The average male above 18 has a 1 rep bench press max of 135....

[oatsnhoney]

I read this in an old article of mens health magazine from a few months ago..

That is just sad, pathetic....and sad..

Its kind of cool though, to think that when I was 13 and in 7th grade, I was as stronger then the average male....

[Tim]

I am not surprised, considering most people don't lift. The average guy over 18 doesn't do anything else in his free time besides watch sports and drink beer.

[NorwegianBadass]

The average guy over 18 doesn't do anything else in his free time besides watch sports .

And porn

edit: 1111 posts

[TDW586]

I read this in an old article of mens health magazine from a few months ago..

That is just sad, pathetic....and sad..

Its kind of cool though, to think that when I was 13 and in 7th grade, I was as stronger then the average male....

That's not sad. It makes me feel great about my bench.

[Nainoa]

Actually I would say it's under that even... I mean I have a lot of friends who come over to my place, and they'll wanna mess around on the weights...

Out of about 15 guys there's only been 2 that have gone over 140 1RM... One's a carpenter, the other one works on a horse ranch.

One guy gets a lot of crap... Everyone decided they wanted to have a bench press contest... A 98 pound 5'1" girl managed to bench 85 1RM clean rep and all. My buddy, who's a real horses ass BTW... Goes about 180 @ 5'6". He Gets under the bar with 85 still on it... Bounced it off his chest... Got it 90% of the way up, and I told him... "Now Lock it out... Get your elbows straight!" He couldn't do it, called out for a spot!

Dude got totally Owned by a 98 pound girl!

That was 6 months ago... People still bring it up when he's acting like a prick!

[James0]

I read this in an old article of mens health magazine from a few months ago..

That is just sad, pathetic....and sad..

Its kind of cool though, to think that when I was 13 and in 7th grade, I was as stronger then the average male....

Never trust statistics.

[Natural Science]

I read this in an old article of mens health magazine from a few months ago..

That is just sad, pathetic....and sad..

Its kind of cool though, to think that when I was 13 and in 7th grade, I was as stronger then the average male....

Its an accurate statistic. 135 pounds is the standard. Thats why the weights are in 45 pound increments, just like the bar. And its not sad to not be able to bench 135. For people who dont work out or give a **** about it, it doesnt matter. Thats like saying that someone who doesnt play guitar is sad for not being able to play the eruption solo.

[Juicematic]

That sounds low to me. My girlfriend can bench 155 and she's only been lifting a couple of months.

[al1]

I read this in an old article of mens health magazine from a few months ago..

That is just sad, pathetic....and sad..

Its kind of cool though, to think that when I was 13 and in 7th grade, I was as stronger then the average male....

I can't bench 135lbs. I guess I must be sad and pathetic.

[TBernard]

How very interesting. I am 6'3", tall, skinny, ectomorph build, and very average athletically. When I was 18, I had been working out for about 2 years by that time, and my max on the bench was right at 135, and I was excited to get the plates. So I can see this being true, I worked out for 2 years and was barely benching that much (I was also weak genetically).

I am 26 now, and have filled out some, but my bench is still embarrassing. Right now I weight right between 205 and 210, and my bench ranges from about 215 to 225 for a max.

[Dante^]

I could bench press 135 when I was 14

[iOse]

sweet, i'm better than the average

[sup_builder]

I am a skinny mofo and even I can bench over 135 lbs with 6 reps.
I feel soooo much better.

[DarkFalcon]

**** my bench is lousy and I warm up with 135. What the hell is wrong with the 180 pound dude that can't lock out a single 85 rep..lol. If that's true that's the most pathetic lift ever.

[al1]

I guess some people aren't naturally designed for benching (me included).

[kingdd]

I have always said, if you cant bench at least your own bodyweight then you are not in very good shape or you are pretty weak.

[phikappa]

I'm guessing that the age range of the average male is 18-65. Regardless, the age range would make a big difference as well.

[Natural Science]

**** my bench is lousy and I warm up with 135. What the hell is wrong with the 180 pound dude that can't lock out a single 85 rep..lol. If that's true that's the most pathetic lift ever.

Not true. My friend vinnie is an absolute freak on bench. He started training about four years ago and he could barely do 95 once and at the time, he weighed around 350. Today, he lost a lot of fat and replaced it with muscle at 330, but he reps four plates for 5 reps now.



