Adding a one-second pause at the bottom of each bench press doesn’t make your muscles more damaged or sore the next day than lifting heavy without pausing.

The pause method doesn’t make your muscles more sore the next day or two after your workout than the normal heavy-lift method.

Even though the pause method makes you do more reps and keeps your muscles under tension longer, it doesn’t make your chest or arm muscles puff up more than the normal heavy-lift method.

When trained guys lift lighter weights but pause briefly at the bottom of each bench press, they can do more reps and keep their muscles under tension longer than when lifting heavier weights without pausing — even though the total weight lifted stays the same.

You can lift almost a third less weight using the pause method, but still do the same total amount of work — and even do more reps and keep your muscles under tension longer.

Even though you do more reps and keep your muscles under tension longer with the pause method, your body doesn’t produce more lactic acid or muscle damage markers — meaning intensity matters more than total reps.