IPF changes bench press rules to disqualify extreme arches

[EliKoehn]

https://barbend.com/ipf-bench-press-rule-change-2023/

This seems like a good change actually. Trying to reduce RoM as much as possible just for the sake of adding weight always struck me as a little artificializing in trying to manipulate the lift as much as possible for that end. It makes sense within the parameters of a competitive sport, but it's not something I get enthusiastic about.

[MyEgoProblem]

Honestly its a terrible change for judging.

Especially given how few people actually do those arches. And how much they generally suffer for the pull.

The new 'great' rules actually disqualify my cgbp from been used as comp. Which is comical
Its a case of gaston biting at the trolls lol.

Its Litterally just another variation for me now..

Not that id compete in ipf, the meets at so boring compared bpu and the others over here in the uk.

[GeneralSerpant]

I don't put my feet up on the bench, but that's only because it gets it dirty.

[smokinal]

Gee, that's too bad.
That means no more of this BS....

[EliKoehn]

Gee, that's too bad.
That means no more of this BS....

What on earth lol...

[lsiberian]

LOL at people cheating with crazy arches. It's like the guys who pull sumo with extremely whippy bars.

[Mortar34]

This needed to happen. Too many records being set with horse chit benches in the last few years.

[smokinal]

What on earth lol...

I would bet it was this viral situation that lead to the new rules; or at least fueled it

[air2fakie]

I would bet it was this viral situation that lead to the new rules; or at least fueled it

Every set of rules is just a roadmap on how to get around them. Can't picture how right now, but someone will figure out how to take advantage of the new rules too.

[BeginnerGainz]

Maybe this will stop bros from bouncing 295 off their chest with their ass clean off the bench by turning it into a decline press.

One could hope.

[EliKoehn]

Maybe this will stop bros from bouncing 295 off their chest with their ass clean off the bench by turning it into a decline press.

One could hope.

Or plunging the bar into their chest and using the rebound to trampoline the concentric. I'm not a fan of that one either.

EDIT: Oh you already mentioned bouncing.

[jaxqen]

****, my powerlifting goal was to have an arch that big that I don't even have to unrack the bar.

[EliKoehn]

****, my powerlifting goal was to have an arch that big that I don't even have to unrack the bar.

Then you should talk to this guy. He's the strongest lifter ever.

[GeneralSerpant]

I'm surprised by how much people are undermining the extraordinary exhibition of skill going on with such arches.

[air2fakie]

I'm surprised by how much people are undermining the extraordinary exhibition of skill going on with such arches.

I personally don't have a problem with it for competition purposes in the sense that it's within the rules. It's like the infield shift in baseball or income tax loopholes, no one's "cheating" if they're doing it within the rules.

If a governing body doesn't like the results it's seeing, it has to change the rules (which they did).

[EliKoehn]

I'm surprised by how much people are undermining the extraordinary exhibition of skill going on with such arches.

I'm not sure if you're being serious or not. I'll freely admit that I can't do it, but at the same time, at what point is it a flexibility pose instead of a lift? That's like saying that disapproval over someone benching an inch off their chest while spinning plates on their toes is misguided because that would take a lot of skill to do - sure, all power to them for that if they can, but what are we taking from a press itself when we evaluate its quality that way?

[GeneralSerpant]

I personally don't have a problem with it for competition purposes in the sense that it's within the rules. It's like the infield shift in baseball or income tax loopholes, no one's "cheating" if they're doing it within the rules.

If a governing body doesn't like the results it's seeing, it has to change the rules (which they did).

I'm not sure if you're being serious or not. I'll freely admit that I can't do it, but at the same time, at what point is it a flexibility pose instead of a lift? That's like saying that disapproval over someone benching an inch off their chest while spinning plates on their toes is misguided because that would take a lot of skill to do - sure, all power to them for that if they can, but what are we taking from a press itself when we evaluate its quality that way?

Well to the lifter's credit, there probably was some sort of a progression curve.

[air2fakie]

That's like saying that disapproval over someone benching an inch off their chest while spinning plates on their toes is misguided because that would take a lot of skill to do - sure, all power to them for that if they can, but what are we taking from a press itself when we evaluate its quality that way?

If they lift the heaviest in a competition, their ROM & the rest of their form is within the rules, and they spin plates on their toes while they do it, you don't think this is more impressive?

[EliKoehn]

If they lift the heaviest in a competition, their ROM & the rest of their form is within the rules, and they spin plates on their toes while they do it, you don't think this is more impressive?

I do actually, just not as much of a "bench press." Of course, who's to say what it strictly is, and they, as a formal organization, can call it whatever they want so that competition occurs around the same even rules for everyone, but I think intuitively, at some point it's not really even the same thing as you would intuitively think anymore.

[air2fakie]

I do actually, just not as much of a "bench press." Of course, who's to say what it strictly is, and they, as a formal organization, can call it whatever they want so that competition occurs around the same even rules for everyone, but I think intuitively, at some point it's not really even the same thing as you would intuitively think anymore.

Ah, you probably would've protested the Fosbury flop if you had been around at the time it was popularized.

[EliKoehn]

Ah, you probably would've protested the Fosbury flop if you had been around at the time it was popularized.

Had to look it up, so no.

I clearly remember watching 9/11 live on TV when I was a child. Apparently that's the dividing line between Millennial and Zoomer, but that's about the "oldest" thing I can claim for my own life experience.

[MyEgoProblem]

Just for fun, ima add.....

This change is Litterally only for one fed.
Especially for the US this Will affect basically no one as PA is tiny.

All the good lifting will still happen everywhere else.

[Mortar34]

Just for fun, ima add.....

This change is Litterally only for one fed.
Especially for the US this Will affect basically no one as PA is tiny.

All the good lifting will still happen everywhere else.

Yes but I assume USAPL will adopt the same if not similar. No one was breaking the rules, just exploiting the fact that the rules were insufficient and essentially allowed two separate lifts to compete for the same award. Though not as glaring, the same is true with sumo and conventional deadlifts. Two totally different movements that should be broken into their own subcategories.

[EliKoehn]

Though not as glaring, the same is true with sumo and conventional deadlifts. Two totally different movements that should be broken into their own subcategories.

This one has become increasingly annoying to me, too. I don't compete (wouldn't win anything at my stats lol) so I'm not completely aware of all the rules, but are there regulations on bar stiffness too? The leverage advantages of sumo aside, I see a lot of deadlifts where the bar is so springy/bendy that they're halfway through the RoM before they've even broken the floor.

[paulinkansas]

Ah, you probably would've protested the Fosbury flop if you had been around at the time it was popularized.

I remember when the USA sent men to the moon and they landed.