Beginning weight on the bench press?

[Karl_Hungus]

So okay, a 2.5 x body weight lift is rare for a larger lifter? Is that right? I'm learning every day But is a 2x body weight lift really that rare for someone who has been lifting for years at a weight of between 240-250 - as I really have no idea? looking at my previous weights, and 1RM calculators and allowing for maybe a few forced reps at the end of my heavy set from my training partner, I'm still getting something like an estimated 450-480lbs 1RM. But like I said, I've never tried to lift more than 170kg on a flat bench, and simply managed to lift 1.5x my weight for reps - is that rare?

Yeah, it is rarer for heavier lifters because strength does not scale linearly with body mass (which is why gymnasts, whose profession relies on strength relative to bodyweight tend to be small). And, if you take a look at raw powerlifting records, ratios always decrease as bodyweight increases.

And, as to your last question, a 240 lbs (nattie) guy benching 375 for 12 reps is quite rare.

[Old-Time-Lifter]

Most people will NEVER see a 2x body weight bench press. That includes me. The closest I ever came was 1.7x.

Yes, it's more likely you'd see a guy weighing 165 get a 330 bench press than a 330 guy nailing a 660 bench press.

I think Flounder was just surprised to see someone so strong, yet know very little about the sport of powerlifting....that and these boards get absolutely pounded with trolls daily.

Back in the 'DAY' I once hit 325 on bench but I weighed 162 at the time. I never hit that again nor will I ever even try again. Which is an absolute certainty since I don't flat bench anymore at all due to shoulder issues. (not to mention that I'll never weigh 162 again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

But seriously folks this thread is useless and only serves to stir folks up. Who really cares what somebody else can or claims to bench? It has ZERO impact in your life so why worry or argue.

[Gen1GT]

My goal is to bench 75% of my body weight in a year's time (300 lbs)...which might translate into six pushups! LOL

Old Timer, I think there was confusion along the way between my original question of "first time bench pressing after the age of 35." Does it matter? Not in the grand scheme of things, but it makes for interesting conversation.

[Gen1GT]

Yeah, it is rarer for heavier lifters because strength does not scale linearly with body mass (which is why gymnasts, whose profession relies on strength relative to bodyweight tend to be small). And, if you take a look at raw powerlifting records, ratios always decrease as bodyweight increases.

And, as to your last question, a 240 lbs (nattie) guy benching 375 for 12 reps is quite rare.

I'm told that bicep strength increases in a linear fashion with size...my trainer mentioned that anyway, saying taller guys seem to have stronger "twos." (my name for biceps).

[Old-Time-Lifter]

IMHO the original premise of the thread was lame.... sorry.

[Gen1GT]

IMHO the original premise of the thread was lame.... sorry.

Yeah, I think we gathered that by your first post. If you've read the whole thread, you'd have gathered that I don't care, other than a slight curiosity of why people post in a thread just to say the thread is stupid or lame. Why waste your time involving yourself in threads you don't care about? There are thousands of threads on this forum, but so far, only a dozen have caught my attention enough so far for me to post in. You don't see me going into all the remaining threads just to mention they're stupid, boring or lame. LOL

It's like being a fan of fantasy literature, and then sitting down to read books in the archaeology section of the library, only to complain to the librarian about how boring the books are.

[Old-Time-Lifter]

No not at all.... I'm saying only a fool worries about what anyone else is benching.

Worry about your own progression and forget what anyone else is pressing...

Thread is lame because the whole idea about wondering what other folks are pressing is lame. Focus on your own progression and forget the rest of the folks either online or in the gym.

[heatwave13]

How and why is the bench press the go-to litmus test of strength? Why not, "how much do you squat?" or "how much do you military press overhead?"

The bench press seems to have so very little carry-over benefits to real life

[zzfh]

starting bp weight 110lbs for 2 reps

deadlift 176 for 1 rep

lol

[Gen1GT]

No not at all.... I'm saying only a fool worries about what anyone else is benching.

Worry about your own progression and forget what anyone else is pressing...

Thread is lame because the whole idea about wondering what other folks are pressing is lame. Focus on your own progression and forget the rest of the folks either online or in the gym.

Only a fool worries about what other people worry about.

[MichBigGrizzly]

Everybody knows the bench press is king- should it be? NO

But it is, simple as that

Maybe some people are curious as to what others bench so they can measure their own progress against others, a lot of guys do that, it's being competitive

As for the carry over to real world, not really sure - it is one of the best if not THE best overall upper body strength developer though

Like somebody already said - who asks " how much you squat or dead"- nobody, it shows lack of overall knowledge maybe by some people

I have yet to meet anybody though who wouldn't want to increase their bench max, some just can't and it probably bothers them, others just don't care about it ....

Did 415 x 1 bench press this morning with good pause, at 48, and 212 bwt, felt good ( had no soreness ) hoping to hit maybe 435 with a pause by age 50, my gains have stagnated the last year or so

[Old-Time-Lifter]

Only a fool worries about what other people worry about.

Ain't worried about you at all sport. But you are dang annoying.

[Dr0Scott]

Everybody knows the bench press is king- should it be? NO

But it is, simple as that

Maybe some people are curious as to what others bench so they can measure their own progress against others, a lot of guys do that, it's being competitive

As for the carry over to real world, not really sure - it is one of the best if not THE best overall upper body strength developer though

Like somebody already said - who asks " how much you squat or dead"- nobody, it shows lack of overall knowledge maybe by some people

I have yet to meet anybody though who wouldn't want to increase their bench max, some just can't and it probably bothers them, others just don't care about it ....

