Paused vs. Rebound Reps for Athletic Development

“Should I pause my bench and squat to build more explosiveness for my sport?”

I’ve received similar questions from a number of people online, as well as with surprising frequency from my athletes.

The short answer is that paused reps are indeed a good idea for many sports, but furthermore that a directed combination of paused and rebound/reflex reps are likely even better than ONLY paused reps or ONLY reflex reps; more importantly, dead-stop explosiveness is more useful in some sports, where reactiveness is more useful in other sports.

Let’s start by defining of some of the terms we are using. Al Vermeil distinguishes “explosive strength” as referring to the ability to generate force quickly (generally from a dead-stop: think of a sprinter or swimmer off of blocks, or a weightlifter pulling a clean off the floor), and “elastic/reactive strength”, referring to the ability of an athlete to ABSORB and consequently DELIVER a great amount of force, quickly. In other words, the distinction is whether the movement starts from a stand-still, or from a countermovement. Elastic movements involve mechanical loading on the tendons, which in turn contribute to a greater amount of force and consequent speed, when compared to explosive movements. This is why almost anyone can jump higher with a step or countermovement, rather than from a dead-stop or seated position.

Cal Dietz, author of Triphasic Training, highlights the importance of a high performance athlete’s ability to absorb and deliver force (Vermeil’s concept of elastic/reactive strength). This sort of athleticism is present in almost all field, court, and track sports; just about any time a human is running, jumping, bounding or rebounding on land, chances are that athlete is utilizing reflexive action. Often, the most gifted athletes naturally display a great amount of reactive strength.

Another perspective on the same issue is that we can view low-speed strength (e.g., grinding out a deadlift) and top-speed movement (top flight in a sprint) as opposite ends of the same spectrum. Eric Cressey presents a similar concept below, relating mostly to pitching speed (hint: all of athleticism follows very similar rules of development)

 

Here’s the thing: strength is far more trainable than speed, so you have to remember that it’s a lot easier to improve low-speed strength than high velocities of sprinting and throwing.  Additionally, improving lower classifications of athleticism (work capacity, hypertrophy, strength) is more effective at improving higher  classifications of athleticism  (explosiveness, elasticity, speed) than the other way around. As such, we work our way up the Vermeil heirarchy of athletic development, or from low-speed strength to high-speed movements. If you have an athlete who is incredibly fast, but struggling to get faster, you can’t just keep throwing speed work at him; at some point, he’s going to get need to get stronger before he can get faster. On the other hand, if you have an athlete who is already immensely strong, but not as explosive or fast as you need him to be, it’s probably time to focus on explosive, reactive, and speed training.

Coming back to our original question of comparing and contrasting paused and rebound reps, you need to look at the constraints of your sport. If you are an athlete trying to improve your ability to generate force quickly from a dead stop (sprinters off blocks, swimmers of blocks and walls, linemen and shotputters…obviously), pausing your reps before the concentric might be a great choice! On the other hand, if you’re an athlete who mostly needs to improve top flight or rebounding (400m sprinter, high jumper, long jumper, etc), maybe you’d be better served with rebound reps.

In short, evaluate the needs of your sport and your own natural proclivities to determine whether you need to emphasize explosiveness or reactiveness/elasticity. Of course, most sports and most athletes need both. You can periodize your programming to include more paused work in earlier mesocycles, and emphasize rebound work in later mesocycles. This will not only afford you periods of emphasis on each, but also naturally transition you from lighter-to-heavier loads and lower-to-higher speeds as you approach your season.

Finally, realize that paused vs. rebound reps can be applied to much more than just squats and bench alone! Some examples include jumps with or without countermovement, medball throws with or without stretch reflex loading, Hang cleans/snatches with or without a dead stop at the knee (or from the floor), and push presses or jerks with or without a pause in the bottom of the dip.

Remember, get fit, big, strong, explosive, bouncy, and fast…in that order!