What is a good bench press as compared to your weight?

good job rupp wrote:

What is considered bad, average, good, and excellent? Especially when you account for being a runner (this is a little different from being a gym rat your entire life).

I'm running about 65 miles a week right now. I weigh 155 lbs at 23 years old on a 5'10" frame. I just benched 2 x 165, 2 x 175 lbs at the end of my workout. Is this average runner strength?

I heard:

bad - anything below your weight

average - being able to bench your weight

good - weight plus 25%

excellent - double your weight

sound about right?

Double your body weight is 310, that is by far more than excellent, as that is impressive for just about anyone.

All I know is at 144 I can bench 200 at least once and my body weight at least 15

im 135 and can bench my body weight about 7 times. i can do 165 twice. never tried past that. probably max out at 175.

I am about 107 and bench maybe 60 lbs twice. Hahhahaha..oh boy.

LOLOLolllllll wrote:

I am about 107 and bench maybe 60 lbs twice. Hahhahaha..oh boy.

Yes, but you sit down when you pee

I maxed 160 weighing 131.

With weight training or not? Very few people can bench their weight without doing any training. If you work at it for a while, most people seem to be able to do it.

Runners have big advantages in these weight-based metrics (bench your weight, pullups, dips, etc.). Being skinny helps a lot!

Maxed 220 weighing 165...dont think I could come anywhere near that number now.

I weigh 180 lb. My max was a couple months ago in this workout:

3x200 lb

2x210

1x220

I do my bench press without a spotter (but the bench has a low place to rest the bar on if I need to bail myself out). I have reached a plateau but I think I could get 235 by the end of summer. I think I can bench my weight 10-12 reps. Make sure you're doing it with good form and going bar to chest.

I could probably squat my weight 40-50 reps. I am doing 275 lb for 8 reps. I am also 23 years old.

Nut Doctor wrote:

With weight training or not? Very few people can bench their weight without doing any training. If you work at it for a while, most people seem to be able to do it.

Runners have big advantages in these weight-based metrics (bench your weight, pullups, dips, etc.). Being skinny helps a lot!

With weight training. The first time I remember doing bench I was 110ish and couldn't bench 95 lbs.

Depends on what you call a bench press.

Feet on floor, bar touches chest.

When I ran a lot I could get 135 up 5 times.

Since November I don't run much and lift a lot more, now up to 220 for 1 rep. My bodyweight is 160 now, 145 back then.

The average man cannot bench press his own weight...of course the average man is quite obese. If you can bench your own weight I'd say you're ahead of the curve.

Raw (no shirt, unequipped) World Record is 715lb.

World Record (equipped) for the Bench Press is 1075lb.

http://www.criticalbench.com/benchrecords.htm

How about a 1235lb squat?

http://www.ironscene.com/videos/2271_donnie_thompson_1235_squat-_ipa_senior_nationals

Alan

good job rupp wrote:

I heard:

bad - anything below your weight

average - being able to bench your weight

good - weight plus 25%

excellent - double your weight

sound about right?

A healthy male between 18-40 should be able to bench at least his weight, runner or not.

This site has a chart that seems appropriate for young (18-40) men who spend at least some time in the gym:

You should be able to bench your body weight x 10 reps.

You should also be able to run a marathon under your weight (e.g. a 150-pounder should run a 150-minute marathon: 2:30.)

Othrwise you suck even worse than me.

Most people would have to be an intermediate lifter to bench their own weight.

"Intermediate

A person who has engaged in regular training for up to two years. The intermediate level indicates some degree of specialization in the exercises and a high level of performance at the recreational level. "

I don't think an average runner can bench their body weight. That requires some form of strength training and most distance runners don't do any push-ups or anything. These are also the kids with concave chests that fit nicely in lockers.

I can bench 1.5 times my body weight now. When I was in prime running condition, I could only bench 1.35 times my weight. Its difficult to do both well.

Even though it's a simple exercise, there is a certain amount of skill to the barbell bench press, so it would be a bad indicator of strength for the untrained. Speaking for myself, I weigh 165 lbs., and can complete a set of 8 dumbell benches using 50 lb. dumbells, and can do a max set of 30+ push-ups (the real kind). Nothing impressive, but you would think I could straight bench press my weight. As it turns out, I tried it last week, and I couldn't even get 150 lbs. off my chest -- I felt very uncoordinated with the bar, and I had a hard time getting a good balance.

That being said, I think if someone had a few months to train, the OP's scale sounds about right.

There's a limited amount of chest strength that a distance runner needs, and the chest/frontal deltoids often get too strong wrt the back/rear delts.

If my guys could bench their bodyweight for a set of three reps, that was good enough for me. (I *never* had guys do any exercise for singles.) We put more focus on pullups: full range of motion, over grip, target reps were bodyweight divided by 10 pounds.

So benching twice your body weight is considered excellent? What would be the equivalent mile time of benching twice your body weight?

RunningArt wrote "Depends on what you call a bench press...Feet on floor, bar touches chest."

You forgot about the pause. It's much more difficult if you lower the bar and pause for at least 1/2 second. Also, slowly lowering the bar (working the negative), makes the exercise harder. So when someone states that they bench press their weight 10 times, this will mean different things for different people.