Are you tired of hitting a wall with strength training? It’s normal to encounter sticking points in your strength training, times when you feel like your progress has stalled. And you might wonder what to do about it. Well, there’s a strategy you can use to break out of a frustrating training plateau and get back to making strength gains. Discover pause reps! Let’s look at what benefits they offer.
What Are Pause Reps?
Pause reps are where you pause at a certain point during a repetition. The most common place to pause is at the bottom of a movement. For example, hold at the bottom of a squat before pushing your body back up to the starting position. Why would you want to do this? Using this approach helps improve muscle control and stability in your lift. It’s also a way to enhance your form and eliminate momentum when you do strength training exercises. Get ready for it to upgrade your lifting experience. So, what does science say about this approach?
Key Benefits of Pause Reps
Increased Time Under Tension for Muscle Growth
When you pause at the bottom of a rep and hold, your muscles sustain tension for a longer period. The extra tension and stimulation can create greater muscle fiber adaptations that lead to greater muscle growth.
Enhanced Muscle Activation
As mentioned, pausing requires you to focus on your form more and eliminates bouncing and the use stored elastic energy to complete a rep. Therefore, you get more muscle engagement. The closer focus on form helps you avoid “sloppy” reps that can lead to injury or sub-optimal strength gains.
Breaking Through Training Plateaus
If you’ve ever had your strength training progress slow down, you know the frustrations of reaching a plateau. By adding a pause, you force your muscles to push harder to come up from the rep, thereby challenging your muscles more. This can lead to greater muscle growth.
Strengthening Weak Points in Your Lifts
When you pause during a repetition, you give your muscles the opportunity to generate more force at a weak point. This helps you break through the sticking points that limit you. It also helps you build more stability and control that will help you in all aspects of your training.
Mental Benefits
Another upside of pausing during a rep is doing so boosts your mental focus. Rather than rushing through a rep, it forces your mind to focus. With more focus, you can improve your form and become more disciplined when you train.
The downside of pause reps is the greater fatigue you could experience if you use them too often. Because of the fatigue factor, you may need to lower the amount of resistance you use.
What Science Says about Pause Reps
A study in the European Journal of Applied Physiology showed the benefits of pause reps. It focused on two weightlifting approaches —rest-pause and traditional sets. Eighteen people took part in the study. Here’s what they did:
- Traditional group: 3 sets of 6 reps at 80% of their max weight. Rested 2 minutes between sets.
- Rest-pause group: Lifted at 80% of their one-rep max. After a few reps, they paused for a short break before continuing.
After 6 weeks, they looked at their performance and gains:
- Strength: Each group gained strength in biceps curls, leg press, and bench press. The results were modest but still significant.
- Muscular Endurance: For the leg press, the rest-pause group outperformed the traditional group by being able to complete more reps. This suggests that they built greater endurance.
- Muscle Growth (Hypertrophy): The rest-pause group grew their thigh muscles more than the traditional group. There wasn’t a major difference for other muscle groups.
The conclusion? Pause reps or rest-pause was better for hypertrophying the thighs and for building muscle endurance. There weren’t major differences in strength gains between the two groups.
Optimize Your Form and Approach When Doing Pause Reps
Now you need to know how to do pause reps. Here are some guidelines for doing them correctly and getting the most out of this training approach:
- Start with Lighter Weights: Begin with around 60% of your one-rep max (1RM) for exercises like squats or bench presses. Starting light will help you master your form before going too heavy.
- Duration of Pauses: Choose your pause duration. When you first start, be conservative. You might pause for only a second or two, but over time, try to expand it to 3 to 5 seconds. If you tackle long pauses too early you risk fatiguing your muscles too much and compromising your form.
- Volume and Frequency: Don’t make pause reps the only approach you take. Cycle between traditional reps and pause reps, switching your approach every 4 to 6 weeks.
- Focus on Form: Get your breathing, body alignment, and movements right before extending the pause. If you’re lifting heavy, make pauses shorter or lighten up on the weight.
- Include Adequate Recovery: Give yourself adequate recovery. This type of training is more fatiguing for your muscles and nervous system. After a strenuous pause rep routine, consider taking an extra day to recover.
- Consider Using a Spotter: If you’re doing pause reps with exercises like bench presses or squats, use a spotter or safety equipment, like a squat rack, to ensure you won’t get injured trying to come up from a lift after pausing.
Embrace the Power of the Pause for Enhanced Gains
Pause reps will help you move the weights with purpose and control. Plus, it’ll help you develop greater endurance and muscle size, particularly in your thighs. But approach it with common sense, starting slowly, and advancing your training over time.
So next time you train, take a moment to pause—literally. Your muscles will thank you, and your progress will speak for itself. After all, sometimes the key to moving forward is learning when to stop and hold your ground. Ready to give pause reps a try?
References:
- Prestes J, A Tibana R, de Araujo Sousa E, da Cunha Nascimento D, de Oliveira Rocha P, F Camarço N, Frade de Sousa NM, Willardson JM. Strength and Muscular Adaptations After 6 Weeks of Rest-Pause vs. Traditional Multiple-Sets Resistance Training in Trained Subjects. J Strength Cond Res. 2019 Jul;33 Suppl 1:S113-S121. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000001923. PMID: 28617715.
- Korak JA, Paquette MR, Fuller DK, Caputo JL, Coons JM. Effect of a rest-pause vs. traditional squat on electromyography and lifting volume in trained women. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2018 Jul;118(7):1309-1314. doi: 10.1007/s00421-018-3863-6. Epub 2018 Apr 11. PMID: 29644392.
- Mahmood Karimifard, Arazi H, Javad Mehrabani. Twelve Weeks Rest–Pause and Traditional Resistance Training: Effects on Myokines and Performance Adaptations among Recreationally Trained Men. Stresses. 2023;3(1):302-315. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/stresses3010022
- de Salles BF, Simão R, Miranda F, Novaes Jda S, Lemos A, Willardson JM. Rest interval between sets in strength training. Sports Med. 2009;39(9):765-77. doi: 10.2165/11315230-000000000-00000. PMID: 19691365.
- Gelman R, Berg M, Ilan Y. A Subject-Tailored Variability-Based Platform for Overcoming the Plateau Effect in Sports Training: A Narrative Review. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Feb 2;19(3):1722. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19031722. PMID: 35162745; PMCID: PMC8834821.
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