I pause all my reps using the 5/3/1 system. I don’t want to get into the habit of allowing a bounce to get extra reps or go up in weight. It also forces me to get better leg drive as I get fatigued during a set. I don’t use a pause for my assistance pressing work. Some people can train without a pause and transition to a pause at a meet pretty easily, others cannot. If the OP has developed a habit of bouncing, I think it might be beneficial to use a pause for a while simply to break that habit.
As far as the dead bench, it is a recipe for injury for me. Some people may like them, but they are simply too risky for me when I can increase my strength off the chest with paused benches in a much safer manner.
^
With the dead bench, are you making sure that your shoulder blades are fully retracted and that you have a good arch?
Yes, everything about the set-up is fine. I’ve tried pin presses from levels all the way from the chest to near lockout. They never translated well to my regular bench and I had minor shoulder and pec strains at various times with them. The other thing I don’t like about them is that with the bar on pins it’s really tough to get it exactly where you want it, not crooked, etc…
I’m not saying they can’t be useful, I’ve just found paused benches to be more beneficial with less risk of injury for me.
Long arms suck in bench.
But they’re great for DL.
Train with a pause on occasion or it will really throw you off on the platform. Especially if you’ve never competed before.
one of these days, I’d like to compete (I’m a long, long way off from that point though) so I decided to give paused benching for heavier weights a try today.
I really, really like these! If today’s session (see training log, if you’re so inclined) is any indication, it’s definitely something I need to work on. Lost about 30lbs from my non-pause max.
Is there a downside to paused benches?
I’ve had usual mild shoulder probs in past (consulted with Eric Cressey and did shoulder mobility exercieses then was db benching only for 9 months). So would be leery of wide grip other than during training when close to a meet and when going for max. When I’ve maxed on bench at the gym - I haven’t noticed I can get much more out of a wider grip but I’m guessing this is due to unfamiliarity - I don’t know how long it would take to transition from 14inch to say 26inch width but I will go with 4 weeks out from the meet and hope my shoulders don’t get chewed up. Bad plan?
The only drawback to pausing is when I do it for too many consecutive workouts I get some elbow pain. Whenever that happens I usually decrease the volume of exercises that use my elbow during the week. You just have to see how yours feels. I used heat before workouts, ice after, and ibuprofen throughout the day to alleviate the pain.
[quote]ros1816 wrote:
I’ve had usual mild shoulder probs in past (consulted with Eric Cressey and did shoulder mobility exercieses then was db benching only for 9 months). So would be leery of wide grip other than during training when close to a meet and when going for max. When I’ve maxed on bench at the gym - I haven’t noticed I can get much more out of a wider grip but I’m guessing this is due to unfamiliarity - I don’t know how long it would take to transition from 14inch to say 26inch width but I will go with 4 weeks out from the meet and hope my shoulders don’t get chewed up. Bad plan?[/quote]
Nah I wouldn’t change anything this close to the meet. Do what you are comfortable with and go to the meet and have fun. If you decide to pursue a wider to wide grip then do it over a longer period of time like 12 weeks or more. My nephew is fighting the same thing. He has benched for a couple of years now with a fairly narrow grip. He had to drop to half his weight to start benching wide. But he is sticking to it and he’s about 3/4 of the way back. But it’s been about 10 weeks.
Edit: I would NEVER go against Cressey by the way. He’s one of my favorite authors on here and he’s the authority as far as I’m concerned when it comes to shoulders. So if he recommends to you to never go wide again, I would follow his directions over what some guy on the internet tells you. Especially after he did a consult with you.
I would do it for singles, but not on rep days.
^^ I agree with this.
I added 38 lbs to my meet bench in six months on 5-3-1, so I think my experience is relevant to the OP. Here’s what I’m thinking based on what I’ve read in this thread as well as all the studying I’ve done on EFS, and my own training:
1 - Widen your grip. Dave Tate has something out there about warming up properly and using his setup and the shoulder issues can be minimized or eliminated. Check out the “So you think you can bench” series with Josh Hatchett, who complained of shoulder issues.
2 - Practice the pause. You and I are both new to the sport, and the mental keys are very important. Only do this on singles, though (at least for now). As you gain experience, you may find it beneficial to incorporate in your own training in different ways, but for now just do some heavy singles with the pause and you’ll prepare yourself for the meet process and procedure.
3 - Don’t bounce. Touch and go, but don’t let the weight sink into your chest when you’re going for reps. It will be a lot easier to bench with the pause when you don’t use the bounce.
4 - Do dead bench. This exercise is awesome for developing your power from the pause. You will be able to maintain more elasticity on the pause than from dead. Only do it for singles, though.
Good luck
For what its worth, I had the chance to hang out with a few russian lifters at IPF jr worlds lately, and we talked a fair bit about training, their coach is the national bench press team coach. They said always pause every rep of bench. (except one day a week they do lighter touch and go work, 70-75%)
One of them had a 200kg raw bench at 90, and the other had a 195kg raw bench at 82.5