Is a 225lbs bench press equivalent to a 5:00 mile for men??

Just a suggestion for questions (as well as responses) like this posted on an open basis -- frontier models could likely give a much better starting point/framework, or let's say a much better "running start".

So, how about running the Q thru an algo (or cross-comparing responses and percentiles across different algos), seeing what comes out, and then having a nuanced discussion of whether (or not) this is the right comparison/methodology, and what might be a better way to approach the question.

________________________________________________________________________

To compare a **225 lb bench press** and a **5:00 mile** for men based on percentiles, let's break down how each feat ranks among adult males:

### 1. **225 lb Bench Press Percentile**
- According to various strength standards, bench pressing 225 lbs puts you in the **top 25% to top 15%** of adult men.
- The exact percentile varies by body weight:
- **For an average adult male (~198 lbs)**, a 225 lb bench press is achievable by around 20-25% of men with consistent training.
- **For lighter men (~160-170 lbs)**, benching 225 lbs is more challenging and would rank closer to the **top 10-15%** of lifters.
- Many men can achieve this with proper training, but it requires a decent level of strength.

### 2. **5:00 Mile Percentile**
- Running a 5:00 mile is much less common and would place a man in the **top 1-3%** of the population.
- Most adult men cannot run a mile in under 6 or 7 minutes without dedicated endurance training.
- A **sub-5:30 mile** is rare among recreational runners, and dipping below 5:00 generally puts a runner at a **competitive high school or college track** level.
- It requires a high level of aerobic capacity, speed, and running technique.

### Conclusion:
- **225 lb Bench Press**: Around **top 15-25%** of adult men.
- **5:00 Mile**: Around **top 1-3%** of adult men.

### Comparison:
- The **225 lb bench press** is more achievable for a broader range of men with strength training.
- A **5:00 mile** is much more difficult to achieve and places someone in a much higher percentile of the population in terms of cardiovascular and endurance fitness.

So, in terms of percentile, the **5:00 mile** is significantly more rare and difficult compared to a **225 lb bench press**.

But you can easily see the opposite too? If you are built a certain way (like me) I lifted for 5 years and topped out at 205. 5min mile was achieved as a kid. So its a weird question. But I feel both, individually, are milestones of a certain level of competence. Pretty fair comparin to me.

Only a handful of kids out of about 100 on my son's XC team can run a 5 minute mile, but at least half the football team can bench 225, and so can many of the wrestlers.

It depends on a lot of factors - mainly weight.

If you weight under 170 lbs, a 5:00 mile would be easier. Over 170 lbs and the closer you get to / over 225lb the easier it becomes.

I think in terms of effort and training a 5:00 is harder than benching 225 lbs. If you are like 180 lbs, normal length arms, etc - I think like a 5:15-5:30 mile would require the same effort as a 225lb bench. Both can be done.

I upvoted you to encourage you to keep talking that way to all people, all of the time. If you do that it will keep you out of the gene pool.

Spoken like a true 120 lb runner. Benching 225 is actually harder than a 5 minute mile when you're a skinny runner. Just like running a 5 minute mile is tough as hell when you're a 200 lb guy. I've been both and it's actually the same amount of effort and dedication. Neither one will win any awards but they are both not easily done.

I'm an average-athletic guy. Athletic enough to play varsity sports in high school, but lacked the potential to go D1.

I've been an avid runner my entire life, my dad would take me to the track to train for the mile as an elementary school kid and we traveled around going to road races throughout my youth. I ran track in middle school but focused on soccer in high school. I've run multiple marathons as an adult and have had long stretches where I was running 5+ days per week following various programs.

Despite all that, I have never run a 5:00 mile. The fastest I've ever run was 5:22. Today I'm in my 40s and can't crack 6:00.

In contrast, in college I decided to bulk up one semester, and in the span of about 6 or 7 months of lifting I went from a max bench of 175 to 270.

Obviously genetics and previous sports experience are going to swing things, but for me, I'd say a 5:00 mile would probably be about as difficult to achieve as a 350lb bench press (many years of dedicated training). And a 225lb bench would be about as difficult as a 7 minute mile (a few months of casual training).

