Any suggestion on how to kick this habit?

[purbeast0]

I have this habit when I lift that say I'm doing a set of 8 or so, I'll pump out the first 4 reps back to back, then around the 4th or so i'll hold it after the rep is done. like today on my bench i was doing the 5x5, and after doing the 3 reps back to back to back, after i pushed the 3rd one up, i would hold it there for a second and take some air.

i have a feeling this is also hindering me because when i hold it there i tend to think about it and it gets in my head.

does anyone else do this, and if so, how did you kick it so you just pump out the reps w/out any pausing between them?

i feel like this is screwing with my head and hindering my ability to get some more weight up sometimes.

EDIT:

when I think about it I seem to do this for every muscle group other than my abs workout.

 

[onlyCOpunk]

I do this with my squats, it hasn't effected my performance though. I used to do it on some other things too, but after I put myself in the zone I try to keep a steady pace, and everytime I get the weight down, I just think "bounce back." Another thing you could try is to eliminate that comfort zone because once you get there you wont want to come back out. For example when doing leg presses the comfort zone is when I have my legs fully extended and straight, but I simply stopped pushing the weights all the way up and left a slight bend in my knee. Maybe in the case of benching don't push the weight up as high as you can, instead only raise it to like 90% or 95%.

 

[sash1]

i tend to do this with compounds/big weights. squats, cleans, bench, leg press.

i'll stop at the top of my squat, end of the leg press, what have you, refocus, and get another rep in.

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: onlyCOpunk
I do this with my squats, it hasn't effected my performance though. I used to do it on some other things too, but after I put myself in the zone I try to keep a steady pace, and everytime I get the weight down, I just think "bounce back." Another thing you could try is to eliminate that comfort zone because once you get there you wont want to come back out. For example when doing leg presses the comfort zone is when I have my legs fully extended and straight, but I simply stopped pushing the weights all the way up and left a slight bend in my knee. Maybe in the case of benching don't push the weight up as high as you can, instead only raise it to like 90% or 95%.

that is a good idea actually. if i don't lock my elbows out i just won't be able to hold it in position. i've also heard in general it's not good to lock out when doing bench and squats and what not, but i guess this is part of that habit in the way that I just do it.

and like sash1 i only tend to do this on more compound exercises where I am using heavier weight. i don't really do it when I curl or do shoulder raises (stuff with dumbells in general) but when I use barbells i tend to do it.

 

[purbeast0]

ttt

 

[TecHNooB]

Close your eyes, concentrate, and push like a madman!

 

[Cyraxx]

It's not a bad thing, I do it too. It's a feeling you wont be able to do the last rep controllably, so you hold it up, refocus, and do it properly. Nothing wrong.