Systematic review and meta-analysis of the acute effects of self-selected rest intervals on exercise performance maintenance, lactate levels, and heart rate
LeTian Lv, Changxu Chen, Xuyang Liu, Huayang Liu, PanWen Wu · 2026
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Description
LeTian Lv and co-authors pooled the evidence on letting exercisers choose their own rest intervals between sets, in a 2026 systematic review and meta-analysis. Fixed rest periods, usually one to three minutes, ignore the fact that people recover at different speeds. Self-selected rests, where the trainee restarts when ready, are a simple form of self-regulation, but studies disagreed on the effects.
Following PRISMA guidance, the team searched four databases for acute experiments comparing the two strategies and found sixteen studies with 281 participants in total. Their three-level random-effects model showed no overall difference in exercise performance, with an effect size of 0.27 that did not reach significance at the p value of 0.29 reported. Removing outlier studies flipped the picture slightly, revealing a small advantage for self-selected rests at an effect of 0.20 in that sensitivity analysis. The authors advise caution, since the verdict depends on outliers.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | LeTian Lv, Changxu Chen, Xuyang Liu, Huayang Liu, PanWen Wu |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 34 KB |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |