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

im 23 in the military i weight 142lbs and can bench 285lbs 1reps is that considered excellent?

Anything below your own bodyweight is bad, and indicative that strength training will *probably* help your performance in any sport, even distance running. BW + 50 lbs is decent and a good goal for most track distance runners, though +25 is probably sufficient. BW + 100 is very good and a good goal for sprinters. Much above that is probably a waste for runners, you don't want to carry that much mass.

Anyway, I'd rather see you doing some deadlifts than bench.

You're full of it!

I'm 21 at 5'8 at 174 pounds, and I do not take any supplements but I bench my weight times .34% so around 235 about 4 times.

Currently weigh 155-160 lbs and bench 185 lbs, 8-10 reps. Does age factor into this equation? Fwiw, I'm 54.

What's a good 5k time compared to your height? What's a good income compared to your hair color? What's a good girls compared to the car you drive?

What a joke.

Don't compare your bench to anything. If you weight 120 lbs and bench your bodyweight, it is still only 120 lbs and far less impressive than anyone else who benches 200 lbs, no matter if they weigh 150 or 300.

Man up.

I am 16 weigh 134 am 5'10" and can bench 185 and bench 235. I feel this is good but obviously i can always improve. I work out about 4 times a week. To be exellent you should bench about 1.5 times your body weigh and squat about 2 time.

I am 16 weigh 134 am 5'10" and can bench 185 and squat 235. I feel this is good but obviously i can always improve. I work out about 4 times a week. To be exellent you should bench about 1.5 times your body weigh and squat about 2 time.

I also that 10xbodyweight is a pretty good marker of reasonable benchpress.

As a 155 lb. runner I use to be able to do my weight 3 - 4 times. One relative standard is the football bench press where players (regardless of position or weight) must press 225 lbs. as many times as possible. Not sure what the record is but remember a lineman who did 44 times.

F.Y.I. wrote:

Realistically, how much chest strength do you think a runner needs?

In my experience distance runners (on average) have a much greater need to work on their upper- and mid-back strength, rather than on chest.

Right, pullups, rows, deadlifts. Nothing wrong with benching too, but it should hardly be your focus as a runner.

I always considered 2x body weight to be the high standard for bench pressing strength. Not many distance runners will meet it, however. I do recall that Earl Jones put up 350lbs in high school when he weighed about 155. He was truly strong (and fast -- he ran a 45. 400m relay leg in HS as well). That said, I doubt bench pressing strength will help a distance runner in any way.

According to ACSM's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription to be considered above the 95% a 20-29 year old should lift 1.63 of their body weight, a 30-39 year old 1.35, a 40-49 year old 1.20, a 50-59 year old 1.05, and 60+ .94 percent of their body weights. (table 4.9 page 91)

Brice wrote:

To be exellent you should bench about 1.5 times your body weigh and squat about 2 time.

Everyone has their own standard of excellence. To me bench pressing 1.5x one's body weight is approximately equal to a 4:45 mile in high school, which is a low bar.

Bench press and squat are kind of meaningless. At my best I could squat 275 for 12 reps when I was 170 and I could max 220 for bench when I was 180. I don't try to go that high now. I keep the bench at 155 and the squat at 225 and I can do many reps at those weights. It's not worth risking injury to my back or shoulders to try to put up bigger numbers. I want to be able to run and climb and a lifting injury will kill progress in those areas. If I want, I can get big and ripped doing a variety of lifts at weights that won't hurt me.

I find this article very interesting as I am a post-collegiate runner. In running I showed a lot of promise running 8:45 my freshman year in college but nothing came of it due to injuries/lack of motivation/college life. I am a runner first and foremost. I was about 135-140lbs at that time. Obviously running 70+ miles a week. Still to this day I run anywhere from 20-35 miles a week depending on my schedule and motivation.

I am now 24 and have in the past year picked up going to the gym 3-4 times a week. I now weigh 160 and have recently benched 225. I have also recently done a 5k on the roads and ran sub 17 (barely lol). I want to stay at 160lbs. and see how fast and strong I can actually get. Maybe I should do a little speed work and try the 800? I've been considering it. Really great thread with a bunch of liars on here.

liars? letsrun posters are all part of the 1% in everything

Also, form is important. I wouldn't count bench presses where a spotter ever touches the weight from locked to locked or where the back arches or moves from the bench at all or bench presses with a ridiculously wide "bodybuilder" grip.

I do my bench sets super slow and deliberate keeping my back still. (a set of 15 takes almost a minute). Lots of strong people I know at the gym don't even flat bench ever as many bodybuilder guys think it causes shoulder injury and prefer dumbbell bench, flies, and maybe incline bench.

o.O wrote:

[quote]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).

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

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Hah. you wish