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how much do you benchpress

I

iOrlando

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 20, 2008
1,811
1
curious how much people benchpress.
Please include your ratio as "Total bench weight/body weight". that is much more useful and relevant for comparison purposes. And please use a weight that you can do at least 5-6 reps and not just one rep.

for me my number if 0.92
 
At the moment my ratio is around 1.06 to 1.10. This is with my body weight of 155 lbs. I am fairly proud of myself for finally hitting the 1:1 ratio though :). When I started going to the gym about 2 years ago, I was closer to 0.36 (260lbs...)
 
I weigh about 140, and had been able to bench that and then some. I don't remember the exact amount.

I backed off a bit due to a heart thing. Ah well. It's not all about how heavy it is. I'm built more athletically anyway.
 
This is not really a useful measurement of anything. How fast you run 1 mile is a useful measurement. Body fat percentage is a useful measurement. Perhaps some formula that compares your body weight to the amount of weight you can lift in a *variety* of lifting exercises would be useful. But a simple "how much can you bench press" number is no more useful than "how much can you drink before puking". It's a show-off number without much meaning or consequence.

But to answer your question, I can bench 130 lbs. I weigh 180 lbs. So I'm a 0.72. No, I do not go to the gym regularly.
 
quadG5guy said:
This is not really a useful measurement of anything. How fast you run 1 mile is a useful measurement. Body fat percentage is a useful measurement. Perhaps some formula that compares your body weight to the amount of weight you can lift in a *variety* of lifting exercises would be useful. But a simple "how much can you bench press" number is no more useful than "how much can you drink before puking". It's a show-off number without much meaning or consequence.

But to answer your question, I can bench 130 lbs. I weigh 180 lbs. So I'm a 0.72. No, I do not go to the gym regularly.
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i disagree with you.

taken from the internet, but I find it summarizes my points to the T.

The benchpress works several upper body muscles at once, namely, from most to least important;
1) The pectoral muscles
2) The front deltoids
3) The triceps
4) Finally the latissimus muscles of the back, work as stabilizers; that is they are not involved in the exerting and moving of the weight, but they are important in holding the weight steady, that is why when you do burnout sets with bench presses, your back will hurt a little bit if you haven't done back exercises yet. Then of course is the fact that your back is being crushed by a lot of weight, in addition to it working as stabilizer muscles.

Because there are so many muscle groups working together at once, the benchpress is a good measure of upper body strength, and it is a good, simple way to gauge overall progress with upper body strength gains.
 
These days around 63:1, but that's before I've had my morning coffee and exposed myself to the energizing rays of your yellow sun.
 
chordate68 said:
I agree with quadguy. You'll never see a "how much do you squad thread" or "how much do you power clean".
Click to expand...

or simply because no other type of weight routine can give you the best approach to overall strength than a benchpress.
 
1.24
and I am female. :)

I think everyone should be able to lift their own body weight.
I am amazed when i see female students that CANNOT lift a 20lbs bag.
 
~1.04, I have to admit that I don't try to lift my max limit though, I hurt my shoulder on incline not too long ago and I am scared to do it again now as it took about 6 months before the injury was fully healed.
 
iOrlando said:
or simply because no other type of weight routine can give you the best approach to overall strength than a benchpress.
Click to expand...

Really? So running backs in the NFL rely mainly on the benchpress to run through defenders and carry the pile???? Or baseball players only bench to be able to hit home runs?? I really think not.
 
chordate68 said:
Really? So running backs in the NFL rely mainly on the benchpress to run through defenders and carry the pile???? Or baseball players only bench to be able to hit home runs?? I really think not.
Click to expand...

less irrelevant talk, more talk on subject.
so what is your benchpress weight/body weight ratio?
 
IMO 1:1 is a good goal for the average person but obviously there are so many variables. My old buddies used to go for 2:1. It's quite a sight to see a bar bend so much!
 
iOrlando said:
or simply because no other type of weight routine can give you the best approach to overall strength than a benchpress.
Click to expand...
quadG5guy said:
This is not really a useful measurement of anything. How fast you run 1 mile is a useful measurement. Body fat percentage is a useful measurement. Perhaps some formula that compares your body weight to the amount of weight you can lift in a *variety* of lifting exercises would be useful. But a simple "how much can you bench press" number is no more useful than "how much can you drink before puking". It's a show-off number without much meaning or consequence.

But to answer your question, I can bench 130 lbs. I weigh 180 lbs. So I'm a 0.72. No, I do not go to the gym regularly.
Click to expand...

Not to interject into the argument, but you're both right (or alternatively, both wrong). A measure of how much you can bench press can be a valuable evaluation tool, especially when compared with normative data adjusted for age, and it gives more information than simply upper body strength in the hands of someone who knows how to interpret that data. However, it's certainly not the be all and end all of strength tests (probably an honour reserved for squat or deadlift). Any measure you take would also be impacted by lifting style and that then raises the question of movement-specific strength and useful range of motion; a squat of 400 pounds may seem impressive but what does that knee do when it moves beyond 91° of flexion? What happens to the sacrum and pelvic balance for that matter if someone moves beyond their useful range of motion while bearing load? I've seen people with 400 pound bar-bending-in-half squats who blow their knee out taking a jump in basketball or guys who bench three plates and then chew through the Olympic bar before breakfast tear their rotator cuff playing cricket.

