I have nothing but admiration for anyone who devotes their time and energy to building muscle, getting strong, and improving their fitness. Hitting the weights or pounding the pavement requires dedication and perseverance, and as a former British Royal Marine Commando, those are character traits I truly appreciate.
That said, I’m a passionate lifter and 40-year veteran personal trainer myself, so I also know firsthand how hard it can be to achieve your training goals. Except for so-called “newbie gains,” progress is invariably slow, and even seemingly insignificant mistakes can hold you back.
That’s why I’m always searching for new ways to make training more effective. Consequently, I have an almost endless list of tips, methods, and strategies I use to squeeze every last possible benefit from every exercise, rep, and set that my clients and I perform.
Related: The 13 Best Methods For Increasing Training Intensity
While these tips and strategies only provide small additional gains, those small gains add up when you use them consistently.
One technique I’ve been experimenting with lately has proven to be especially useful—the pause and squeeze method. I didn’t invent this method, and I don’t know who did, but it’s easy to apply and can be used with almost any strength training exercise. Most importantly, in experiments with my clients and my own training, it has shown itself to be reliably effective.
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In this article, I explain how to incorporate the pause and squeeze method into your training and provide a sample workout to try.
What is the Pause and Squeeze Method?
A lot of training methods, despite being effective, are too complicated for most lifters. Some require a spotter for every rep and set you perform, while others involve setting up and using additional equipment, such as bands and chains.
The good news is that the pause and squeeze method does not depend on help from a spotter, and you won’t need any additional training gear. Instead, it’s simply a new and unique way to perform your reps.
Watch most people when they train, and you’ll see them lifting and lowering the weights with their focus on one thing—how many reps they need to perform. However, studies suggest that the number of reps per set isn’t actually all that important for hypertrophy (1).
Rather, what really matters is HOW you perform your reps.
Things like tempo, proximity to failure, muscular tension, mind-muscle connection, and metabolic stress all matter more than whether you do 10, 15, or 20 reps per set.
And that’s where the pause and squeeze method comes in.
With this technique, you pause for three seconds at the top and bottom of each rep. This will involve a weighted stretch, which is a proven muscle builder (2), and a peak contraction, which is an old-school method that increases muscle engagement. Combined, this one-two punch will hit your muscles harder than ever before, resulting in a new burst of growth.
Here’s an example of the pause and squeeze method applied to cable crossovers…
- Grab a handle in each hand and stand in the center of the cable machine.
- Adopt a staggered stance for balance, brace your core, and extend your arms out at shoulder height, elbows slightly bent.
- Without bending your arms, draw the handles in and down so they meet in front of your hips.
- Squeeze your hands together as hard as you can for three seconds. Tense your pecs with all your might.
- Slowly return to the starting position, and, with your pecs stretched, pause again for three seconds.
- Do all your reps in the same way, continuing until you reach failure.
- Rest 1-2 minutes and repeat.
Advantages and Benefits of the Pause and Squeeze Method
While conventional reps are undoubtedly effective, there are several reasons why the pause and squeeze method deserves a place in your workouts. These include:
Loaded Stretches Are Linked To Greater Hypertrophy
Evidence suggests that loading a muscle in a stretched position, e.g., the bottom of a calf raise, is an effective trigger for growth (2). In fact, there is an entire training method based around this principle—long-length partials. However, full-range reps tend to be more functional, not to mention easier to quantify.
The pause and squeeze method harnesses the muscle-building power of loaded stretches while still allowing you to utilize a full range of motion.
Increased Mind-Muscle Connection
As I often tell my clients, it’s almost impossible to develop a muscle you can’t feel working. Squeezing a muscle as hard as you can mid-rep is a great way to strengthen your mind-muscle connection. Studies suggest that a stronger mind-muscle connection produce more effective workouts (3).
Mid-rep squeezes force you to mentally and physically engage your muscles, and you should feel them working throughout the entire range of movement of each subsequent rep.