And whoever said their girlfriend can bench 155 after only 2 months of training, thast BS unless shes either 150 pounds+ or an extremely gifted powerlifter. Most chicks can barely bench a 45 pound bar, let alone 155. Most guys their freshman year cant bench 155 when they first start football. I remember for freshman football camp years ago, the strongest guy in our class was doing 175 and I, who went on to break the school bench record two years later, was only doing around 100.

[ComfortEagle]

That sounds low to me. My girlfriend can bench 155 and she's only been lifting a couple of months.

...Uh, buddy, I'm sorry to have to be the one to break this to you, but your girlfriend IS A MAN!

[-TC-]

i started at 95lbs when i was 15, and was at 135 soon after

[sicosico]

the first time I ever benched in my life with worst form ever , it was 100 for 10 times , second time i worked out I was able to do 135 for 8 reps , but for me i was always strong since i was 8 , I was skiniest guy ever but i was best guy at arm wrestling , I remember my veins would want to explode with hands like popye , I would always when

[momotheglutton]

I didn't do a 1 rep max when I first tried, but based on those charts it would be about 135. I was 18 the first time I tried bench. So I guess it wouldn't be too surprising to me if that statistic were true.

[Joebob]

ouch.... after about 4 months of lifting i could max out 140

[Apo]

on family feud the most popular answer for how much can an adult male bench press was 150

the first contestant guessed 250
the second contestant guessed 200

[two choices]

so does that mean that hong kong fuey can bench more than 135, because he is stronger than the average guy. or does this statistic not apply to ass whippin' dogs?

[FF Punk]

Actually I would say it's under that even... I mean I have a lot of friends who come over to my place, and they'll wanna mess around on the weights...

Out of about 15 guys there's only been 2 that have gone over 140 1RM... One's a carpenter, the other one works on a horse ranch.

One guy gets a lot of crap... Everyone decided they wanted to have a bench press contest... A 98 pound 5'1" girl managed to bench 85 1RM clean rep and all. My buddy, who's a real horses ass BTW... Goes about 180 @ 5'6". He Gets under the bar with 85 still on it... Bounced it off his chest... Got it 90% of the way up, and I told him... "Now Lock it out... Get your elbows straight!" He couldn't do it, called out for a spot!

Dude got totally Owned by a 98 pound girl!

That was 6 months ago... People still bring it up when he's acting like a prick!

bull****, no way is that true

a 180 lean guy would get about 155 if he never trained before

[Pump that iron!]

I have always said, if you cant bench at least your own bodyweight then you are not in very good shape or you are pretty weak.

Well not all people use the bench press as a measure of strength. I'll be the first to admit now, and say that I don't think I can even bench 135lbs just because my upper body pails horribly in comparison to my lower body.

My squat max is in the 300's, which is very low for my weight but I don't think most would consider that "pretty weak". Sub par for sure (for my weight) but not weak.

[FF Punk]

Not true. My friend vinnie is an absolute freak on bench. He started training about four years ago and he could barely do 95 once and at the time, he weighed around 350. Today, he lost a lot of fat and replaced it with muscle at 330, but he reps four plates for 5 reps now.



And whoever said their girlfriend can bench 155 after only 2 months of training, thast BS unless shes either 150 pounds+ or an extremely gifted powerlifter. Most chicks can barely bench a 45 pound bar, let alone 155. Most guys their freshman year cant bench 155 when they first start football. I remember for freshman football camp years ago, the strongest guy in our class was doing 175 and I, who went on to break the school bench record two years later, was only doing around 100.

a 350 guy with a 95 pounds bench press? yeah right

"he lost a lot of fat and replaced it with muscle at 330" ---> ban

[EP87]

a 350 guy with a 95 pounds bench press? yeah right

"he lost a lot of fat and replaced it with muscle at 330" ---> ban

Doesn't sound so unbelieveable to me. There's 400 lb tubs of fat that can't even stand up, much less bench anything.

I'm friends with this girl who says she squats 450. She's been working out for less than a year, twice a week with no specific diet or training, and she's supposedly already stronger than many professional female powerlifters... dumb kids...

[Denion_Jr]

I am 15 now, and I could bench that when I was 14, not to digress but I don't think it is that sad at all.

Just a few exceptions, I think that (if you are a male) you should be able to bench your own weight (taking into consideration you have an average bf%, and within 5'8"-6'1"). As you grow you naturally put on strength even if you don't do much exercise. So if you can't bench your own weight, you should be able to bench within 80-95% of your own weight if you can't do your own weight or +.