Unlimited Shirt Division:
- Band shirt division, also known as ‘unlimited’ or ‘soft equipment’ division, is a single lift bench press only equipment class. The shirts allowed in band shirt division are not allowed in other divisions. Bench Rules of Performance are the same.
- Construction:
- The band shirt shall have a shirt shape, ie. Defined chest area, separate cylindrical sleeves and it needs to cover the shoulders and sides of the lifter. It shall be worn under a non-supportive singlet, as in single- and multi-ply bench press classes.
- The shirt may consist of any number of layers of fabric material, but any part of the shirt cannot exceed 25mm in thickness, whilst UNSTRETCHED and with only moderate pressure applied to it (such as a loose finger grip or the pressure of a lightly tightened micrometer). This ensures that whilst stretched and flattened under pressure while performing the lift, the material will not in any meaningful way shorten the range of motion of the bar to chest.
- The supportive part of the shirt shall consist of layers of similar cotton/polyester/rubberised (or any mixture of the above) fabric, and no hinges, buckles, laces or material other than fabric are allowed. Fabric handles for pulling the shirt back or fastening it, like in multi ply, are allowed.
- The shirt has to include material that covers the stomach and is capable of securing it to the lifter around the back in such a way that the shirt itself does not protrude from under the singlet. Referees can challenge any shirt that has considerable protrusion that either hinders the visibility of referees or affects the range of motion of the lift and head referee will decide if the equipment can be worn.
- The shirt must be worn in such a way that shoulders are covered and elbows are visible before and during the lift.