More Metabolic Stress and a More Powerful Pump
The two pauses make every rep longer and harder, resulting in an increase in metabolic stress. This means your muscles are flooded with various waste products, including lactic acid. Metabolic stress is one of the triggers of muscle growth (4).
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In addition, those same pauses reduce blood flow to your muscles. This prevents those metabolites from being removed. As such, this is a form of blood flow restriction training, which is another tried-and-tested muscle-building method (5).
The combination of increased metabolic stress and blood flow restriction will deliver an intense pump. The pump, as all bodybuilders know, is another indicator of a successful muscle-building workout.
A More Effective Workout with Lower Weights
Ask most lifters how to make a workout more demanding, and they’ll probably tell you to increase your training weights. However, this is just one of the strategies available and, in my experience, not always the best choice.
Lifting more weight does put more tension on your muscles, but it also increases joint stress. That’s a problem if, like many lifters, you already have cranky shoulders or knees. More weight can also impair your lifting technique, potentially leading to muscle strains.
The pause and squeeze method increases workout intensity without lifting more weight. In fact, you may even find you need to reduce your weights with this training technique. Adding pauses and squeezes will allow you to get a great workout without having to rely on heavy loads.
Sample Pause and Squeeze Workout
You now have all the information you need to start using the pause and squeeze method in your training. Try applying it to any lagging body parts, e.g., calves or pecs. However, you’ll probably get even better results if you incorporate it into a balanced workout program, so here’s one to try!
There are two upper and two lower training days, and you’ll be working out four times a week. This, in my experience, provides the perfect balance between work and recovery.
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| Upper body (1) | Lower body (1) | Rest | Upper body (2) | Rest | Lower body (2) | Rest |
But, before you lay so much as a pinkie finger on any weights, you must start your workout with a warm-up. Warming up prepares your muscles, joints, and nervous system for what you’re about to do, so you’ll be able to train harder and with a lower risk of injury.
Start your warm-up with 5-10 minutes of light cardio, followed by dynamic mobility and flexibility exercises for the body parts you’re about to train. End your warm-up with a couple of rehearsal sets of your main exercises to dial in your form for the day.
Warmed up and ready to go? Then let’s get started!
Use the pause and squeeze rep method on all the prescribed exercises and sets. Adjust your weights down to reflect the increased difficulty.
Upper body (1)
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Recovery | |
| 1 | Incline dumbbell bench press | 3-4 | 8-12 | 60-90 seconds |
| 2 | Close-grip lat pulldown | 3-4 | 8-12 | 60-90 seconds |
| 3 | Pec deck | 3-4 | 8-12 | 60-90 seconds |
| 4 | Single-arm dumbbell row | 3-4 | 8-12 | 60-90 seconds |
| 5 | Cable lateral raise | 3-4 | 8-12 | 60-90 seconds |
| 6 | Seated dumbbell overhead press | 3-4 | 8-12 | 60-90 seconds |
| 7 | Bayesian cable curl | 3-4 | 8-12 | 60-90 seconds |
| 8 | Dumbbell skull crusher | 3-4 | 8-12 | 60-90 seconds |
Lower body (1)
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Recovery | |
| 1 | Smith machine squat | 3-4 | 8-12 | 60-90 seconds |
| 2 | Seated leg curl | 3-4 | 8-12 | 60-90 seconds |
