Competition bench (pause) vs standard

Gadawg

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Those of you that are competition powerlifters, is there much of a difference in how much you can press when pausing at the bottom vs just doing standard reps? Ive never really done much in the way of pause reps. I have what would be considered good form for a bodybuilder (I think anyway) and Id guess my max right now would be somewhere around 425. Would that go down considerably using competition form you think?
 

snake

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Depends on the person: how strong you are off the bottom and/or how well you can lock out. My guess is if you can touch and go 425, 405 is not out of question.
 

Metalhead1

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Agreed with Snake.

It shouldn't be a dramatic difference. Hasn't been in my experience.

When you start doing 2 or 3 count pauses, it gets a little more taxing with the time under tension increasing, but they definitely help if you stay consistent with them.
 

ToolSteel

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I honestly couldn’t tell you. I pause everything. From 135 to my top sets. Been doing it for years.
My first meet had a picky head judge. Never taking that risk again. Practice makes permanent ;)
 

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