New Rules and regulations You should Know
1) No Pre-weigh In's - All weigh In's must be done by an official EPF member the night before the meet or
the morning of the meet during posted weigh in times. No exceptions
2) Three judges down to Two Judges for the bench press.
Many times during the bench press a lifter will lift his butt to help complete the lift.
In the past both judges had to see the action to give the lift an incomplete (two red lights)
This lead to a lot of lifters getting away with a bad lift. If one judge was looking at another level of the lift
like locking out he may miss the butt coming up. So we asked ourselves... Do you need two judges to tell
you when a butt comes up or just one. The answer is just one. If one judge missed the infraction it doesn't
change the fact that the lifter still cheated regardless if they realize they cheated. The head judge looks
for the press & rack it commands. He is also in place to see if the bar touches the uprights for assistance
and can determine if the lift is unsafe. The only rule the head judge can't see is the lifting your butt rule.
This change doesn't effect the quality or safety of the lift. Just the quality of the judging. More accurate
and high quality benching.
3) No baggy pants or shorts – You MUST have a wrestling singlet or spandex material.
If you have shorts that you think are tight enough to pass, you better check with the head judge or meet
director first. Normal everyday shorts won’t cut it anymore. This rule applies to all lifters. From teenage to
master lifter. BE PREPARED!
4) Breaking a record – The EPF will allow any member to break a state record in another state as long
as it's a sanctioned meet & the lifter is a member of the EPF. Example: A Vermont resident can break a VT
record at one of our Sanctioned meets in NH.
5) Foot Loose while benching – During the bench press if your foot moves, pops up or slip out would
have been a penalty. We believe this is a nonsense rule. If anything… this usually makes it more difficult
to complete the press as you have lost your stability. If however this causes the weight to go downward
and then back up, this will be a penalty and result in a "No lift". If at any time the lift appears to be unsafe,
then the weight would be taken by the spotters and ruled no lift.
6) The lock out –
The EPF has changes the lock out perception. Waiting for the elbows to snap into place while a max
weight is on the bar is just another crazy rule that has never officially changed. You must extend your arms
all the way to receive the rack it command, but your elbows do not have to be fully extended or in some
cases hyper extended. To most people these to stages look the same. This is why we have taken the next
step to prevent countless injuries and long term damage to the elbow. Your arms must still be fully
extended to complete the lift and receive the “Rack It” command. It is the discretion of the head referee to
determine the lifter has fully extended the arms. This rule is no different than any other federation. We are
just putting it down in writing. Most meet directors use their judgment in the same manner but the rules
hasn't been changed in the rules book.
With this new rule also comes the decision to not allow lifters to compete in the bench if they cannot at
least extend their arms to full length. In the past we have been soft on this lock out rule and allowed some
lifters to complete the lift with only a partial extension of the elbow. Usually the lifter was more than 68
years old and it was more of a favor or incentive to keep them competing. We truly believed these guys
would extend the elbow as much as they could, but it still wasn't fair to the other lifters who received red
lights when they were at the same position.
1) No Pre-weigh In's - All weigh In's must be done by an official EPF member the night before the meet or
the morning of the meet during posted weigh in times. No exceptions
2) Three judges down to Two Judges for the bench press.
Many times during the bench press a lifter will lift his butt to help complete the lift.
In the past both judges had to see the action to give the lift an incomplete (two red lights)
This lead to a lot of lifters getting away with a bad lift. If one judge was looking at another level of the lift
like locking out he may miss the butt coming up. So we asked ourselves... Do you need two judges to tell
you when a butt comes up or just one. The answer is just one. If one judge missed the infraction it doesn't
change the fact that the lifter still cheated regardless if they realize they cheated. The head judge looks
for the press & rack it commands. He is also in place to see if the bar touches the uprights for assistance
and can determine if the lift is unsafe. The only rule the head judge can't see is the lifting your butt rule.
This change doesn't effect the quality or safety of the lift. Just the quality of the judging. More accurate
and high quality benching.
3) No baggy pants or shorts – You MUST have a wrestling singlet or spandex material.
If you have shorts that you think are tight enough to pass, you better check with the head judge or meet
director first. Normal everyday shorts won’t cut it anymore. This rule applies to all lifters. From teenage to
master lifter. BE PREPARED!
4) Breaking a record – The EPF will allow any member to break a state record in another state as long
as it's a sanctioned meet & the lifter is a member of the EPF. Example: A Vermont resident can break a VT
record at one of our Sanctioned meets in NH.
5) Foot Loose while benching – During the bench press if your foot moves, pops up or slip out would
have been a penalty. We believe this is a nonsense rule. If anything… this usually makes it more difficult
to complete the press as you have lost your stability. If however this causes the weight to go downward
and then back up, this will be a penalty and result in a "No lift". If at any time the lift appears to be unsafe,
then the weight would be taken by the spotters and ruled no lift.
6) The lock out –
The EPF has changes the lock out perception. Waiting for the elbows to snap into place while a max
weight is on the bar is just another crazy rule that has never officially changed. You must extend your arms
all the way to receive the rack it command, but your elbows do not have to be fully extended or in some
cases hyper extended. To most people these to stages look the same. This is why we have taken the next
step to prevent countless injuries and long term damage to the elbow. Your arms must still be fully
extended to complete the lift and receive the “Rack It” command. It is the discretion of the head referee to
determine the lifter has fully extended the arms. This rule is no different than any other federation. We are
just putting it down in writing. Most meet directors use their judgment in the same manner but the rules
hasn't been changed in the rules book.
With this new rule also comes the decision to not allow lifters to compete in the bench if they cannot at
least extend their arms to full length. In the past we have been soft on this lock out rule and allowed some
lifters to complete the lift with only a partial extension of the elbow. Usually the lifter was more than 68
years old and it was more of a favor or incentive to keep them competing. We truly believed these guys
would extend the elbow as much as they could, but it still wasn't fair to the other lifters who received red
lights when they were at the same position.