Similarly running a mile in six minutes is only a useful measure in a greater context as well. Running a six minute mile could be a good indicator of cardiovascular health or it could be an indication of muscle catabolism, a locked up glute, plantar fasciitis and decades of stripped cartilage fused joints and chronic pain. You can qualify for Boston but not be able to get out of a chair without back or knee pain and spends your days icing joints.

There's no singular measure of physical fitness that occupies a position of being beyond reproach — besides maybe touching your toes ;) — and arguing that one is better than another is more personal bias than physiology.
Leareth said:
1.24
and I am female. :)

I think everyone should be able to lift their own body weight.
I am amazed when i see female students that CANNOT lift a 20lbs bag.
Click to expand...

That's seriously impressive and the more I read your posts the more I appreciate your commitment to fitness and your knowledge level.
Zombie Acorn said:
~1.04, I have to admit that I don't try to lift my max limit though, I hurt my shoulder on incline not too long ago and I am scared to do it again now as it took about 6 months before the injury was fully healed.
Click to expand...

I rarely recommend lifting more than a 5RM (I'd be at about ~1.24 for 1RM fwiw) especially on something like the incline bench that runs a high risk of compromising the anterior deltoid and shoulder girdle. If you haven't seen anybody about the injury if you give me a little bit more information I might be able to give you a bit of an assessment.
 
My benchpress max is 470lbs, and I'm 230lbs body weight. Although I probably don't qualify as your "typical" person, since I'm a competitive powerlifter of 9 years. And honestly, I agree with most of the people on here saying it's a useless movement. I've had many kinesiologists tell me that it's not a very good exercise(using a lot of weight) for the human body at all, due to the fact that the shoulder joint isn't designed to take that kind of stress in that direction. But, since I compete, I have to do it, as it's one of the three lifts of a powerlifting meet. And I've also read that the percentage of humans that can benchpress their own bodyweight (or more), is between 1-2%, which I find shocking actually. So to those of you here who can press their own weight, congratulations!
 
I agree that bench-press isnt the best measure of strength.
BUT is one that most people have done and understand though.

I personally like pushups and burpies and am trying my damnedest to get to multiple pullups/chinups again. i did two yesterday and was so happy (i had broken my wrists, both at same time...took me long time to risk trying pull ups) .

I am a strong believer that everyone should be able to carry their own body weight, or at least pull/push it. ( this does not necessarily mean benchpress!)

Is not that difficult to get strong, all over body strong , not just built for show.
also helps I am surrounded by fit freaks (military, police, search and rescue, firefighters...)

I was amazed how many of my 'health' problems went away or became manageable with good food and good exercise.

Physical strength is good,
physical flexibility is good,
but you need to have mental strength and flexibility too :eek:
 
Weight: 150 lbs
Height: 5'9"
Bench Ratio: 1.1
Mile Run: ?? I should do this. I'm guessing around 5:15, but don't quote me on it.
Jumpshot: Excellent ;)
Flexibility: Non-existant.

Iscariot, I'd also like to ask you about a shoulder problem I have. Sometimes when I move my arm where it doesn't want to go (usually in basketball), my shoulder join pops out of the socket and immediately goes back in. It probably takes a quarter of a second but it stays sore. I tried to self-diagnose it and I think it might be shoulder subluxation but a more knowledgeable opinion would be appreciated. As far as I've read into it they recommend should exercises, and, if that doesn't work, surgery. It only happens once every 3 weeks or so.
 
I weigh about 95kg and have benchpressed 140kg (5 reps) so my ratio is ~1.47. Gonna try 150kg in near future. Have gone in gym since I was 14 (8 years now 2-4 times a week) and have done a lot benchpressing and other arm related movements.
 
Badandy said:
Weight: 150 lbs
Height: 5'9"
Bench Ratio: 1.1
Mile Run: ?? I should do this. I'm guessing around 5:15, but don't quote me on it.
Jumpshot: Excellent ;)
Flexibility: Non-existant.

Iscariot, I'd also like to ask you about a shoulder problem I have. Sometimes when I move my arm where it doesn't want to go (usually in basketball), my shoulder join pops out of the socket and immediately goes back in. It probably takes a quarter of a second but it stays sore. I tried to self-diagnose it and I think it might be shoulder subluxation but a more knowledgeable opinion would be appreciated. As far as I've read into it they recommend should exercises, and, if that doesn't work, surgery. It only happens once every 3 weeks or so.
Click to expand...

I do have a good amount of information for you, but no time. I'm marking this and letting you know I'm coming back to it in a couple hours.
 
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