Help: raising ass off bench to unrack weight

[logan101113]

What’s good, I’m doing my first powerlifting meet in 4 weeks and I’m wondering if it’s legal to raise your ass off the bench to unrack the weight, as long as it’s on the bench during the lift. I’ve been doing this and I’m not sure if it’s illegal. I’m doing USPA btw

[BenMcLeodNZ]

Even if it's legal, it's a bad habit, so you should find out why you can't unrack what you can bench and try fix it. Perhaps you need lat work.

All the best.

[utfootball4]

Read the rule handbook.

[Rags85]

Its legal. Its not necessarily a bad habit either. It can help you maintain an arch and stay tight.

What will happen is that the side judges won't give the go ahead for the head judge to tell you to start the lift until your butt is down.

Basically the side judges are watching you setup, and once you're ready, they will signal to the head judge that you are ready. Then and only then, will the head judge give you the start command.


It may delay you getting a start command by a little bit (1 second or so), and it will encourage the side judges to watch more closely to see if you lift your butt during the lift.

Once you get the start command, you may not lift your butt at all until the lift is completed.

I second that you read the rulebook. Theres plenty of little nuances that will all be in it.
https://uspa.net/resources/USPA_Rulebook.pdf

[WolfRose7]

Even if it's legal, it's a bad habit, so you should find out why you can't unrack what you can bench and try fix it. Perhaps you need lat work.

All the best.

why is it a bad habit?

[smokinHawk]

With uspa you will have the start command, so they won't give it to you until you're in position. I raise my butt to unrack as it helps me unrack them get all the weight to my shoulders digging them into the bench. So don't worry deegit it as long as your butt is down after the start command

[ytc1000]

why is it a bad habit?

It's not necessarily a bad habit, but if you're extending at your lumbar spine rather than thoracic spine to pick your butt up, you will hurt yourself.

[melDorado]

It's legal
You know the spotters will lift you off?
A lot of things aren't legal in bench.. read the rules carefully.. plenty ways to get red lighted

[BenMcLeodNZ]

why is it a bad habit?

Well I just think it's not starting your lift off in a good position, and if you are holding your max weight, the time to set your ass down and balance yourself can bleed off a little energy. You can hurt your rotator cuff on lift-offs too so you want them strong and stable IMO.

Also if there's just one lacking muscle group for him unracking (or possibly his position on the bench) I don't see why you wouldn't want to fix that up, especially for a beginner.

If it's not possible for him, it's not possible, but worth a try.

[WolfRose7]

Well I just think it's not starting your lift off in a good position, and if you are holding your max weight, the time to set your ass down and balance yourself can bleed off a little energy. You can hurt your rotator cuff on lift-offs too so you want them strong and stable IMO.

Also if there's just one lacking muscle group for him unracking (or possibly his position on the bench) I don't see why you wouldn't want to fix that up, especially for a beginner.

If it's not possible for him, it's not possible, but worth a try.

Fair enough, just wanted to know the thought behind your opinion.
I will say, I think mostly people use this method to put their shoulders in a better position unrscking and maintain ing good position so don't agree about the rotator cuff.
And I don't think lagging or not muscle groups come into play during a bench unrack, it's only a tricep pop up n out anyway.
Where you position your jhooks relative to arm length and grip, and how adjustable your hook height is would be though

[BenMcLeodNZ]

Fair enough, just wanted to know the thought behind your opinion.
I will say, I think mostly people use this method to put their shoulders in a better position unrscking and maintain ing good position so don't agree about the rotator cuff.
And I don't think lagging or not muscle groups come into play during a bench unrack, it's only a tricep pop up n out anyway.
Where you position your jhooks relative to arm length and grip, and how adjustable your hook height is would be though

Cool man, good point about the J-hooks, going to a meet with an unfamiliar bench can be a problem.

I swear I use my lats unracking, anatomically it's hard to know how lats work in the bench but I seem to use them.

[logan101113]

Thx for all the answers! There are a few reasons I raise my butt off the bench to unrack the weight.
1. I find that it gets me in a better position and makes it easier for me to unrack with short arms (I’m also only 5’6 lol)
2. I have a partially torn left pec that makes it harder to unrack. I tore it last summer but I went to physical therapy and got released. I am back to my full bench strength but it is harder to unrack and do flys

[BenMcLeodNZ]

If you have an injury then you do what you've got to do. I had a play around this morning thinking about this, and I found that lifting your ass off to unrack isn't as unstable as it looks, so probably won't hold you back.

Curious, how did you tear your pec?

[logan101113]

There were a lot of reasons. I followed a 3x a week program for bench and back then I would bounce the bar off my chest and I did progress fast but all of that put a lot of strain on it. I didn’t wanna stop training though, and kept pushing through the pain until I finally tore it a few weeks later at a cheap commercial gym while I was on vacation. Had to learn things the hard way

[Rags85]

Cool man, good point about the J-hooks, going to a meet with an unfamiliar bench can be a problem.

I swear I use my lats unracking, anatomically it's hard to know how lats work in the bench but I seem to use them.

You're supposed to. It means you're doing it right.