1.1 The athlete must lie on his/her back touching the surface of the bench with his/her shoulders and buttocks. His/her shoes must be in contact with the surface of the platform or blocks / stands.
1.2 The fingers of the hands should wrap around the bar lying on the racks, while the thumbs must wrap around the bar. This body position should be maintained during the exercise.
1.3 After removing the barbell from the racks with the help of assistants, or independently, the athlete must wait for the Head referee’s signal to permit the start of the exercise. At that, the athlete’s arms should be fully extended at the elbow joints. In the case the athlete, due to an old injury or anatomically cannot fully extend his/her arms at the elbow joints, he/she must inform the referee in advance about this before the attempt.
1.4 The signal to start the exercise is given as soon as the athlete takes a stationary position and the bar is in the correct position.
1.5 The determination of the start of the attempt coincides with the signal of the Head referee on the platform «START», after which the main countdown of the time for the exercise starts — 5 (five) minutes.
1.6 After receiving the signal, the athlete must lower the barbell to his/her chest, at that, the bar must touch his/her chest, after which the athlete must lift the barbell up to the height of fully extended arms at the elbow joints (to the position from which the Head referee gave the command «START»)
1.7 The distance between the hands on the bar (in between the index fingers) should not exceed 81 cm (both index fingers should cover the marks on the inside). In case the athlete, due to an old injury, or anatomically, cannot grasp the bar at the same distance with both hands, he must inform the Head referee about this in advance before the attempt. It is forbidden to take the bar with a reverse grip. The grip must be closed.
1.8 The athlete may use blocks / stands no higher than 30 cm from the surface of the platform to secure solid support for the legs.
2.1 Counting after a repeat by an athlete means a counted repeat. If, instead of the next repeat, a repetition of counting and the referee’s command sounds, this means that the athlete has made a mistake.
2.2 Skewing the barbell and double movement are NOT considered as a mistake, but in any rate, repetitions are considered counted after the athlete has fixed the barbell in the «extended arms» position without making other mistakes.
3.1 The athlete is allowed to pause with the barbell in the «extended arms» position and in the «on the chest» position.
3.2 The number of pauses-rests in the «extended arms» position is limited.
3.3 The number of pauses-rests in the «on the chest» position is limited to two allowed attempts. Each such attempt is voiced by the competition secretary after the athlete takes a short pause after lowering the barbell to his/her chest.
3.4 When resting in the «on the chest» position, the bar should be located not lower than the xiphoid process of the sternum.
3.5 When resting in the «on the chest» position, the bar should be no higher than the collarbones.
4 During rest, the athlete is allowed:
4.1 Change the width of the grip to an arbitrary one (keeping the grip).
4.2 Change the position of the feet.
4.3 Lift the pelvis off the bench surface.