| 3 | Bulgarian split squat | 3-4 | 8-12 | 60-90 seconds |
| 4 | Romanian deadlift | 3-4 | 8-12 | 60-90 seconds |
| 5 | Standing calf raise | 3-4 | 8-12 | 60-90 seconds |
| 6 | Stability ball crunch | 3-4 | 8-12 | 60-90 seconds |
Upper body (2)
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Recovery | |
| 1 | Smith machine bench press | 3-4 | 8-12 | 60-90 seconds |
| 2 | Pull-up/chin-up | 3-4 | 8-12 | 60-90 seconds |
| 3 | Cable crossover | 3-4 | 8-12 | 60-90 seconds |
| 4 | Seated cable row | 3-4 | 8-12 | 60-90 seconds |
| 5 | Dumbbell lateral raise | 3-4 | 8-12 | 60-90 seconds |
| 6 | Shoulder press machine | 3-4 | 8-12 | 60-90 seconds |
| 7 | Incline dumbbell curl | 3-4 | 8-12 | 60-90 seconds |
| 8 | Triceps pushdown | 3-4 | 8-12 | 60-90 seconds |
Lower body (2)
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Recovery | |
| 1 | Leg press | 3-4 | 8-12 | 60-90 seconds |
| 2 | Lying leg curl | 3-4 | 8-12 | 60-90 seconds |
| 3 | Reverse deficit lunge | 3-4 | 8-12 | 60-90 seconds |
| 4 | Good morning | 3-4 | 8-12 | 60-90 seconds |
| 5 | Seated calf raise | 3-4 | 8-12 | 60-90 seconds |
| 6 | Kneeling cable crunch | 3-4 | 8-12 | 60-90 seconds |
Closing Thoughts
The pause and squeeze method may look simple, but don’t mistake simplicity for easy. By adding just a few extra seconds of tension to every rep, you can spark new muscle growth, boost your mind-muscle connection, and achieve a skin splitting pump—all without piling on heavier weights.
It’s a smart way to challenge your body while keeping your joints safe and your form solid.
If your training has hit a plateau, or if certain muscle groups just refuse to grow, give this method a try. Apply it consistently for a few weeks and see how your physique and performance respond. Like any effective tool, its real value lies in how you use it.
Ready to get more from every rep? Grab your workout log, choose a few key lifts, and start pausing and squeezing today. Your muscles will thank you.
Questions or comments about the pause and squeeze training method? Drop me a line below and I’ll get back to you ASAP!
References:
1 – Lasevicius T, Ugrinowitsch C, Schoenfeld BJ, Roschel H, Tavares LD, De Souza EO, Laurentino G, Tricoli V. Effects of different intensities of resistance training with equated volume load on muscle strength and hypertrophy. Eur J Sport Sci. 2018 Jul;18(6):772-780. doi: 10.1080/17461391.2018.1450898. Epub 2018 Mar 22. PMID: 29564973.
2 – Kassiano W, Costa B, Kunevaliki G, Soares D, Zacarias G, Manske I, Takaki Y, Ruggiero MF, Stavinski N, Francsuel J, Tricoli I, Carneiro MAS, Cyrino ES. Greater Gastrocnemius Muscle Hypertrophy After Partial Range of Motion Training Performed at Long Muscle Lengths. J Strength Cond Res. 2023 Sep 1;37(9):1746-1753. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000004460. Epub 2023 Apr 3. PMID: 37015016.
3 – Calatayud J, Vinstrup J, Jakobsen MD, Sundstrup E, Brandt M, Jay K, Colado JC, Andersen LL. Importance of mind-muscle connection during progressive resistance training. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2016 Mar;116(3):527-33. doi: 10.1007/s00421-015-3305-7. Epub 2015 Dec 23. PMID: 26700744.
4 – de Freitas MC, Gerosa-Neto J, Zanchi NE, Lira FS, Rossi FE. Role of metabolic stress for enhancing muscle adaptations: Practical applications. World J Methodol. 2017 Jun 26;7(2):46-54. doi: 10.5662/wjm.v7.i2.46. PMID: 28706859; PMCID: PMC5489423.
5 – Lorenz DS, Bailey L, Wilk KE, Mangine RE, Head P, Grindstaff TL, Morrison S. Blood Flow Restriction Training. J Athl Train. 2021 Sep 1;56(9):937-944. doi: 10.4085/418-20. PMID: 34530434; PMCID: PMC8448465.
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