Eric Spoto finally did it!
He Benched 325kg (716lbs) on his second and 327.5kg (722lbs) on his third attempt.
Best of Olympic Weightlifting
Best of Olympic Weightlifting
Eric Spoto finally did it!
He Benched 325kg (716lbs) on his second and 327.5kg (722lbs) on his third attempt.
Now this is something! Congratulations!
Pause???
You arent actually going to whine about pausing surely!? Powerlifting rules dictate the bar is motionless on the chest before pressing. The pause isnt ment to be a dliberate few seconds. A press signal as soon as the bar is motionless, such as this vid, shows good refereeing.
What is the purpose of the press command then?
By definition the bar is motionless when the movement is reversed. So it seems kind of redundant to just wait for the bar to touch the chest and immediately give the press command.
Disclaimer: Don’t take this as me no appreciating this lift (I would not have posted it if I didn’t think it was awesome). That said I want to see the Paralympic Bench Press rules applied to all of Powerlifting.
From page 68 here: http://www.paralympic.org/sites/default/files/document/120628122335013_2011_06_Powerlifting_RulesRegulationsxFINALx.pdf
“After receiving the start command the lifter must, when readily composed, lower the bar to the chest in a fully controlled manner and without heaving or bouncing the bar visibly touch the chest and then press it upwards again.
There must be a noticeable break between the eccentric and concentric movement of the bar touches the chest.
After the bar touches the chest, the bar must not sink into the chest, the bar must not think innto the chest in such a way that is considered to have assisted the lifter or made the lift easier in any way
The bar must progress upwards in a consistent equal manner to result in an equal extension ‘lock out of both arms’ to arms length. At no time must there be any staggered movement of the arms during the upward press phase (known as ‘walking’ the bar)”
Gregor, you are quoting the rules from a paralympic federation, which doesn’t quite reflect the general world of PLing. Most feds do not describe the pause in quite the fashion here (i.e. dictating a ‘noticeable break’), even the IPF merely states: “8. The lifter must lower the bar to the chest or abdominal area (the bar shall not touch the belt), hold it motionless, after which the Chief referee will signal the audible command “Press”. The lifter must then return the bar to straight arms length elbows locked. When held motionless in this position the audible command “Rack” shall be given together with a backward motion of the arm.” No rulebook that I know of dictates a length of pause.
You ask what the point of a press command is–I would say that the point, implicit in most rulebooks, is to prevent “heaving or bouncing” as in the excerpt you give above.
Although the term “paused” bench (which implies the bar remains motionless for a second or two) gets bounced around a LOT in powerlifting circles, it is worth noting that the term is rarely (if ever) found in any rulebook. What this comes down to is very much like the issue of below parallel squats. Even if a squat is a millimeter below parallel, according to a rulebook, it should count. In the real world, however, squats only a fraction of an inch below parallel and benches that remain motionless for only a fraction of a second are the judges call–in the case of bench more so than in squat since the judge actually gives you the command to come up. I’d compare it to the issue of press outs in Oly lifting: just take a look at Taranenko’s 266.
Regardless, Spoto’s bench was at least as paused as Mendy’s record. (Ironic smile.) I think it is fairly unquestionable that Spoto is the strongest bencher to ever walk the planet.
To clarify my position: I agree that the pause was quite short, but that Spoto in no way heaved or bounced his bench, and he clearly waited for and was responding to the press signal.
Thanks Everett.
I’d like to clarify my comment, because I think you understood it the wrong way.
At no time was I suggesting that Eric bounced his rep.
I was merely quoting the Paralympic rules as an example of how I personally would like to see able bodied Powerlifting competitions run. That is, the strictest way possible.
I see. While I agree with the tenor of your statement, the line has to be drawn somewhere. In oly and power lifting we could disallow belts, chalk, hook grip, wrist wraps,
lift-offs on bench, any rotation of the body during CJs and snatches,
double bouncing on squats CJs or snatches, etc.–any other number of things
that make lifts less a display of pure power. Heck, we could require WLers to pause at the bottom of cleans instead of bouncing out of the bottom like the cheaters they are! 😉
I suppose I’m fine with the subjective line of where the bench press judging has fallen. I’m less content with the overly strict rules of the paralympics which redlighted Rahman’s 301 kg bench for uneven extension (even though he has no legs to balance with)–a lift that probably would have only gotten a 1 redlight slap-on-the-wrist even in a fed like the IPF.
Also, I didn’t include the little ad absurdum digression in order to demean your position, but just to point out that whenever we choose standards for lifts they are subjective points along a continuum. In fact, I think you and I have quite similar visions for judging in powerlifting, and here they are just a hair different.
I value your comments highly, because they get me thinking. Thanks for taking the time.