Benchpress performance in training

Previously I have seen Boris comment elsewhere that he advises students to perform the first repetition of each their set of benchpresses to competition standard (paused) and perform the following reps in a touch-and-go style.

What is the reason for this recommendation? Why not perform all reps in training to competition standard?

One rep is enough to remember competition technique. More than that would sacrifice good volume.

One rep is enough to remember competition technique. More than that would sacrifice good volume.

Volume as measured by tonnage or number of lifts?

If the problem is that it limits tonnage, why not just increase the number of lifts performed?

If the problem is that it limits the number of lifts performed, why not just reduce the loading?

I personally pause nearly every rep but I am a slow learner and a sucker for punishment.

To me treating each rep like a competition rep feels like it makes sense. But suppose you're doing a bench pyramid up to 85% and down again for 70 lifts. That's a lot of pausing. I'm just guessing here but Boris could have started with similar reasoning and then found out it didn't work out the way he wanted for many people. So a compromise was made. If that pyramid was made of 12 sets, pausing on the first rep still gives decent practice for the day while still maintaining the rest of the pyramid's effect.

My personal belief is to practice how you want to perform. If paused, the pecs will require a lot more activation in order to accelerate the bar speed enough to finnish a heavy lift than tng does. Most RAW lifters will fail a lift if the pecs arent strong enough, but if the pecs are very strong, they can make it.

I agree with the statement that was made by Robert. We have to create automaticity in doing the pause. Why don't we pause on every rep? It will be too tough to perform all lifts with the same intensity as without a pause. We press just 1 time on the 1st rep at competition that is why we pause on only the first rep. If you pause on every rep your lifts/intensity will be low and it hurts your progress. 

In addition to the replies above. In my opinion the first rep is closest to the competition lift. You have the unracking, stabilize the bar, descend, pause on the chest, press and a small pause at the top. The only thing missing is racking the bar back. After the first rep most of these are thrown out the window.

I agree with the statement that was made by Robert. We have to create automaticity in doing the pause. Why don't we pause on every rep? It will be too tough to perform all lifts with the same intensity as without a pause. We press just 1 time on the 1st rep at competition that is why we pause on only the first rep. If you pause on every rep your lifts/intensity will be low and it hurts your progress.

Thank you for your reply Boris.

Admittedly I am left a little unsatisfied. Couldn't we make the same argument to justify not squatting to legal depth or not pulling from a dead start in training?

"It will be too tough to perform all lifts with the same intensity squatting to legal depth. We squat just 1 time on the 1st rep at competition that is why we squat to legal depth on only the first rep. If you squat to legal depth on every rep your lifts/intensity will be low and it hurts your progress."

or

"It will be too tough to perform all lifts with the same intensity as pulling from a dead start. We pull from a dead start just 1 time on the 1st rep at competition that is why we pull from a dead start on only the first rep. If you pull from a dead start on every rep your lifts/intensity will be low and it hurts your progress."

I am only playing devil's advocate here. At the end of the day I think it comes down to what works in practice. Experience is hard to argue with, especially when it is as great as yours Boris.

In addition to the replies above. In my opinion the first rep is closest to the competition lift. You have the unracking, stabilize the bar, descend, pause on the chest, press and a small pause at the top. The only thing missing is racking the bar back. After the first rep most of these are thrown out the window.

I agree with you. For this reason I can never understand why coaches such as Matt Gary (US) advocate performing the deadlift only for singles in training. Surely the same principle ought to apply when squatting and benchpressing.

Thank you for your reply Boris.

Admittedly I am left a little unsatisfied. Couldn't we make the same argument to justify not squatting to legal depth or not pulling from a dead start in training?

"It will be too tough to perform all lifts with the same intensity squatting to legal depth. We squat just 1 time on the 1st rep at competition that is why we squat to legal depth on only the first rep. If you squat to legal depth on every rep your lifts/intensity will be low and it hurts your progress."

or

"It will be too tough to perform all lifts with the same intensity as pulling from a dead start. We pull from a dead start just 1 time on the 1st rep at competition that is why we pull from a dead start on only the first rep. If you pull from a dead start on every rep your lifts/intensity will be low and it hurts your progress."

I am only playing devil's advocate here. At the end of the day I think it comes down to what works in practice. Experience is hard to argue with, especially when it is as great as yours Boris.

