Articles written by Devin Sherrington about health, wellness and fitness in regular column called Fit to Be Tried in the Daily News:

The Daily News - Fit to Be Tried by Devin Sherrington

Half of your time in the gym should be relaxing. It's true. Between sets of exercises you have to rest to catch your breath and let your body recover.

For example, lets say your doing bicep curls, and your program calls for three sets of 10 repetitions. Every time you finish 10 repetitions you should rest before you start the next set.

But how long should you wait?

Everyone seems to have a different answer. Some people say two minutes. Some people say more. While long rest times are good if you want to become a power lifter, they are not the best idea if you are trying to get in shape.

For anyone wanting to get into shape, I'd recommend resting only one minute between sets. This can be a tough way to exercise but it works for two reasons.

First, a one minute rest period burns fat the best because it keeps your heart rate up throughout your workout. You never get back to your resting heart rate, so weight lifting this way burns fat much the same way as going for a run.

Second, a one minute break also forces your heart rate to speed up and slow down as you train.

Why is that good? While getting your heart rate up and keeping it at a steady increased rate (like going for a brisk walk) does burn fat, it doesn't trick your body. As strange as it may sound getting your body uncomfortable, and keeping it uncomfortable, is an excellent way to burn fat.

Basically your body is lazy. It's always looking for a way to do less work, or find a way to do the work more easily. When you keep a steady increased heart rate, your body will quickly become used to it and won't be as inclined to burn fat.

Have you ever walked or run for a long time? After a while you feel more comfortable. You suddenly find it easier to breathe and you don't feel as tired. That's your body relaxing and getting used to the work it's doing. It's found a groove and settled in.

Now if you're in the gym and you take only a minute break between sets, your heart rate will rise while you are training and will drop only slightly while you rest for a minute. Then it will rise again, faster than before, as you do your next set. Your body will have to work harder each time you do a set.

The results will be a loss in your body fat, and you'll gain some muscle at the same time. Plus it does get easier as you get used to it.

So try waiting only one minute between sets. When you see the results you'll never want to go back to your old rest periods again.