Paused Bench Press

Muscles worked by the Paused Bench Press

Primary

ChestPectoralis Major

Secondary

Front DeltsAnterior DeltoidTricepsTriceps Brachii

Also called: pec, pecs, pectoralis major, pectoralis, chest muscles.

Equipment

Barbell

Also called: bar, olympic barbell, straight bar, olympic bar, power bar.

How to do the Paused Bench Press

1. Lie on a flat bench and grip the barbell slightly wider than shoulder-width.
2. Unrack the bar and lower it to your chest.
3. Pause on your chest for 1-2 seconds.
4. Press the bar back up until your arms are fully extended.
5. Control the descent on every rep.
6. Repeat for the desired number of reps.

Form tips

• Stay tight during the pause instead of letting the bar sink.
• Keep your shoulder blades pinched and your feet planted throughout.
• Touch the bar to the same spot on your chest every rep.

At a glance

Paused Bench Press in German & Spanish

Descriptions, instructions and tips ship in all three languages in the JSON.

Related exercises

• Barbell Bench Press
• Cable Chest Press
• Close-Grip Bench Press
• Close-Grip Dumbbell Bench Press
• Close-Grip EZ-Bar Bench Press
• Close-Grip Incline Bench Press
• Decline Barbell Bench Press
• Decline Bench Press

Exercise data (JSON)

The record below is exactly what exercises.json ships for this exercise — names, descriptions, instructions and tips in English, German and Spanish.

{
  "id": "paused-bench-press",
  "name_en": "Paused Bench Press",
  "name_de": "Bankdrücken mit Pause",
  "name_es": "Press de Banca con Pausa",
  "description_en": "A bench press variation pausing the bar on the chest, removing momentum to build strict pressing strength.",
  "description_de": "Ein Langhantel-Bankdrücken mit kurzer Pause der Stange auf der Brust, das Kontrolle und Druckkraft aus der unteren Position schult.",
  "description_es": "Un press de banca con barra en el que la pausa sobre el pecho elimina el rebote y endurece la fase inicial del empuje.",
  "category": "strength",
  "force_type": "push",
  "mechanic": "compound",
  "difficulty": "advanced",
  "equipment": "barbell",
  "body_part": "chest",
  "primary_muscles": [
    "pectoralis_major"
  ],
  "secondary_muscles": [
    "anterior_deltoid",
    "triceps_brachii"
  ],
  "goals": [
    "hypertrophy",
    "strength"
  ],
  "tags": [
    "knee_safe",
    "no_axial_load",
    "lower_back_safe",
    "shoulder_safe",
    "requires_bench"
  ],
  "variation_group": "bench-press",
  "is_unilateral": false,
  "is_bodyweight": false,
  "instructions_en": [
    "Lie on a flat bench and grip the barbell slightly wider than shoulder-width.",
    "Unrack the bar and lower it to your chest.",
    "Pause on your chest for 1-2 seconds.",
    "Press the bar back up until your arms are fully extended.",
    "Control the descent on every rep.",
    "Repeat for the desired number of reps."
  ],
  "instructions_de": [
    "Leg dich auf eine flache Bank und greife die Stange etwas breiter als schulterbreit.",
    "Nehme die Stange aus dem Rack und senke sie zur Brust.",
    "1–2 Sekunden auf der Brust halten.",
    "Drücke die Stange zurück, bis die Arme vollständig gestreckt sind.",
    "Jede Wiederholung kontrolliert absenken.",
    "Wiederhole für die gewünschte Anzahl an Wiederholungen."
  ],
  "instructions_es": [
    "Túmbate en un banco plano y agarra la barra ligeramente más abierta que la anchura de los hombros.",
    "Saca la barra del rack y bájala hasta el pecho.",
    "Haz una pausa sobre el pecho durante 1-2 segundos.",
    "Empuja la barra hacia arriba hasta que los brazos queden completamente extendidos.",
    "Controla el descenso en cada repetición.",
    "Repite el número de repeticiones deseado."
  ],
  "tips_en": [
    "Stay tight during the pause instead of letting the bar sink.",
    "Keep your shoulder blades pinched and your feet planted throughout.",
    "Touch the bar to the same spot on your chest every rep."
  ],
  "tips_de": [
    "Halte die Stange während der Pause unter voller Spannung auf der Brust.",
    "Ziehe die Schulterblätter zusammen und halte sie auf der Bank fixiert.",
    "Drücke die Füße fest in den Boden für stabilen Beinantrieb."
  ],
  "tips_es": [
    "No dejes que la barra se hunda en el pecho durante la pausa.",
    "Mantén los omóplatos retraídos y pegados al banco.",
    "Pide que alguien te asista cuando muevas cargas altas."
  ],
  "met": 6.0,
  "images": {
    "flat": {
      "start": "images/flat/paused-bench-press-start.webp",
      "peak": "images/flat/paused-bench-press-peak.webp"
    }
  }
}

Fetch just this exercise

const { exercises } = await fetch(
  "https://exercise-dataset.com/exercises.json"
).then(r => r.json());
const ex = exercises.find(e => e.id === "paused-bench-press");

Free for personal and commercial in-app use with attribution (“Exercise data by RepDB”) — see the license and ready-made attribution snippets. Redistributing the data as a dataset or API is not permitted.