Did 415 x 1 bench press this morning with good pause, at 48, and 212 bwt, felt good ( had no soreness ) hoping to hit maybe 435 with a pause by age 50, my gains have stagnated the last year or so

I always thought it was strange that people seemed to ask about the traditional lifts - as in, 'what do you squat/bench/deadlift etc.' But I guess these are good signs of progress for a beginner (and there seem to be enough local meets if people want to test their strength on them), as you pick up better technique and initial strength gains quite quickly. There were never any powerlifting competitions where I live, until recently, so it never seemed very popular. I always found the most impressive body parts arms, shoulders and abs (a good chest, and legs, help of course); and nobody tends to ask what do you curl, side raise etc.

415 sounds great to me (even more so at 48!), and you've set a sensible target to progress! One of the monsters in our gym was in a comp the other week, I think one of his first, and said the pause before the press caused most of the first timers a lot of problems, as it zapped a lot of strength and that most people weren't able to post the weights they were regularly lifting in the gym using the strict pause technique.

[Nikopolino]

What did you guys get the first time you started working out as an adult?

I started with the empty bar.
(And then simply adding 5 pounds every training day after that.)

But I am a complete beginner, so getting used to correct technique and building the "motor engrams" was more important to me than how much weight I could press at the beginning.

[ajdahlheimer]

Did 415 x 1 bench press this morning with good pause, at 48, and 212 bwt, felt good ( had no soreness )....

Vid or cool e-stat, brah.

[BankWalker]

I'll chime in on your lame thread OP . When I started back lifting at 36 ( 9 year lay off ) I could barely push 205 at a body weight of 240. I stopped going for the one rep max a while back. Now I just gauge my strength on how many reps I can push. My best is 300x5 and 225x16. Not bad for a long armed rascal

[MichBigGrizzly]

Will do it again today before back, post it in a few hours- brah

[ajdahlheimer]

Will do it again today before back, post it in a few hours- brah

Looking forward to it. To do a paused 415 at 212 BW and at your age (assuming you're a nattie) is really something to be proud of.

[jmartinez301]

I started when I was 39, a little over a year ago, my first bench was 95lbs.

[MichBigGrizzly]

Too big a risk to go for it today - would be 2 days in a row,( advice of my lifting buddy, anyway ) after hitting back, will do it next week on chest day

Here is a pic of me doing 405 last year, I am a little stronger now, will post the vid next week at 415 I ain't BS'ng nobody - was 47 here - link below

*****://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1SmQoj4is4

[AlGee650]

I believe I started at 105 at 19. For about 15 yrs the heaviest I could go for reps fluctuated between 185 and 200. It wasn't until I got into my 40s that I learned about dieting and recovery that I started doing 225 for reps - and now 275 (8x). But like most "mature" folks have said, my goal is not to continuously go heavier (ok, I want to be able to do 315 for reps...but that's it!! haha).

[davidolson22]

Nice lift!



(Not going to point out the obvious that with no AVI there's no way to know if that's you or not. Oops, guess I did)

[jgreystoke]

Started serious training in my fifties.

Started with the empty bar for just about everything, 45lbs, seriously.

It isn't where you start. Or how rapidly you can gain over a few weeks. And then plateau/regress like most people who don't have a good plan.

Think in terms of getting progressively stronger for enough reps on big exercises over the next FEW YEARS if you want to become more awesome.

Lift well and prosper.

[Flounderbout]

Too big a risk to go for it today - would be 2 days in a row,( advice of my lifting buddy, anyway ) after hitting back, will do it next week on chest day

Here is a pic of me doing 405 last year, I am a little stronger now, will post the vid next week at 415 I ain't BS'ng nobody - was 47 here - link below

Nice lift MBG. Have embedded it for you.

[Jtbny]

Too big a risk to go for it today - would be 2 days in a row,( advice of my lifting buddy, anyway ) after hitting back, will do it next week on chest day

Here is a pic of me doing 405 last year, I am a little stronger now, will post the vid next week at 415 I ain't BS'ng nobody - was 47 here - link below

*****://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1SmQoj4is4

Nice lift for sure.

[ajdahlheimer]

Too big a risk to go for it today - would be 2 days in a row,( advice of my lifting buddy, anyway ) after hitting back, will do it next week on chest day

Here is a pic of me doing 405 last year, I am a little stronger now, will post the vid next week at 415 I ain't BS'ng nobody - was 47 here - link below

*****://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1SmQoj4is4

What was your height/weight in that lift, Big Griz?

I had seen that vid before on here, but didn't know it was you. Crazy strong.

[drudixon]

I'm told that bicep strength increases in a linear fashion with size...my trainer mentioned that anyway, saying taller guys seem to have stronger "twos." (my name for biceps).

Disagree. With 15s I could straight bar curl 135. Probably good for 120 without cheating today and I'm still in the 15" range.

[MichBigGrizzly]

BWT in the vid was 212, weight has stayed the same pretty much, just before that lift I did some rep work at 315 for 5 x 5 with 4 min breaks between sets

Thanks for embedding it for me !

My training partner suggested the injury risk was too high to do the 415 two days in a row, I think it would have been no problem, but why tempt fate

25 years of softball is really starting to affect my shoulders I think, nothing real serious, just nagging type of stuff ... but sometimes that can be a warning sign too

I appreciate the kind words and suggestions gents, there are def some good guys here willing to share their knowledge and give constructive criticism

[ironwill2008]

Too big a risk to go for it today - would be 2 days in a row,( advice of my lifting buddy, anyway ) after hitting back, will do it next week on chest day

Here is a pic of me doing 405 last year, I am a little stronger now, will post the vid next week at 415 I ain't BS'ng nobody - was 47 here - link below

*****://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1SmQoj4is4

Great job; I have no doubt you could add a dime to that bar and still complete the lift.







THAT's the way to post lifting stats, folks.

[ajdahlheimer]

BWT in the vid was 212, weight has stayed the same pretty much,

How tall are you?