Competition bench form...

[Fame]

I was wondering about the bench form in competition. When they say that you need to bring the weight down and "pause," does this mean pause it on your chest...meaning rest the bar on your chest...or does it mean to pause it right above your chest and then wait for the press comand?

Thanks
-Fame-

[Porky]

read the rules for the fed u wanna compete it, it will tell u exactly.


the bar has to touch chest and be motionless, u cant rest it on chest and let it sink in either.

[ArchDukeOfTops]

The amount of time also differs from fed to fed. I benched in a meet several months ago, and the pause seemed like it was forever. It would be equivalent to what I would consider to be a "pause rep" in training.

This isn't that big of a deal with a shirt on, but for a raw bencher it can really reduce the amount of weight pressed.

I've seen vids of other federations where the pause is almost non-existent, so it all depends on feds/refs.

[Danimal]

The reason you see different length pauses is because most feds that give a press command state that the bar must be in control an motionless. If the bar is moving around even though it's pausing on your chest, you won't get a press command. If you bring the bar down slow and under total control, you can get a quick press command.

[ArchDukeOfTops]

^^Good tip, I'll have to remeber that.

[Jneves]

Just wanted to add if you don't train with a pause and want to lift in a meet starting pausing your bench! If your not used to pausing at the bottom it can really make you feel like a panzy

[ArchDukeOfTops]

Also, there is a "rack" command after you lift the weight. If you throw the weight into the catch before the "rack" command, it will be red lighted. This doesn't sound like that big of a deal, but its easy to do if you don't get used to waiting to rack the weight in training.

[Fame]

Just wanted to add if you don't train with a pause and want to lift in a meet starting pausing your bench! If your not used to pausing at the bottom it can really make you feel like a panzy

I really, really wish I would have been training with the pause from the start. I have a meet in about a month and a half and I've been trying to get my form perfect. The pause makes me feel like I struggle with 50 pounds less weight, and my bench is really low already due to rotator cuff problems. But alas, I will make due with what I have, It will be my first time benching in competition so I want to set a new pr for myself...but the pause might throw that off a bit...

I appreciate the feedback from everyone....

-Fame-

[Danimal]

I really, really wish I would have been training with the pause from the start. I have a meet in about a month and a half and I've been trying to get my form perfect. The pause makes me feel like I struggle with 50 pounds less weight, and my bench is really low already due to rotator cuff problems. But alas, I will make due with what I have, It will be my first time benching in competition so I want to set a new pr for myself...but the pause might throw that off a bit...

I appreciate the feedback from everyone....

-Fame-

The pause knocks weight off for all of us. As far as a PR goes, you will set one- it will be a real PR too, because it was done in a meet under a judges eye. So you know it was done right. A month and a half is plenty of time to train the pause. You don't have to pause every rep in training. Just pause the 1st rep of each set, then touch and go the rest.

[Fame]

Thanks Danimal,

That makes perfect sense. If I can press the first rep with a pause then I know I can do it...then just rep out the rest without too much concern of pausing. Is there a particular program that can help with strength peaking that I can follow? The meet is mid Nov. and I had just planned on training like I do now:

10-8-5-5-3-3-1

I don't have a training partner so I get a bit cautious around the 3 rep sets and definatley the 1 rep...

Any help would be great, thanks again for everyones help

-Fame-