Hey everyone!
I just watched a video of Mikes (http://youtu.be/wzgvDcyerQc) and noticed he said "Good thing it's 3 count and not 3 second Pause Squats!".
So I'm guessing that when we talk about 2ct bench, 3ct squat etc it's how long it takes you to count to that number, not 2 seconds etc?
Cause I have been interpreting it as 2 seconds, 3 seconds etc
If it is counting, what if I count so fast that it's basically a 1 second pause?
Generally yes, it should be a consistent count. If you have a timer, you can do 1c = 1s. Just remember, 2ct should be longer than a competition pause, so if your two count is about 1 second, you might want to make sure you're pausing longer
I ran into this in my meet two weeks ago. They were giving the commands really slow. Ended up benching closer to my 2 count estimated 1 rep max instead of my "competition" lift 1 rep max. My point being its tough to accommodate for judging variations, so make sure your pause length is legit.Originally Posted by ChadHydro
If you're doing a 3ct pause, the first priority is to be consistent. The second priority is to be somewhat close to 3 seconds. If you're really doing 2 seconds, but it's consistent, I'm okay with that.
My reasoning was born out of necessity. I train alone and didn't have any way to time a real, full 3 seconds. So I did the best I could. Now I have a kitchen timer with a magnet on the back. So I clip this to the power rack over my head. So I can bench and watch that timer. It still isn't a full 3 seconds (think about it -- if you touch your chest at 2.5 seconds, then wait for 3 ticks of the clock, that's a 2.5 second pause). But it's closer and it's more consistent.
I bought a $5 metronome that beeps once a second (or whatever I set it to). So I touch the chest, wait 3 beeps and move the bar. So it depends on when exactly the bar touched my chest and how long i had to wait for the first beep. But the pause is always longer than 2 and shorter than 3 seconds. I think this is as good, if not better, than a spotter, depending on your spotter I guess :-)
A competition pause should be way shorter than 1 second, the bar has to be completely motionless long enough for the ref to recognize it and give the press command. That feels like about a second in the lifters head, in reality it should be way less. For competition pause I just do a 1 second count in my head which is probably somewhere under 0.5s in reality.
Good point. Also, you can get a metronome app on your smartphone if that works better for anyone. The only thing that I think is more consistent than that is a timer that a training partner runs. They set it to 2-seconds or whatever and start it once the bar touches your chest. Then you get a beep in exactly 2 seconds. I've only seen one guy do this. But I doubt one method will turn you into a record-setting bencher while the other would leave you a weakling. So as long as you're pausing and making an effort at being consistent, that's good enough IMO.
