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Valery Solovjov
Asymmetrical-Rest-Pause Benching
Anaerobic assistance exercises work! That is, heavy movements that are done with the help of either a training partner or other muscle groups will increase your totals.
When it comes to bench pressing, it is well known that the first type of assistance exercise method is done with the aid of a friend who will stand behind the bench and lift slightly when the bar is too heavy to be pushed up to lockout without help. The second type of method is usually done instinctively, without any thought. Initially, the bar is pressed up with 'strict' movements, until the lifter begins to tire. When 'good form' can no longer be maintained, back arching and heaving is used to help get the weight up. Both methods rely exclusively upon symmetrical exercising.
Here is a third way of accomplishing the same thing. It has, however, several advantages over the first two types of assistance methods. I will allow you, as your strength varies from day to day, to find a working weight that will be compatible with maintaining maximum concentration over a period of time. It will allow you, regardless of your own individual physiology, to find a correct angle for working the greatest amount of muscle mass. With those factors in mind, it will reduce your susceptibility to injury. The asymmetrical rest pause method can also be used to rehabilitate an injured area.
The method is very simple. For the bench press, put a bar on a power rack with a small amount of weight. Position yourself on the bench so that you can effectively balance the bar while bench pressing with only your weaker arm (the stronger arm, at this point, is used to balance but not lift the bar). Keep adding weight until you reach your one arm limit. Then add a little more. When you find your working weight, center yourself on the bench and get ready to lift. A closer grip is taken and the left arm is used to push up the bar while the right arm adds just enough assistance so that the positive rep will take two to four seconds. If the left arm is doing most of the lifting, the bar will rotate slightly so that it is not in its normal perpendicular position. After doing one rep with the left arm, either a full rep or a partial, the same assistance method is used for the right arm. A left rep is always followed by a right rep, and never be another left rep. Alternate back and forth while trying to maintain maximum concentration. When you begin to lose that concentration adjust your hands to the normal spacing and begin doing symmetrical reps with either of the first two types of assistance methods.
The 'normal' hand spacing can, of course, be either narrow, medium or wide. It's also understood that the asymmetrical rest pause method is not limited to bench pressing, but may be used for other lifts as well.
Here is a third way of accomplishing the same thing. It has, however, several advantages over the first two types of assistance methods. I will allow you, as your strength varies from day to day, to find a working weight that will be compatible with maintaining maximum concentration over a period of time. It will allow you, regardless of your own individual physiology, to find a correct angle for working the greatest amount of muscle mass. With those factors in mind, it will reduce your susceptibility to injury. The asymmetrical rest pause method can also be used to rehabilitate an injured area.
The method is very simple. For the bench press, put a bar on a power rack with a small amount of weight. Position yourself on the bench so that you can effectively balance the bar while bench pressing with only your weaker arm (the stronger arm, at this point, is used to balance but not lift the bar). Keep adding weight until you reach your one arm limit. Then add a little more. When you find your working weight, center yourself on the bench and get ready to lift. A closer grip is taken and the left arm is used to push up the bar while the right arm adds just enough assistance so that the positive rep will take two to four seconds. If the left arm is doing most of the lifting, the bar will rotate slightly so that it is not in its normal perpendicular position. After doing one rep with the left arm, either a full rep or a partial, the same assistance method is used for the right arm. A left rep is always followed by a right rep, and never be another left rep. Alternate back and forth while trying to maintain maximum concentration. When you begin to lose that concentration adjust your hands to the normal spacing and begin doing symmetrical reps with either of the first two types of assistance methods.
The 'normal' hand spacing can, of course, be either narrow, medium or wide. It's also understood that the asymmetrical rest pause method is not limited to bench pressing, but may be used for other lifts as well.
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