Benching and pausing

Users viewing topic: & 1 Guest

Alex		Benching and pausing	29-08-2007 @ 21:53
Picca Boo Member 16, 1204 posts SQ 140, BP 130, DL 200 470.0 kgs @ 77kgs UnEq	This is prompted by me telling Rob to do some heavy weight with volume, and his rebuttal of me not pausing to boost my numbers Question is, do you think touch and go benching in anything over doubles/singles etc is a good idea or is it better to do all benching paused. I always touch and go because since I'm not paticularly interested in having a high paused bench for a PL comp, I can bench heavier/more reps which I believe is better for strength/mass development than pausing. My thinking is that it would be best to only pause for heavy low rep work since you won't be repping in a PL comp anyway, and this way you can get the benefit of heavier/faster benching reps and paused reps for practise for a PL bench at the same time.

brynevans		...	30-08-2007 @ 01:11
Scotbasher - forever Member 59, 2115 posts	You could try introducing pauses into normal sets just to get used to it on the last couple of reps then it wont seem a big deal on the heavy sets. I only do pauses on singles and doubles. It helps to have your spotter call the "press" command too.

Cuddles		...	30-08-2007 @ 09:16
Eat.Cycle.Sleep.Win Member 2, 12511 posts SQ 190, BP 150, DL 280 620.0 kgs @ 99kgs UnEq Administrator	I pause very few reps in training. Doesnt really seem to hurt my paused bench vs touch and go, and I think it saves a lot of wear and tear on the shoulders. Of course the pause hurts some people a lot more than others with regard to max poundages.

tbench		...	30-08-2007 @ 10:27
addicted to bench press, needs help Member 80, 1384 posts SQ 175, BP 160, DL 240 575.0 kgs @ 113kgs UnEq	im the same touch n go on reps i think its best to move the weight as quick as pos,when it comes to pause bench i will see were im at a month out from first comp,advise ive been given on pause is the same unnessesary stress on shoulders only do it lead up to comp.

Fazc		...	30-08-2007 @ 11:04
Sports an extremely muscular arse. Member 38, 6253 posts	Post Edited: 30.08.2007 @ 12:09 PM Hmm that could be something for me to look into. Shoulder/Elbow soreness was a big reason why I didn't progress further last year. I would generally pause everything, from main sets to back offs. So is the idea that the upward drive from a paused position, is too stressful to do all the time?

Fazc		...	02-09-2007 @ 00:15
Sports an extremely muscular arse. Member 38, 6253 posts	Bump for this, i'm interested in peoples thoughts on the pausing.

tbench		...	02-09-2007 @ 11:13
addicted to bench press, needs help Member 80, 1384 posts SQ 175, BP 160, DL 240 575.0 kgs @ 113kgs UnEq	Originally posted by Fazc... Bump for this, i'm interested in peoples thoughts on the pausing. imo yes i think the pause is too stressfull on the shoulders especially if your doing them on every set,also i think it is best to move the weight as quick as poss when repping,i think you would gain a lot more strength this way than useing pause,closer to comp then bring pause into your program,just a begginer myself but this has worked for me,i paused sets all the time the first 2-3 months and made gains but no where near as much without the pause.


Tony		...	02-09-2007 @ 11:14
Is partial to the odd bender. Member 6, 10239 posts SQ 280, BP 192.5, DL 317.5 790.0 kgs @ 102kgs Eq	Never pause anything other than top end shirted attempts.

Wogihao		...	02-09-2007 @ 12:04
Has turned into a fucking nobhead - any guesses as to what caused it ?? Member 30, 520 posts SQ 185, BP 160, DL 200 545.0 kgs @ 91kgs UnEq	thing is when you pause bench your moving the bar from the bottom postion at almost a dead stop this has to be stressfull for the joints (unless your train the bench press starting from the bottom postion ) I do pauses somtimes in training just to see how my gym lifts mesure up to a contest atempt - i get my partner to give the lift command.

marc		...	02-09-2007 @ 18:33
Dancing queenfeel the beat from the tambourine Member 84, 2415 posts SQ 225, BP 170, DL 275 670.0 kgs @ 103kgs UnEq	Westside have a good article on it saying pauses will only increase your static strength so they do them sparingly. At the british i picked the brains of all the good benchers, general opinion with one exception was save the pausing till close to comp or like tony says high end shirt workout singles. The one exception was mike joseph who does a lot of paused benching, and hes does 190+ unequipped at 82.5 Ed Coan only paused on c/g and incline, never regular until comp time. For the british i practised pauses for six weeks before never again i was like a tortoise off my chest looking at videos martin and tom took.

Cuddles		...	03-09-2007 @ 10:15
Eat.Cycle.Sleep.Win Member 2, 12511 posts SQ 190, BP 150, DL 280 620.0 kgs @ 99kgs UnEq Administrator	One thing I would say is that there is an inteesting problem with shirted vs raw benching and paused reps. If you lift in a shirt you tend to be able to pause a lot more of your reps due to the reduced strain on your shoulders. However, shirted lifters tend not to need as much pause work, as the bottom end is where the shirt really helps. For raw lifters, who tend to need more pause work, the strain on the shoulders can be quite severe. It precluded me from doing too much heavy pause work. So, I paused my 'speed' work. This seemed to have a real positive effect. I rarely paused any of the heavy stuff but my paused bench didnt seem to suffer. I guess I built a lot of starting strength with the lighter stuff (as an aside, going heavier on the speed work and pausing them seemed to reduce the elbow problems often associated with speed work, I guess because the reversal is slower, and you dont get as much speed into the top of the movement, where the elbows tend to take a lot of strain), without using enough of a load to cripple the shoulders.

IainKendrick		...	05-09-2007 @ 14:08
some nice relaxing jazz. Member 77, 12599 posts SQ 265, BP 165, DL 280 710.0 kgs @ 93kgs UnEq	I'll pause any singles or lifts in straight benching to close to comp standard. I'll also pause floor presses. However at most I'll only bench heavy 3 times in 8 weeks.

Fazc		...	05-09-2007 @ 14:09
Sports an extremely muscular arse. Member 38, 6253 posts	Cheers for the opinions lads. Its given me something to think about. Originally posted by Olly...So, I paused my 'speed' work. This seemed to have a real positive effect. This is something I could look at. I don't want to cut off all stress. A little stress is good!

IainKendrick		...	05-09-2007 @ 14:10
some nice relaxing jazz. Member 77, 12599 posts SQ 265, BP 165, DL 280 710.0 kgs @ 93kgs UnEq	I def pause my speed work as this is less stressful for me than slamming the weight down onto my chest. Which is what passes for speed work for some peeps.

paul_richards		...	06-11-2007 @ 13:20
I personally prefer the stiffest possible. Member 158, 3110 posts SQ 170, BP 107.5, DL 222.5 500.0 kgs @ 67.4kgs UnEq	Post Edited: 06.11.2007 @ 13:20 PM I touch and go in training. I mean by this touching the weight onto my chest, not bouncing it or slamming, just a touch. I have learnt that my 1RM is always abit lower when you take in to consideration the pause, for example: when i was repping 85K for 5, 1RM would have been around 95 touch and go. This translates for me into a 90K paused 1RM. If I did a comp pause for every rep in training I'd have wasted all my energy on static holding rather than overloading the muscles, CNS and connective tissue to cause adaption.

1 2

You are here: Home → Forum → Training & Training Videos → Benching and pausing

RETURN TO TOP