Is a (15:00 minute 5k) + (400 pound bench press) possible?

Runningart2004 wrote:

A decathlete would be your best bet and he may be benching 350ish and running a sub 5:00 mile. Look up Trey Hardee as an example.

I'd actually pick Curtis Beach as likely to be better at this than Hardee. He is way more gifted at endurance than Hardee. Hardee has probably more strength potential, but Beach is far ahead in the running with sub 4 in the 1500.

The question should be is a 400lb bench and a sub 20 5k possible. And I’d still have my doubts,

This is 100% possible. You can still be pretty big and run sub-20. Size is the limiting factor - no way anyone big is running sub-15, but you'd pretty much have to be 175 at a bare minimum (assuming you are an elite powerlifter) to bench 400.

Rez wrote:

The question should be is a 400lb bench and a sub 20 5k possible. And I’d still have my doubts,

One data point about weight and sub 20 5k ... I ran under 1:30 for a half at 218 pounds, and that was flab, not muscle. My first 5k of that race was under 20.

So I know for sure that someone muscular and 220 pounds and probably even up to 240 pounds could run sub 20 5k pretty easy. The question can then become, how hard is 400 pound bench for a 220 / 230 / 240 pound guy?

I really don't know the answer but find it oddly compelling to think about.

My first thought when I read this would be, if anyone "could" do it , it would be an athlete that would require endurance and a great deal of power. Hence, wrestlers/mma fighters. It would be a lower weight class guy (welter weight, 170) and they would have to be in "fight shape". However, I don't believe it to be possible.

I do think that you cold find a handful of guys that could go 15:?? and 300 on the same day. But literally, probably under 10 of them...maybe.

There is a guy on YouTube who at 154lbs benches 400lbs.

He's quite lean. I have no idea whether he's a runner

but I say forsure it is possible to bench 400 and go sub 15. Rare? Perhaps

has never been done. But possible? I'd say.

sub-18:00 and 350 lbs. seems like a compelling yet possible combination. I could do sub-19 and 300 lbs. now, and I think that I could get to sub-18:00 or 350 lbs., but I don't know if I could get to both at the same time.

I feel like there are probably some younger runners at sub-17 without trying too hard that can bench high 200's - low 300's. If that example kid bulked up a little, he could hit 350 lbs. and probably still stay sub-18.

So, maybe sub-17 and 350 lbs. would be possible for some freak.

Easy????? wrote:

cbDalloway wrote:

Absolutely. if you are training for strength and not hypertrophy.

Take Alan Webb back in his prime and he could run 13 low. Train him for a few years for strength on the bench and he will obviously slow down but I think he could squeeze under 15 while benching 400 'easy'

There are N.F.L. receivers and cornerbacks who cannot bench press 400 pounds. Not everyone can bench 400 pound even after years of weight training and little to no running.

You mean linebackers and running backs. Wr’s and Cb’s aren’t benching anywhere near 400

I ran distance till 19, then went into service. In HS ran 15:28 5k. In service got sent to horrible station and began lifting. Kind of like Ryan Hall is doing. Went from 130lbs body weight to 184. Benching 250 or 260 ain't crap. Going by 315, 325, and 345 in one thing but man 400 is a whole nother world, in my experience. I won't believe it and would have to spot the man at 400lbs and then time him myself on the 5k. No one has ever got the weight he claimed he could get when I spotted them on the Olympic bench. All liars. Shout out to the man saying NO Human Is Limited! What a crock. My little cousin is 5 foot two and 240 lbs. Their whole family is way obese by age 10. Leg problems, walk like ducks and all kinds of health problems. Yea no limits at all, they could run 159 for the marathon.

I did 19:12 5k at 195lbs benching 405 same week. I was a shot putter in college best bench was 485 (240lb bw) got lean for police academy testing doing general couch to 5k. If I got leaner and focused I think I could maintain 405 and get Much quicker time. but Genetically i might not be slow twitchy enough. There are people far more gifted than I am so I think it is very possible just not a big push for someone to do it.

What is the limit? wrote:

In shape for a 15 flat 5K, but can also bench press 400 pounds.

Is that possible? If not, what is the strength/endurance combo limit?

400 pound raw bench with good form and 15 flat 5k on same day? Virtually impossible without PED’s.

Turkeytrotten wrote:

I did 19:12 5k at 195lbs benching 405 same week. I was a shot putter in college best bench was 485 (240lb bw) got lean for police academy testing doing general couch to 5k. If I got leaner and focused I think I could maintain 405 and get Much quicker time. but Genetically i might not be slow twitchy enough. There are people far more gifted than I am so I think it is very possible just not a big push for someone to do it.

At your physical peak you were a whopping 4 minutes and 13 seconds from the 5k time while just barely eeking out the bench press weight requirement by 5lbs (allegedly). I don't know why you think anything you've said proves that this is possible. It actually does the opposite and goes to show how unlikely it is. Even if someone was a world more physically gifted than you (a guy who competed athletically in college so you're already way above-average), cutting down to a 17:12 5k would be massively generous and supremely impressive, yet still over 2 minutes from what we're talking about

In the same month, at 230 lbs I ran a 4:15 mile and benched 475 lbs the day after running a 50 miler with a stress fracture in my foot. I had a completely detached hamstring and had dislocated my hip two weeks previous. But my best 5k is just over 16 minutes.

Alex Viada wrote:

In the same month, at 230 lbs I ran a 4:15 mile and benched 475 lbs the day after running a 50 miler with a stress fracture in my foot. I had a completely detached hamstring and had dislocated my hip two weeks previous. But my best 5k is just over 16 minutes.

btw, the 5k was the same year but a few months later after dislocating my hip a few more times.

Joe Falcon, Arkansas miler could supposedly bench a amazing, I don't know how much but supposedly pound for pound he could bench more than some football guys- pound for pound not total weight.

Take a look at their records. As Alan said before: "You all really have no idea how good 300lb is much less 400lb for the bench."

The fastest 5k in the group is 16:32 and the highest bench in the group is 325. Not by the same person.

Jo72 wrote:

I have no idea what could be possible as the best combination.

But I wonder how close some decathletes could get as they would be among the best candidates. The new world champion Niklas Kaul ran 4:15 in the 1500m after a decathlon. He could probably run 4:05 when fresh and with a little more endurance training get close to 15:00 although it is likely that he would be quite a bit slower in the 5k. He's almost 200 pounds and very good at discus and javelin but I have no idea what such a guy could bench press.

Big difference between a 1500 & 5k. You won't find many guys running a 15 minute 5k weighing 200 lbs.

UsedToBeKnowItAll wrote:

A 400# bench is huge. No way is anyone running anywhere under 20 minutes with a 400# bench. I don't think you have any idea what a 400# bench is.

The world records for bench for drug-tested athletes are here:

https://uspa.net/drug-tested-national-raw-bench-only.html

The world record for the 165.2# weight class is under 400#. And I can almost guarantee you that guy is a short, tree-trunk that can barely walk, let alone run.

I'd be shocked if you could get an athlete that could do a sub-15 and 300# bench in the same day.

+1

A 400 lb bench is very huge. I played a couple of years of college football in the late 70s and then a decade or so of competitive powerlifting & bodybuilding. I'm a shorty at 5-6 but my weight was around 195 back then and my max bench was 375. I probably could "jog" maybe a 27 min 5k. Lol. Later in life when I transitioned to running (health issues), my weight dropped to 170 and with it my bench press - which was barely 300. My 5k time improved to 19 & change - a long way from 15 though. Lol.

I saw your map my run workout for that 16min 5k.... Down 1000' hill. Maybe 19min effort on flat