Why Pause Squats Belong in Your Training (and How to Breathe Through Them)

According to Squat University, pause squats serve two distinct purposes in a training program: priming your body during warm-ups and building absolute strength in heavy work.

1. Warm-up preparation — using light weight, pause squats prepare your mobility and stability to handle the exact same extreme bottom position you'll hit during your heavier working sets.
2. Absolute strength building — pausing eliminates the momentum you'd normally generate from a quick bounce out of the bottom, which enhances pure strength in the most mechanically difficult position of the lift.

Both uses matter for different reasons, but the underlying idea is the same: removing the bounce removes the shortcut, and that's where the training benefit comes from.

Pause squats give weightlifters strength insurance and help lifters with a breakdown at the bottom of their squat fix their technique. Squat University explains that for a weightlifter, pausing at the bottom builds the strength to stand up with a heavy clean even if the reception isn't perfectly balanced.

For general squatters, if your squat ascent tends to fall apart or shift out of position coming out of the hole, pause squats — done with much lighter weight at first — can help you build better technique and postural capacity before adding load back.

A pause squat should be held for 5 to 10 seconds, and the breathing pattern changes between the top and the bottom of the movement. Squat University lays out the exact steps:

1. Take a big breath at the top before descending.
2. Drop into the bottom position and hold for 5 to 10 seconds.
3. While paused, keep your core tight the entire time — don't relax it.
4. Instead of holding your breath rigidly, take small sips of air in and out during the pause.

This breathing approach keeps intra-abdominal pressure and core tightness stable throughout the pause instead of letting it leak out, which is what makes the pause actually train strength rather than just fatigue you.