Is a 4-5 minute rest between sets on bench press (higher reps) too much?

Is a 4-5 minute rest between sets on bench press (higher reps) too much? redmchalo

I'm following a program I found from Mike Israetel and the set/rep range for the program for flat bench press is 3 sets of 10-20 reps with each set taken until form failure. I need more chest hypertrophy, so I feel that more reps would be of a benefit for me. I'm sticking to the lower end of that rep range (3 sets of 10 reps). I'm just no good with higher rep work, used to benching in the 1 to 5 rep range. I found that my rest periods are longer for higher rep work than they are for lower rep work. My rest periods for low rep benching are around 3 minutes, and my rest periods for higher rep benching are usually around 4...sometimes 5 minutes. If I don't rest long enough on the higher rep sets, I find that my performance on the following sets after the first set suffers.

For example in the gym yesterday, I decided to shorten my rest periods to 1-2 minutes just to see how things would go using the 3 sets of 10 program for benching. The first set I got 10 reps with 225 lbs. The second set I only got to 8 reps. The third and final set I only got to 6 reps, the 6th rep was a grinder.

It's difficult for me to progressively overload and track my progress using the 3 sets of 10 program for benching if I were to continue with shorter rest periods. I'm out of the gym sooner, but that is the only positive. I have much more endurance when my rest periods are longer for higher rep work, and I am more likely to get to 10 reps with the same weight for all three sets. Is it alright if I keep my rest periods the way they are or are the longer rest periods impacting my progress in some way?

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J June 29, 2021 at 11:42AM Bodybuilding.com Forums