Paused squats & bench vs regular squats & bench

deadlybuzzman

I meant to pose this question a while back and after reading COH's log I thought I'd post here rather than hijack a log.
What I'm wondering is can paused squats and bench be used exclusively in a cycle to increase a 1-3rm or do you ultimately need to be handling the heavier weights on a regular basis too?
Personally I've started doing ATG high bar paused squats as there's only a 10kg difference between my low bar squat and deadlift max so Im presuming my squat was high and I want to give my back more of a break.
Also my bench is weakest off the chest and my deadlifts weakest off the floor so I'm thinking at the very least it couldn't hurt. Thoughts?

Sangre

Do you plan on competing? How controlled are your lifts at the moment i.e. how much bounce is there going out of the hole?

kevpants

I believe all benches should be paused. Definitely if you plan to compete. There is no point in getting a 160kg bounced bench if you compete and can't do 140kg in a comp.

It also puzzles me the way you hear "The pause is killing my bench" on comp day from lifters. You knew there was going to be a pause it wasn't a surprise. If you plan on competing your touch and go bench is no more relevant than your floor press or board press as far as your overall bench PR goes. You can still do them, but it's not your PR.

Making things slower, more deliberate and more difficult is the way to go IMO.

Brian?

I've always paused my bench and squat. It's the correct way to do them IMO, otherwise you're just bouncing them.

Hanley

Brian? wrote: »

I've always paused my bench and squat. It's the correct way to do them IMO, otherwise you're just bouncing them.

There's also the middle ground called "control"

I think paused benches are awesome, and paused squats are muck.

3 second negatives on your squats would be a much better and crueler option imo.

kevpants

Brian? wrote: »

I've always paused my bench and squat. It's the correct way to do them IMO, otherwise you're just bouncing them.

Never cared for paused back squats. Once I get below parralel it's time to get the fruck out of there!

I pause my front squats having said that, it seems much easier to rebound out of the bottom of one of them and I like to keep them really controlled.

deadlybuzzman

I don't see myself competing anytime soon its more a question of being able to make steady progress for as long as possible before plateauing.
Having total control of the lifts is what I would like as I dont like the thought of divebombing, hoping the stretch reflex will get get me out of a literal and figurative hole.
What I'm really wondering is is it possible to train everything paused to improve your standard squat and bench.

deadlybuzzman

Sangre wrote: »

Do you plan on competing? How controlled are your lifts at the moment i.e. how much bounce is there going out of the hole?

I've never really bounced on bench just reversed as soon as it touched my chest, my squats were all pretty wide until lately and I've never found that to be a position I felt safe bouncing out of.

Scuba Ste

I like pause squats.

They're great for positions if you have difficulty with that. I also found them pretty good for my hips which I put down to keeping really tight at the bottom. I'd never bounce my squats or recommend anyone do it. When I say pause I mean for a 2 or 3 count nothing crazy.

Are they going to lead to a bigger squat? I don't think so but they're a nice way to get comfortable controlling your descent and work on your positions. I'd still do normal squats one a week with them if you want to push your overall numbers up.