Don’t know if this was covered because I’m not reading all 159 comments, but depending on the specifics of the rulebook this maybe shouldn’t have counted, and it has nothing to do with the arch. Notice the starting and ending position of the bar… he starts lower than he locks out. What this means is he is starting with elbows not truly locked, which is defined in some rulebooks. Only reason I know this is I’ve been called on it at a USPA meet before lol. Of course as far as ATWRs go it’s a minor complaint seeing as how I can go to an SPF meet and have my handoff guy hold it till it’s half way to my chest…
Personally I think big benches with big arches are impressive in their own right… try maintaining that level of flexibility while still building the strength needed to achieve any ROM with nearly 600 lbs. Most guys that strong are about as limber as a 2x4.
Not necessarily. Some people start the press with more scapular retraction, and at the lockout they lose some of this tension which can help finalise the lockout and guarantee locked elbows. Not uncommon.
Plenty of lifters do it. Sometimes it’s called sometimes nah. Brett Gibbs is as IPF approved as they come had to restart his bench. Yury Belkin is pretty blatant with starting it with elbows bent a few degrees
Sure it might be possible to have a higher lockout than start from “scap pressing” the weight at the top, though in my experience I’ve only seen this kind of thing in novice lifters since scap retraction and locking is one of the major cues for big benching. If you’re pressing nearly 600 lbs with any ROM I’d be skeptical that you’re losing enough tension anywhere to account for that amount of differential between the start and lock. Doesn’t really matter anyhow if this fed doesn’t have a rule for it. Just to clarify, when I was called it was strictly because my start and lock were noticeably different. not specifically that my elbows weren’t locked.
@guineapig yeah that’s always been something that’s kind of irked me about Belkin, but again if it’s allowed in the rules it’s allowed. It’s not the lifter’s job to police their lifting, it’s their job to do just enough to get 2 whites.
That sounds like bad judging if you ask me. There is no rule that the start and unrack positions have to be the same.
I think some guys get away with unracking with unlocked elbows due to having big arms, it can be hard to tell if it’s just slightly unlocked so to a certain point you can get away with it. Hoornstra was doing that for a while but pushed it a bit too far. But in some cases the judges tend to rule in favor of well known lifters because they want them coming back to that meet next year and trying to avoid bad publicity and such.
Also, it seems to me that holding the bar with unlocked elbows takes more effort than if they were locked. These days I’m competing in a WPC affiliate and there is no start command, but you get red lights for uneven extension of the bar or not locking out both arms at the same time. Everywhere you go it’s a different story.
This, I cant think of a single fed that has this as a rule. That might be what they look for to call you on starting or finishing without locked elbows, but its the locked elbows that are the actual rule.
People who rely alot on very retracted scaps actually struggle to lockout while keeping them in that position because the retraction angle occludes the joint. They have to let their scaps retract closer to normal to physically be able to lock their elbows. It doesnt happen in the heavyweights often so no its unlikely to be seen on guys pressing over 600.
I doubt it’s a big carryover, but even if it’s 50 lbs (which it’s probably closer to 10-20 if anything) that still puts Yury about 100 lbs ahead of the rest on his total.
After receiving the bar at arms length the lifter must show locked control of the lift to receive the head judge’s verbal “Bench” command to commence the lift. Once the command is given the lifter, at will, shall lower the bar to his chest in a controlled manner and await the referee’s command. Any reverse of direction during downward descent is considered an attempt.
Depends how you defined locked control. This is from the RPS rule book. I’ve seen judges make you hold it before getting the Bench command because they want to make sure you’ve got your elbows as locked as you’re going to have them.
Failure to wait or get the Bench Command may be deemed a “Soft Start” defined as follows:
auses for Disqualification for the Bench Press
Failure to observe any of the three referee’s commands during the lift.
Failure to wait or get the Bench Command may be deemed a “Soft Start” defined as follows:
Lifter fails to start with arms in fully “Locked” position prior to lowering bar to torso.
Lifter commences the lift with his handoff person’s hands still on the bar.
Lifter’s handoff person assists in lowering the bar into a more advantageous starting position thus bypassing the “Locked” starting position.
USPA seems alright over all but there are some bad calls now and then. Like at the Tribute they called Malanichev for having his ass off the bench, but he unracks the bar with his ass up (which is allowed) and he shouldn’t have been given the press command. During the actual execution of the lift he did nothing wrong, the judge just gave the command to early and it cost him a lift.
Maybe for some people, but even with no press command I still let the bar settle in position as if I was waiting for one, anything else doesn’t feel right.
Even feds that don’t have a press command require you to hold the bar with locked elbows before lowering it.
WPC:
"After receiving the bar at arms length, the lifter shall lower the bar to the chest and await the head referees’ signal. "
At least at the meets I was in, we were told that arms length = locked elbows and it your elbows aren’t locked at the start you are getting a rack command instead of a press command.