Movement Standards

The Push-Up
Standard.

Every rep in a Cence competition is judged against this document — by the vision engine on every attempt, and by human review on every podium. If a rep doesn't count, the verdict names the exact standard below that it violated. No hidden rules, no judgment calls behind closed doors.

✓ Standard PU v1.0 Founding Season — Nov 16, 2026 Movement: Push-Up (bodyweight)

§1 Setup & Start Position

Every attempt begins from a valid start. The counter does not arm until the start position is confirmed.

Hand placement1.1

Hands flat on the floor, positioned anywhere from shoulder-width to one-and-a-half times shoulder-width. Fingers may point forward or slightly outward.

No-countHands narrower than shoulder-width or wider than 1.5× disqualify the attempt setup — the counter will prompt re-setup rather than scoring reps against an invalid base.
Body position1.2

Feet together or up to hip-width apart, toes on the floor. Body forms one straight line from shoulders through hips to ankles.

Armed at lockout1.3

The attempt arms only when you are holding a full lockout (see §3) in a valid body line for one full second. A countdown confirms the counter is live.

§2 Depth

The bottom of the rep. This is where most reps fail — and where the standard is exact.

Continuous descent2.1

From lockout, elbows bend in one continuous descent. Brief deceleration is fine; reversing direction before reaching depth voids the rep.

No-countPartial descent reversed early is flagged as a 2.1 violation.
Elbow angle2.2

At the bottom of the rep, the elbow joint angle must reach 90° or less, measured at the tracked shoulder–elbow–wrist points on both arms.

No-countBottoming out above 90° on either arm is flagged as a 2.2 violation, with the measured angle shown.
Depth on every rep2.3

Depth is judged per rep, not on average. Every counted rep individually reached the §2.2 threshold. There is no "close enough" band.

No-countA rep that misses depth is not counted — it is listed in your per-rep log as a 2.3 flag citing the shallow arm.

§3 Lockout

Full extension3.1

At the top of the rep, both elbows return to full extension — the arm reads straight at the tracked joints. This is the only position where a rep completes.

No-countCutting the rep short of extension is a 3.1 violation; the rep does not count and the next descent starts a fresh rep from the last valid lockout.
Momentary control3.2

Lockout must be held with visible control — a beat, not a bounce. Rhythmic touch-and-go at the top is allowed as long as extension is fully reached each time.

§4 Body Line

A push-up is a full-body movement. The line is part of the rep.

Hip sag4.1

Hips may not sag below the shoulder-to-ankle line beyond the published tolerance during any counted rep.

No-countReps performed in a sagging line are flagged 4.1.
Piking4.2

Hips may not rise into a pike beyond the published tolerance. Elevating the hips shortens the range of motion and voids the rep.

No-countPiked reps are flagged 4.2.
Knees and thighs4.3

Knees, thighs, and torso stay off the floor for the duration of every counted rep. Only hands and toes contact the ground.

No-countGround contact mid-rep flags 4.3. Resting on the floor between reps is permitted but ends the continuous set — see §5.2.

§5 Tempo & Continuity

Continuous movement5.1

There is no minimum or maximum rep speed. Fast touch-and-go and slow grinders both count, as long as every rep individually meets §2 and §3.

Resting5.2

Rest is permitted only in the lockout position (§3.1) or in a knees-down break. Time continues to run; the attempt window is fixed regardless of rest taken.

Attempt window5.3

A competition attempt is a single continuous recording within the published time cap for that week's event. When the window closes, the counted total is final.

§6 Frame & Visibility

The engine can only verify what it can see. Camera setup is part of the standard.

Tracking confidence6.1

Every rep carries a tracking-confidence reading. Reps scored below the published confidence floor are not silently counted or discarded — they are flagged for review.

Low confidenceIf too much of an attempt falls below the confidence floor, the attempt is marked unverifiable and does not enter the leaderboard. You'll see exactly why — frame, lighting, or occlusion — before you submit.
Stable camera6.2

The camera does not move during the attempt. Handheld or repositioned recordings are not accepted for competition.

§7 Scoring & Verification

How every attempt is judged

The vision engine counts every rep of every entrant against this standard and produces the leaderboard. Every counted or flagged rep appears in your per-rep log with the standard it was judged against. Podium finishes — every attempt in prize position — are additionally graded by Cence judges against this same document before any payout. The machine sorts the field; judges decide where money changes hands.

§8 Weigh-In

Weight classes only mean something if the weight is real.

§9 Eligibility & Prizes

§10 Accuracy & Versioning

The standards we hold the engine to — published, like everything else.

Expert agreementA movement's automated scoring must agree with expert human judges at 95% or better before it decides prize outcomes without rep-level review.
False acceptanceNo more than 2% of non-compliant reps may be accepted by automated scoring at competition grade.
Until thenWhere automated scoring hasn't yet cleared these gates, human review covers the gap — and we say so, plainly, on the event page.
VersioningThis standard is versioned. Changes are published before they apply to any competition window — never mid-event. Attempts are always judged by the version in force when the event opened.
Nothing in Cence fabricates a measured number. Numbers that decide competitions are hard-verified under this standard. Numbers that motivate — estimated placement, body-fat ranges, projections — are always labeled as estimates. That rule outranks every other rule on this page.