Hello Jacked Nerds! Hope everyone’s had a great week!
As phase 1 of my “road to bench 315” program wraps up, I want to share two bench press variations I’ve been loving over the past six weeks: the paused bench press and the close-grip bench press. Both are designed to target and strengthen the weaker points in my lift. They’re challenging, but that’s exactly why they’ve grown on me.
For each variation, I’m going to cover what it is, its benefits and a couple of quick tips on how to execute it properly.
If you are curious about how I programmed phase 1 and the training principles applied, check out my reel below!
Paused Bench Press
Paused bench is a variation of the standard bench press where you pause the bar on your chest for 1-3 seconds before pressing. This pause removes the stretch reflex (i.e., momentum), forcing your muscles to generate force from a dead stop.
By eliminating that rebound momentum, your muscles must generate all the force to lift the weight, increasing muscle recruitment and raw pressing strength. This allows you to develop pure concentric strength—the kind you need to grind out heavy singles.
At the very bottom of the bench press is also when most lifters struggle and fail, so this is specifically designed to tackle that “sticking point”.
The pause also trains bar control and tightness. Holding the weight under tension at the bottom reinforces proper scapular retraction, leg drive, and lat engagement, all of which create a more stable and powerful press.
To execute the paused bench press, you’ll need to lower the bar with control, pause it (1–3 seconds) with the bar close to or lightly touching your chest, and then press up explosively.
Due to the increased difficulty, you’ll need to use much less load than your touch-and-go bench press. By the end of my week 6, I’m pressing 195 lbs for 3 sets of 7 reps, which is ~70% of my 1RM.
Close-Grip Bench Press
Close-grip bench press brings your hands narrower than shoulder-width. This shifts the load from your chest to your triceps and shoulders.
That shift is key because the triceps are responsible for elbow extension—and your ability to lock out a heavy rep depends heavily on them.
Close-grip also increases the range of motion, keeping your muscles under tension longer and building strength through the mid-to-top portion of the lift. This is usually where you start to slow down during heavy singles.
For lifters with shoulder irritation, the closer grip can actually be more forgiving. It promotes better elbow tracking and places less stress on the shoulder joint when performed correctly. Having dealt with right shoulder issues before, I’m certainly finding this variation doesn’t “grind my gears” as much.
Similar to the pause bench press, close-grip bench press calls for lower weight. At the end of week 6 I was benching 185 lbs for 8 reps, 3 sets, which is ~65% of my 1RM.
Phase 2 Programming
While Phase 1 of the program focused on building a volume base by getting clean repeatable reps in, Phase 2 is going to be about shifting gears to tackle heavier load and more neurologically demanding work.
The goal of this phase is to build top-end strength with a few changes in mind:
I’m going to be increasing the intensity with heavier weights, lower rep ranges.
I’ll be reducing total rep volume slightly to allow recovery from heavier lifts.
I’ll be incorporating Slingshot work to help me handle weights above my normal working sets.
I’ll continue to refine my bar path and brace under heavier loads.
This’ll be the first time I’ve used a Slingshot to help with my bench press training in over 10 years of lifting. If you’re curious about how I use it to improve my bench press, or would like to follow my lifting journey, check out my Instagram!
That’s it for today. Have a great rest of your weekend!
Catch y’all in the next one ✌️