As assistance, I may start doing some paused bench press on one of my upper days. I was thinking something like 3x8 or so. Reason I want to start doing these is because my bench has always been awful, and it’s always the lower part of the bench that I struggle with the most. Probably due to my long arms. If I can get it past halfway, I’ll lock it out no problem.
Does anyone have any form tips or ways to program it into my routine? I’ve never done them before. Right now I do upper/lower/U/L/U/off/off. First upper day I do DB bench, then I was gonna add the paused bench after. Second upper day I do flies and Incline DB press, last upper day I just do bench press 5x5 or similar.
As of the last month and a half, I add some paused reps after my final set each week on 5/3/1. I usually go for doubles, and stay at least 85% of my 1RM. Then I drop down for some more tng reps.
[quote]Ecchastang wrote:
As of the last month and a half, I add some paused reps after my final set each week on 5/3/1. I usually go for doubles, and stay at least 85% of my 1RM. Then I drop down for some more tng reps.[/quote]
Interesting. I’ve been pausing my FSL sets, but it’s too early to tell if it’s making a difference.
[quote]aspengc8 wrote:
I thought pausing was recommended for 5/3/1? Or is that just for the Beyond 5/3/1? [/quote]
I don’t remember seeing it in Beyond.[/quote]
I’m not running 5/3/1 anymore, but I don’t remember seeing it in the original ebook either. Pretty sure he just says don’t bounce it like an idiot. Not the exact words, but that’s the general idea I got from it.
[quote]aspengc8 wrote:
I thought pausing was recommended for 5/3/1? Or is that just for the Beyond 5/3/1? [/quote]
I don’t remember seeing it in Beyond.[/quote]
I’m not running 5/3/1 anymore, but I don’t remember seeing it in the original ebook either. Pretty sure he just says don’t bounce it like an idiot. Not the exact words, but that’s the general idea I got from it.
So just control the weight really.[/quote]
There are different schools of thought. Some feel paused is harder on the shoulders. That is my experience. Obviously I can do a lot more weight TnG, and have to drop down some for paused, but on the other side of it, I treat TnG as my overload and then paused feels easier from a CNS standpoint.
Ecchstang, do you feel doing some sets of paused benching helps improve the bench? Or do you think I should try something else? Like I said, I’ve never tried them before and logically it seems that it would help me. As long as my shoulders can handle it.
[quote]staystrong wrote:
Ecchstang, do you feel doing some sets of paused benching helps improve the bench? Or do you think I should try something else? Like I said, I’ve never tried them before and logically it seems that it would help me. As long as my shoulders can handle it.[/quote]
Try them out and see if your bench goes up. If it does, they work. If it doesn’t, they don’t.
You don’t really need to think it through any more than that.
[quote]aspengc8 wrote:
I thought pausing was recommended for 5/3/1? Or is that just for the Beyond 5/3/1? [/quote]
I don’t remember seeing it in Beyond.[/quote]
I’m not running 5/3/1 anymore, but I don’t remember seeing it in the original ebook either. Pretty sure he just says don’t bounce it like an idiot. Not the exact words, but that’s the general idea I got from it.
So just control the weight really.[/quote]
I think it’s in one of his recent articles, he mentioned something about the majority of people should do paused benches. I can’t remember exactly where.
“All bench pressing reps must be paused. It doesn?t have to be a true competition pause, but it should not be a “touch and go” lift.”. Seems like he’s talking specifically for that program, but I think it applies to the original one as well.
[quote]staystrong wrote:
Ecchstang, do you feel doing some sets of paused benching helps improve the bench? Or do you think I should try something else? Like I said, I’ve never tried them before and logically it seems that it would help me. As long as my shoulders can handle it.[/quote]
Try them out and see if your bench goes up. If it does, they work. If it doesn’t, they don’t.
You don’t really need to think it through any more than that. [/quote]
Exactly. Occasional paused reps will probably help your paused reps. If you compete and have to pause, throw some in there. If I didn’t compete I would almost never do them. I still only do about 8-12 heavy paused reps per month, and my bench is slowly but steadily going up.
[quote]aspengc8 wrote:
I thought pausing was recommended for 5/3/1? Or is that just for the Beyond 5/3/1? [/quote]
I don’t remember seeing it in Beyond.[/quote]
I’m not running 5/3/1 anymore, but I don’t remember seeing it in the original ebook either. Pretty sure he just says don’t bounce it like an idiot. Not the exact words, but that’s the general idea I got from it.
So just control the weight really.[/quote]
It wouldn’t surprise me if those were the exact words.
“All bench pressing reps must be paused. It doesn?t have to be a true competition pause, but it should not be a “touch and go” lift.”. Seems like he’s talking specifically for that program, but I think it applies to the original one as well.[/quote]
[quote]staystrong wrote:
Ecchstang, do you feel doing some sets of paused benching helps improve the bench? Or do you think I should try something else? Like I said, I’ve never tried them before and logically it seems that it would help me. As long as my shoulders can handle it.[/quote]
Try doing them on a slight incline or decline if shoulders are an issue…that has helped me. Ecch and a few others on here know I have bitched about my bench stalling so I started doing some CG slight incline paused at the end of push press layer (light 3x10, gradually increasing weight), and added reverse bands to help my lockout strength. One or both are working as I am hitting PR’s with reps every session. Will have to wait a few weeks to test the max though but confident I will hit 3 wheels soon.
Take 90 percent of your top set of the day and do a paused 3x3 afterwards. Get a full deadstop pause w.o losing tension… these will be tough the first couple weeks… grind em out and it will get better.