Bench Press Hesitation

[Bigbrother24]

Hello Mr. Rippetoe,
I First would like to thank you for writing your books as thanks to SS and Practical programming I have learned quite a lot about strength training they helped me go from a weak couch potato that can only do the bar in all lifts to numbers that are better than majority of average gym goers in just 15 months.

Bit of background.
5'7/170 cm Male, 176 lbs/ 80kgs, 20-22% bfat, lifts are in kg OHP: 3x2 63 kg, Bench Press 3x2 107 kg, Squat 1x5 160 kg Deadlift 1x5 167 kg.
I am doing the 4 day template of Texas method with a bit of tweaking.
M/T both volume W rest T/F Intensity days SS rest days.
I am still making progress on all my lifts however I have been noticing this specific problem with bench.

Every time I attempt to bench my Intensity day my first rep in both sets is almost as if i'm fighting against it I keep lowering the weight little by little and making the lift as i'm doing a multiple pause bench during the descent.
This issue only happens in the first rep of every set(so even the second set) the other reps however are smooth and the weight goes down with good speed and same going up.

I am wondering if there is something I can do with regards to this, a strong guy in my gym said I should do some speed work and also heavy 90% 1rm singles with focusing on a fast descent however I wanted your expert opinion first before I messed with my continuing progress with Texas method.

Sorry for my bad grammar English is not my first language.

[Mark Rippetoe]

How long do you rest between sets, are you taking 2.5kg increases between workouts, and how much do you eat?

[Bigbrother24]

How long do you rest between sets, are you taking 2.5kg increases between workouts, and how much do you eat?

I rest 5 mins between my 2 sets on Intensity day. Increasing 1kg for ohp and bench 2.5 kg for DL and Squat. Eating 3300-3500 mainly packs of 750g of 10% fat mince meat and on some days chicken thighs, I have loadsa oats and eggs bit lactose intolerant so only have milk in weekends since gives me bad gas.

I Think it's mainly a technique issue because my 2nd and 3rd reps always have good speed on the bench descent but first one is almost a negative rep and super slow.

[BDorff]

I'm really interested in seeing where this conversation goes... I'm a late stage novice that's having the same issue. I'm thinking maybe in my own case CNS isn't ready for the load and maybe another intermediate warm up rep or two closer to the work set weight would break through the hitch.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Your Central Nervous System is somehow compromised? Mechanism? You boys must have missed this:

The First Three Questions | Mark Rippetoe

[Rob Waskis]

I had this exact same issue not too long ago. For me, it was nothing more than a bad habit. I corrected it by focusing on moving the bar quickly on volume days. I did not deload any weight, and I kept the traditional 5 x 5 scheme. It probably only took 4-6 weeks for the issue to resolve itself.

[Mugaaz]

I've had problems with this as well. Don't have an explanation for it. Only impacts negative of the first rep, but all sets. Has to be north of 80% of 1RM to occur.

[BDorff]

Quite familiar with the 'first three'... And no, I wasn't suggesting compromise, just a lack of preparedness. BUT in retrospect, if more warm up was required I wouldn't be seeing the same effect across all work sets. Rep one, initial descent is slow and doesn't feel well controlled. Reps 2-5 challenging, but successful.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Then probably Rob has your answer.

[BDorff]

I've had problems with this as well. Don't have an explanation for it. Only impacts negative of the first rep, but all sets. Has to be north of 80% of 1RM to occur.

Yep - same thing for me as well. It doesn't show up on warm up sets, just the most recent work sets. Once it's moving, no problems at all, beyond the stress of moving the weight. Driving me nuts wondering if it's technique, physiological or psychological.