavy again. If you're doing low-rep, high-load work and resting for 60 seconds, you're setting yourself up for a rough set and zero progress.
For hypertrophy (muscle building): Shorter rest periods, typically 60 to 90 seconds, create something called metabolic stress, which is a key driver of muscle growth. The "pump," the burn, the buildup of metabolic byproducts, that's not just for vanity. It signals your body to build more muscle tissue. This is where strategic shorter rest actually works for you.
For muscular endurance: Even shorter rest trains your muscles to perform under fatigue, which is the whole point if your goal is endurance-based. You're essentially teaching your body to function with an incomplete battery recharge, which is exactly what you want in that context.
The problem? Most people are mixing these up. They're trying to get stronger but resting like they're training for endurance. Or they want muscle growth but resting so long they're losing the metabolic stress that makes hypertrophy happen.
What Goes Wrong When Rest Is Off
Tara gets into what actually breaks down when rest is either too short or too long, and both extremes are problematic.
Too short, and your strength output tanks, your form breaks down, and you're accumulating fatigue without the stimulus for growth. You might feel like you're working harder, but you're actually just getting more tired, not more fit.
Too long, and you lose the metabolic benefit of shorter rest work. Your session drags on forever, your muscles cool down unnecessarily, and the training effect you were going for gets diluted.
The fix is intentionality. Tara's big point here is that timing your rest is what separates a real training session from just moving weights around randomly. Once you start treating rest as part of the workout, not the break from it, your training becomes a whole different thing.
How to Start Implementing This
If this feels like a lot to overhaul, don't stress. The shift is actually pretty simple in practice:
Know your goal for each session (or each exercise). Are you going heavy for strength? Rest 3-5 minutes. Building muscle with moderate weight? Rest 60-90 seconds. Endurance work? Keep it under 60. Use a timer, your phone works just fine. Don't guess. The guesswork is exactly what's been getting in the way.
This one change, actually timing your rest and matching it to your goal, can make an enormous difference in how your training feels and how your body responds over time.
The Bottom Line
Rest periods aren't passive. They're not just the awkward time you spend scrolling your phone between sets (okay, we've all been there). They're an active part of your training that directly influences whether you get stronger, build muscle, or improve endurance.
If your workouts have felt inconsistent, if you're putting in the hours without seeing the results, or if you're constantly exhausted but not actually progressing, this is worth a listen. Tara lays it out in a way that's clear, practical, and immediately actionable, and this episode is only 23 minutes long. You've got time.
Listen to Episode 129 of the Broads podcast now, and if you're ready to take your training even further with personalized coaching, head over to broads.app/broadscoach to apply for BroadsCOACH.
And here's something to think about: what part of your training have you been treating as an afterthought that might actually be the key to unlocking your next level? We'd love to know.
Want more bold, badass fitness content made for women who lift? Follow Broads on Instagram @broads.podcast and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.
