When trained lifters slow down their bench press reps by half, it helps them build bigger chest muscles and do more reps.

38

Pro

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Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

38

Community contributions welcome

38

Optimizing Strength and Hypertrophy: The Combined Effect of Intensity and Velocity Loss Thresholds in Bench Press Training.

Randomized Controlled Trial

Human

2026 Mar 24

The study found that letting your bench press reps slow down by 50% from your fastest speed gives the best muscle growth and rep count, which matches exactly what the claim said.

Contradicting (0)

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No contradicting evidence found

Gold Standard Evidence Needed

According to GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this specific claim, ordered from strongest to weakest evidence.

Source Study

Optimizing Strength and Hypertrophy: The Combined Effect of Intensity and Velocity Loss Thresholds in Bench Press Training.

Score: 38

DOI: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000003988

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For men who already lift weights, doing bench presses with heavy weights (70-85% of their max) for 8 weeks gives the best boost to chest muscle size, strength, lifting speed, and how many reps they can do.

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When two different ways of lifting weights are adjusted so that the total time your muscles are under strain is the same, both ways lead to about the same strength gains and muscle growth in people who haven’t trained before.

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