How long is the pause?

Never competed but there is a local bench competition. Might give it a try. My question is how long is the pause?

Rules usually state that the bar just must come to a complete stop. If you are wearing a tight shirt, the pause is no big deal. When training for it, come down, make sure the bar is not moving, then press it back up.

As long as there is a distinct pause between the down and the press, you will probably be fine. Just no touch and go. there are video clips at powermagonline.com they show what a real pause looks like.

B.

The pause is different at different competitions we've found. At the competition we competed at this past weekend, the head judge gave very quick press commands, giving it as soon as the bar hit our chest (as long as we had control of the bar). However at a competition back in April the press command didn't come so quick and there were a couple of competitors that complained about it, but there's not much you can do, they are the judges.

Just remember to come down with the bar under control and to remain tight at the bottom and the pause should hopefully not matter too much. We've found that practicing the pause on ME day is very helpful, we do it on all board presses, floor press, pretty much everything. That way our body is already conditioned to it.

As an aside. I never really listen for the call. I just pause what I know to be long enough, and press it. I don't really listen to the press command. I have never been called for going too quick. But I agree that all judges are different. I lift in the last flight, though, and I just watch and see what kind of signals other people get in the earlier flights, and press accordingly.

B.

I too have seen that is varies a lot from meet to meet. With a shirt on its not that big of a deal though from what I can tell from my experiences. I actually like the pause with a shirt on, I find it gives me a bigger boost at the bottom then when its just touch and go with a shirt on.