Bench press - paused vs touch and go

[pistachio]

i'm interested to hear people's reasons.

is it purely because you need to bench paused in comp? is touch and go considered 'cheating'?

are there any greater benefits for building muscle mass using either technique?

 

[dandexter]

The only reason I do 1rep maxs with paused is because thats what we need for competitions.

 

[lozzo]

i think practicing with paused bench leading up to a competition is a good idea. But otherwise i think touch and go is more usefull for overall strength gains in general training.

 

[Johny Nichols]

I'm the same plus In my normal ppp program I will always pause the first rep Per set good to feel comforable pausing


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[JDizzle]

i pause the last rep of each set only

 

[adamklam]

currently running 5/3/1 and I pause the the first warm up set (usually just the bar x 20 reps), and the 5/3/1 working sets and any heavy singles/doubles/triples....

I pretty much pause every rep for sets less than 5

 

[pistachio]

The only reason I do 1rep maxs with paused is because thats what we need for competitions.

yeah, i saw that in your log, that's why i started this thread

But otherwise i think touch and go is more usefull for overall strength gains in general training.

but why?

I will always pause the first rep Per set good to feel comforable pausing

but you don't pause the rest of the reps?

i pause the last rep of each set only

but why? also, that seems rather strange, seeing as the last rep is when you would be at your weakest...

I pretty much pause every rep for sets less than 5

but why?

i want to know why people pause instead of touch and go. is there any benefit gained from doing it this way?

 

[adamklam]

I can't answer for the other guys but for me the reason is as follows:

Paused:
all my working sets are in the low rep range, and I want to focus on ensuring my technique will match what I need in competition.
The first warmup set is to get back into the idea of pausing and each rep is explosive.

Touch'n'Go:
Any high rep sets I do (>5) are always part of my warm up, and I want these to be as fast and explosive as I can to try and force as much blood and nutrients into the muscle groups I am working.

 

[The Hamburgler]

I'm not exactly confident of my theory BUT . . .

Touch and go would be better for strength gains because you can generally use a bit more weight than a paused. And more weight = greater overload = greater super compensation of the muscles = greater strength gains.
Other than that I've got nothing

 

[haz]

both are good and need to be used. i switched to pause when my touch&go was 110, i paused all reps. once i could pause 110, i could do a easy single at 120 t&g. that took about 8 weeks. then i think it plateaued. and i was finding it harder to pause bench the heavier weights. so now im going back to touch and go, and its progressing fast. hoping for 130 in 4 weeks. ill also test my paused and see if it goes up from the touch&go or stays the same because im not used to pausing.

i think you should paused 3-4 weeks out from a comp if you haven't been doing it previous. i think the pause is very good for 4 weeks, then go back to t&g.

the first rep paused is also a good idea. i've also been experimenting with doing both. 2-3 sets of paused and then adding 5-10kg and t&ging for 2 sets.

 

[JDizzle]

but why? also, that seems rather strange, seeing as the last rep is when you would be at your weakest...

dunno, just feel like doing it that way. infact i really should be pausing all reps as im doing a % based routine on a paused 1rm but i dont find much difference between touch n go and pause

 

[John555]

Sorry if this is off topic, but what about during the squat? Do you guys normally get out of he hole in a controlled manner or bounce out explosively?

Personally I touch and go and bounce out of the hole. Not sure if this is good or not.

 

[Bench Polkov]

Paused squats hurt your arse.

Srs.

 

[JDizzle]

^ no pause controlled manner with a small side order of bounce

 

[hashi]

louie simmons advocates to not pause any bench due to the time the stretch reflex lasts which is 2 seconds, this statement confuses the shit out of me because a pause is at most times less than that, his idea is that he wants to maximize the starting strength the stretch reflex provides to allow lifters to be more explosive, so that when they go to a paused bench in competition its equally as easy.

Personally I find paused benching retains my form and tightness a lot more, I pause every rep for bench and when doing Sheiko it tends to build technique quite well, I have still made great bench gains doing this personally.

 

[Sticky]

I pause the first rep of every set, and for every 1rm.
I do this mainly to get an acurate gauge of my and others progress, and also for comp.

 

[trofius]

Ifind paused bench really help to build usefull torque off the chest.

Effectively you are making the muscle stronger, with out the use of a stretch reflex or bounce, when you want to contract, it just mongrels it up.

pausing anything out of the hole is particularly helpfull in teaching a nice smooth controlled motion.

just my thoughts

 

[lozzo]

I'm not exactly confident of my theory BUT . . .

Touch and go would be better for strength gains because you can generally use a bit more weight than a paused. And more weight = greater overload = greater super compensation of the muscles = greater strength gains.
Other than that I've got nothing

i am of this opinion aswell

 

[Sticky]

When I started pausing, it knocked 10kg off my 1rm. Now, my tng and paused is the same.
Personally, I don't count a bench unless it's paused. It ends up being who can smash their chest the hardest.

 

[JDizzle]

also theres a difference between using your rib cage as a trampoline and doing TNG in a controlled manner