# Competition bench (pause) vs standard



## Gadawg (Jan 7, 2019)

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?


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## snake (Jan 7, 2019)

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.


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## Metalhead1 (Jan 7, 2019)

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.


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## Gadawg (Jan 7, 2019)

Thanks fellas


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## ToolSteel (Jan 7, 2019)

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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