Shortening the range of motion is a valid training technique. Also, intensification techniques are not commonly used for deadlifts. There are no deadlift pyramids for example. Quite the opposite actually. Deadlifts are often broken down into two phases to reduce the stress.

I think it is a metter of how lifters reacts from %

Some lifters feels 80% for 3 very good, they can perform all the repetition with good speed and powerfull.

Some lifters feels 80% for 3 harder. They starts to slow clearly at 2nd or 3rd repetitions. In this case could be interesting to pause just the 1st one.

In the 1st case, I think could be very good to pause all the repetition. You learn a better automatism, you will strengthen the right muscles. Just as Robert said.
The attention on technique (position of shoulders, scapula, and chest) make generally easyer to be fast at around 80 percent.

I think it is a metter of how lifters reacts from %

Some lifters feels 80% for 3 very good, they can perform all the repetition with good speed and powerfull.

Some lifters feels 80% for 3 harder. They starts to slow clearly at 2nd or 3rd repetitions. In this case could be interesting to pause just the 1st one.

In the 1st case, I think could be very good to pause all the repetition. You learn a better automatism, you will strengthen the right muscles. Just as Robert said.
The attention on technique (position of shoulders, scapula, and chest) make generally easyer to be fast at around 80 percent.

That's a good point.

Quote from: ado gruzza link=topic=34.msg303#msg303 date=1402269614

I think it is a metter of how lifters reacts from %

Some lifters feels 80% for 3 very good, they can perform all the repetition with good speed and powerfull.

Some lifters feels 80% for 3 harder. They starts to slow clearly at 2nd or 3rd repetitions. In this case could be interesting to pause just the 1st one.

In the 1st case, I think could be very good to pause all the repetition. You learn a better automatism, you will strengthen the right muscles. Just as Robert said.
The attention on technique (position of shoulders, scapula, and chest) make generally easyer to be fast at around 80 percent.

That's a good point.

I agree with Robert. This is an interesting way to think about it. Some of us are able to train at higher percentages of 1RM more comfortably than others.

For example, I have read before that on average women do not possess the same neuromuscular efficiency as men, explaining much of the difference in strength between the sexes. As a result women can train at higher percentages of one rep max than their male counterparts.

I personally run my bench with a significantly higher weight than my  comp max because I can handle higher percentages on my bench. I generally leave my squat and deads at a closer number to my comp maxes.

Though this could also just mean that maybe I've never hit my true potential max at comps...

Quote from: Boris Sheiko link=topic=34.msg230#msg230 date=1402133159

I agree with the statement that was made by Robert. We have to create automaticity in doing the pause. Why don't we pause on every rep? It will be too tough to perform all lifts with the same intensity as without a pause. We press just 1 time on the 1st rep at competition that is why we pause on only the first rep. If you pause on every rep your lifts/intensity will be low and it hurts your progress.

Thank you for your reply Boris.

Admittedly I am left a little unsatisfied. Couldn't we make the same argument to justify not squatting to legal depth or not pulling from a dead start in training?

"It will be too tough to perform all lifts with the same intensity squatting to legal depth. We squat just 1 time on the 1st rep at competition that is why we squat to legal depth on only the first rep. If you squat to legal depth on every rep your lifts/intensity will be low and it hurts your progress."

or

"It will be too tough to perform all lifts with the same intensity as pulling from a dead start. We pull from a dead start just 1 time on the 1st rep at competition that is why we pull from a dead start on only the first rep. If you pull from a dead start on every rep your lifts/intensity will be low and it hurts your progress."

I am only playing devil's advocate here. At the end of the day I think it comes down to what works in practice. Experience is hard to argue with, especially when it is as great as yours Boris.

You are talking about absolutely different things. If you don’t squat deep enough you will damage your technique and won't develop automaticity. As for pausing the first rep on the bench press – I don’t insist on it, just recommend it. The 1st rep with a competition pause, the others – without. But it doesn’t mean that you drop the barbell on your chest. No, you should have a slow and deliberate movement. Anyway, if you are able to pause every single rep you are welcome to continue doing so for as long as you can.

Thank you coach.

Me too, I usually pause all the reps, but just if set has 1-3 reps. If prescribed set is 4 or more reps I do just the first rep paused.
Also the fact that I am relatively weak in bench makes me possible to pause in a 3 reps set.

I think that maybe for a more developed and skilled bencher, to pause only in the first rep is the best way to save energy for further improvements.