I think I do these already but was wondering if there was a way to specifically practice rest strokes to exploit their advantages? A certain lick/phrase or just practice them?Should you only practice rest strokes when practicing economy or could you practice with alternate picking? Like low E string 5 7 8 (D U D) then pretend to upstroke on 5 A string but rest instead of attack? Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thanks!
Rest strokes facilitate economy/sweeping very effectively, because the pick is already resting on the next string ready for the string change. Alternate picking works differently because your string changes are happening after escaped strokes.
Your plan to “rest” on the opposite side of the string for an alternate stroke makes sense to develop some muscle memory for where the pick should be during the string change. Eventually you probably just want to practice Gilberts like everyone else 
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I actually really like this method for practicing 3nps scales. I don’t know whether this can work for everyone but I definitely enjoy the feeling of those rest strokes.
So you do the upstroke on the next string and just rest instead of attack?
Of course ive been practicing gilberts for years! Im very familiar with them, Im just curious if theres a way to exploit more out of intentionally practicing rest strokes; Like sitting in front of my tv for a 3-5 minutes just doing rest strokes. Im curious what kind of impact that would have.
I can see the benefit of using a “rest” on the upstroke without follow-through, as something to do during “chunking”. The downside is that the upstroke in Gilbert type patterns is a double-escape movement, so you’re only practicing half of the motion (unless you’re swiping).
If you feel like the string change from the lower to higher string is slowing you down, your approach may be helpful. If the difficulty is actually on the return from the upstroke to the lower string (which it usually is), then this practice technique isn’t going to be of much help.
Rest strokes were helpful for me because I think my playing used to be pretty trapped. They helped me ensure I was getting an escape in one direction. If that’s your goal and you aren’t rock solid on the path your pick is traveling it would probably help you. I guess it depends on your goal really.