Your own sample doesn't take into account the facts that (1) they might be training differently and less efficiently after reaching a certain size (lazy, in other words, not serious trainers) and (2) genetic superiors can train any way they want and still gain, doesn't mean it's efficient.
Shorter rest times have long been known as one of the primary ways to overload the muscle; this has been established as a fundamental tenet of BB for decades. Some reduce the time to well below a minute, as espoused by the great trainer Vince Gironda as part of volume training. Others like Coleman do this by using supersets, trisets or giant sets, with little or no rest between multiple, consecutive sets, because of the overload on the muscles.
There are a couple of other advantages besides the most important one of increasing intensity. The pump is drastically better with shorter rest times, which is which is psychologically huge-resting long periods of time the pump is lost and isn't a factor, a big negative to most serious BBs.
Secondly, long periods of rest allow the body to cool down, which drastically increases injury potential.
Third, shorter rest times overload the muscle without increasing the amount of weight used, which can reduce the injury potential.
Forth, most top guys don't rest long periods of time between sets, for all of the above reasons.
definitely a compelling argument and some very good points but i'm not convinced.
when ronnie is gaining mass he lifts big heavy weights and rests big between sets. i remember the most massive guys like jim quinn would take massive rests between sets whilst using massive weights, often going down to a couple of reps with a ridiculous amount of weight.
if you are on gear you can get a fair bit of size from capillary growth caused by the massive pump you get from volume training with little rest, but real cellular hypertrophy that lasts and doesn't deflate in a couple of weeks is built on training with the heaviest weights possible which you simply can't do when you're having 1 - 1.5min rests between sets.
a lot of the top guys who are genetic freaks whilst being on gear do lift lighter and have shorter breaks, but a natural guy doing exactly the same training style just looks like average joe. in fact when the top guy comes off the gear they look pretty damned average too.
someone like shawn ray had a brisk pace to his workouts but he was not one of the most massive bodybuilders. actually, i don't think he gained much size at all after he built his foundation in the 80's. he was more about refinement.
yates was a guy that you could actually see growing throughout his career and he rested big between sets (over 5 minutes).
i've never seen a single bodybuilder that put an honest all out effort with the heaviest weight he could for reps ie 500lb squats for 10 quality reps to failure be ready to do another set in 1.5 minutes, and if he did i would suggest that he probably should be using 550lbs min in his squats.
i do agree that a bigger muscle (all things being equal - and there are a heap) is a stronger muscle and, especially if you want lasting gains, you should always strive to train with heavier weights in good form.
you just can't do that with 1 minute breaks between sets.
