Well, I’ll be doing the push/pull raw next weekend. I was wondering how I should go about selecting an opener. I’ve never benched with a real pause, so I’m worried as to how much different that’ll be from a touch and go bench.
A couple of weeks ago I hit a very controlled touch and go of 335, and I think I’m good for a little more than that now. I was thinking about opening at 300 (maybe 295ish), then maybe 320, then maybe somewhere in the 340s? I just don’t know how bad that pause is going to kill me.
I’d like to hear anybody else’s experiences going from touch and go to a pause without a shirt. I was able to do 405 off of a 1 board in a double denim last week, but I dumped it twice without a board, so I’m not going to use it in this meet.
Three is okay, but you need to at least get that first lift to stay in the contest. Since you’ve never had a paused bench judged raw, I’d err closer to what you can do for five touch and go raw. I’d really open with 275 area if you’re not sure.
Ha ha, my ego is so funny Steve. You said that, and I could only think, “I bet I could go get 295x5 right now.” But you’re right; no reason to bomb out of my first meet.
Tomorrow is ME bench. I will try not to test an opener. I think the others will hurt me if I try to. But I’ll post how I do on what movement in my training log.
I agree with Steve. There’s a big difference between pausing and touch/go. You should probably err on the side of caution and take a weight you KNOW you can get. You never know how strict the judging is going to be or how you’re going to feel the day of the contest and it’s better to hold back your ego, smoke your opener and start off on a good note. The confidence boost from getting your opener is priceless, on the other hand a missed opener can severely hamper your confidence. Good Luck!
my first meet, all my openers were PR’s. haha. I was scared to death on my first squat. come to think about it, my opener for my second meet was a PR as well.