They’re similar in my mind. Possible to do with almost no training if you have world class talent. Possible after years of dedicated training if you have no talent. A volume rep for pros.

This works far better than any anecdote-driven responses as are widely variable on this thread. I was initially team "225 is harder" but this made me realize I was biased by my sub-10 2-mile from middle school versus benching 225 as a grown adult plagued by a decade of XC-induced upper limb atrophy. I imagine Asbel Kiprop and Hafthor Bjornsson would widely differ on the question also.

I suspect the percentile comparison may exaggerate the difference as among the men in my age group (who are most poised to bench heavy or run fast) there appears to be significantly more effort placed into strength training than running, likely for aesthetic/dating purposes. If this is true, a much greater proportion of men could achieve a certain feat in the gym than could perform an equally "impressive" feat on the track. I have no data to support this but among my ~100 male peers I regularly interact with (excluding my college XC teammates and people I met at the gym) I know dozens who bench press regularly and exactly zero men striving seriously to improve their mile time (or even 5k). Most of the people I know are medical students, so the time commitment of these activities may affect what is prioritized by my cohort.

That said, where did you get your data on these? I noticed the running percentile was for "all adult males" versus "men with consistent training" or "lifters". Data from powerlifting meets is going to throw you off as people don't generally compete in them without years of training or even equipment and performance and enhancing drugs for some federations/division. I'm certain 25% of all men benching 225 is not correct. Think of the adult men you know, can 1 in 4 really bench 225?

This is correct.

Almost any healthy adult man 20-60 could reach a 225 bench with a year of training. I would say perhaps 95%.

There are absolutely people, even people who play sports and/or run avidly, who will NEVER be able to break 5:00.

A 9 year old ran 5:02 and a 10 year old ran 4:46... are there any 9 or 10 year olds that bench 225?

The question is about men, but most every high school in America sends a sub 5 girl along every few years... how many high school girls are there that can bench 225?

Running 5:00 as an 8/9th grader is easy and nothing special, while benching 225 is a big deal. However for an adult male, it's flipped.

Anecdotally, I ran sub 5 at 13 and then gained weight for sports. In my 30s and 6'3 180lbs with a slightly positive ape index, I would have to train for 6 months to run sub 6. Sub 5 will never happen for me again. I can bench 225 off the couch and can get to 315 in 6 months of twice a week benching though.

How many reps and sets are we talking about for the bench? I was doing 2 sets of 225 lbs with 8 x 225, 1 minute rest then I could only do 6 x 225 at 59 years old then got Lyme Disease and now I'm weak as f*ck hoping to get back in shape someday.

Meant to say 2 sets of: 8 x 225, 6 x 225 at 59 years old, then got Lyme and now 165 is difficult.

No. 225lb bench is much easier imo

I'm thinking back to high school. We had maybe 4 dudes who could run 5:00 or better. It was a notable achievment (not a great track school, obviously). Meanwhile, lots of guys could bench 225+.

Hell, take me for example. In my younger days it took months for me to get to the point that I could crack 5:00. Now, in my 40s, I can bench 225 and I'm pretty sedentary. I only know this because my teenage son and his friends were working out in our garage recently, and they wanted to see how much I could bench. To my surprise, as a middle aged man who is very out of shape, I put up 205 quite easily, then did 225.

This

225 is attainable for way more people and for a longer period of time. But At 5'8 150, it was probably equally difficult for me to bench 225 as run sub 5:00.

now im 42 and with a bum shoulder and nowhere near the desire to train for a sub 5:00 mile. Neither will be attained again by me.

this is a joke haha you obviously are a skinny runner and dont lift. I was a 155 800 and 420 mile guy in college. Started lifting and gaining some weigth after and got my bench up to 275 for 3x.

I would say 225lbs is very hard for most people - almost worse than 5:00 because you need to be large enough to lift 225lbs. I think 225 for 1-2 reps is like 450. 275lbs for 1-2 reps is like 4:30. 315 for reps is like 420. 350 for reps is 410, 415 is 4:00 mile, 475-500+ is like 350 miler.550-650 bench is like 346. 700+ bench is like 442........

I think for the conversion to work you need to be a least 6"00, otherwise you cant gain the weight to be strong enough.