You are likely familiar with the "Stretch Shortening Cycle" of lifting weights.

 

If not, I'll describe how it works with the bench press.

 

At the bottom of a bench press right as the barbell reaches your chest, the muscles are stretched out. If you push and reverse the weight at the right time, this stretch can assist with the lift.

 

I've heard this described as a "supercharged rubber-band effect".

 

 

If you pause or wait too long at the bottom of a lift, you won't get this added power boost.

 

Today, I'm going to talk about avoiding this power boost on purpose.

 

This is to mix things up...

 

Pausing for about 2 seconds when you hit this bottom stretched position, instead of using the assistance of the stretch.

 

This works extremely well for pressing movements in particular.

 

 

For dumbbell shoulder presses, you would want to pause in this position or slightly lower for 2 seconds. Hold the weight and flex the target muscles, then reverse back up.

 

You will have to go significantly lighter with this technique.

 

You can also do this in addition to a more traditional lifting tempo.

 

• 1 exercise that uses a regular tempo and takes advantage of the stretch shortening cycle.
• Followed by 1 exercise that uses a deliberate 2 second pause at the bottom.

 

This works extremely well with bench press followed by incline dumbbell presses.

 

 

An issue with incline presses is that they have more injury potential for the shoulder than regular bench press.

 

One way to avoid this is to use much lighter weights and pause at the bottom for a couple of seconds. You will want to keep the weights out wide and not touch your shoulder (just like the guy in the picture above).

 

I also like to pause exactly at the point in this picture.

You are pausing right when the upper pecs are engaging, so it really adds some time under tension in the exact muscles you are trying to target.

 

Do 3-4 sets of 5-6 reps after you complete all your normal-tempo sets on bench press.

 

You use this method with quite a variety of exercises.

 

For instance, it works with squats... just make sure you don't let some Gym Perv creep on you.

 

 

"Hey Larry. It's only 45 pounds. I think she has this!"

 

Anyway...

 

Just another technique to add to your routine to mix things up.