Which is harder to achieve: a 300 lb bench press, or a 5:00 mile?

Definitely a 5:00mile, I know very few ordinary people who can run a 5:00 (actually I don't know anyone other than pro runners who are running in the 4:00s and adults)

1 day about a year ago I convinced 4 dudes from my team at work to start coming to the gym with me early in the morning, 2 of those guy were big stocky overweight guys committed to getting back in shape, both with a lot of fat but a lot of mass, both could bench 300 or more from the beginning. Also, if you ever watch people benching you will see people consistently hitting 300. If you go a track you do not see 5:00 drops this commonly.

blingblang wrote:

Yeah, I think most of those decathletes can bench 300

Don't know about that. My son was one of the stronger decathletes at 220 lbs with 15+ meter shot put. He couldn't bench anywhere close to 300 lbs. Mostly because he never tried. They rarely did barbell bench press. They did dumbbell bench, which is easier on the shoulders, but not even that much of that. Bench press isn't really all that functional. He could clean close to 400. They did overhead and jerks, but I don't recall the weights. When he did do barbell bench, he could do a few reps with 225, but couldn't have gotten close to 300.

And he ran 4:28 in the 1500m, which I think is ~5 minute mile.

You stated your son races 1500m, 4:28 and you stated your son is 220 lbs. I will assume you son is built like Dennis Rodman. Rodman played at 6'7" 220 lbs. I am going to assume that your son is rare for decathlon athlete. Your son is a fast 1500m runner for a decathlon athlete.

I was able to bench press over 250 lbs. for much of my late teens through my 40s. I never thought bench pressing alone gave me a huge advantage running. I did total body workouts.

I am going to assume most elite decathlon athletes can bench over 300 lbs.

Tingling in my BUM BUM wrote:

Definitely a 5:00mile, I know very few ordinary people who can run a 5:00 (actually I don't know anyone other than pro runners who are running in the 4:00s and adults)

1 day about a year ago I convinced 4 dudes from my team at work to start coming to the gym with me early in the morning, 2 of those guy were big stocky overweight guys committed to getting back in shape, both with a lot of fat but a lot of mass, both could bench 300 or more from the beginning. Also, if you ever watch people benching you will see people consistently hitting 300. If you go a track you do not see 5:00 drops this commonly.

Really? I have never ever seen a guy bench 3 plates the first time he ever tried it. Not even close. Even if they are big, it takes some practice to get the balance and groove and joints and stabilizers and everything all lined up. These guys must be mutants. If they started at 3 plates, I bet they were benching over 600 within a year.

And, as I said previously, I've been lifting in gyms for years in many different places and guys benching over 300 are not that common. Like I said, maybe 5-10%. Is there someplace like Samoa or something where everyone is super strong naturally?

Tingling in my BUM BUM wrote:

Definitely a 5:00mile, I know very few ordinary people who can run a 5:00 (actually I don't know anyone other than pro runners who are running in the 4:00s and adults)

1 day about a year ago I convinced 4 dudes from my team at work to start coming to the gym with me early in the morning, 2 of those guy were big stocky overweight guys committed to getting back in shape, both with a lot of fat but a lot of mass, both could bench 300 or more from the beginning. Also, if you ever watch people benching you will see people consistently hitting 300. If you go a track you do not see 5:00 drops this commonly.

0/10

Samoa? Forget about your local gym.

As I stated in an earlier reply, think back to high school. Maybe one to two dozen guys were capable in high school of racing sub-5 for one mile.

Think about the guys on the high school football team. Offensive linemen, defensive linemen, linebackers, tight ends and fullbacks. High school football players ranging in weight from (200 to 275) lbs. You don't think at least a dozen or more high school football players at nearly every high school can bench 300 lbs.?

bigger stronger & faster wrote: You don't think at least a dozen or more high school football players at nearly every high school can bench 300 lbs.?

No, no I don't. I helped out with the football team a big school that had a senior class of 900 students and was one of the top programs in the state. We had maybe 3 guys who could bench 300. I actually only remember one, but I'm guessing a couple other of the big guys could too.

I'm sure there are schools that have a cluster of 300 lb D1 linemen who have a dozen guys who can bench 300, but it's not common. 300 is a very high bench press, especially for a high schooler.

300 is also a kinda odd number for bench. 315 (three plates) is a more normal benchmark.

And I'm talking true butt on the bench, unassisted bench press. If we added guys who got helpful "spot", or did a decline press, or lifted their butt in the air, there'd be more.

Gingerbeef wrote:

Tingling in my BUM BUM wrote:

Definitely a 5:00mile, I know very few ordinary people who can run a 5:00 (actually I don't know anyone other than pro runners who are running in the 4:00s and adults)

1 day about a year ago I convinced 4 dudes from my team at work to start coming to the gym with me early in the morning, 2 of those guy were big stocky overweight guys committed to getting back in shape, both with a lot of fat but a lot of mass, both could bench 300 or more from the beginning. Also, if you ever watch people benching you will see people consistently hitting 300. If you go a track you do not see 5:00 drops this commonly.

0/10

I agree with this guy. 5:00 is harder on AVERAGE. Of course, everyone's different. At 6'1" 160 I can't imagine not being able to break 5:00, and I had to train consistently for years to bench 200.

At almost 40, I have been running and going to gyms for a lot of years. My main facility is a fieldhouse with an indoor track and decent weights area. On a given night there are maybe 20 people on the track at once and also in the weight area. As a 4:4x mile / 16:30 5k runner it is very rare that I'm not the fastest on the track. I stink, yes, but with many people running few are doing 5:00. If there's someone working out with 5:00/17:00 ability it's quite rare; people start asking if you are training for the Olympics if you run a 30-second lap, ffs. Meanwhile, over in the weight area, three plates is not uncommon.

I think the 5.00 mile is harder. I'm 42 and benched over 300lb about 8-9 yrs ago and think if I went back to doing some weight training could do so again

. When I was 38 I decided to start running, dropped about 40lb in weight and have ran 17.36 for 5k this year, think best

Memories may be strangely deceptive. I have no evidence to state that you are wrong. You are stating only three guys on a high school football team could bench press 300+ pounds. I am dubious. At 145 lbs. in high school, I was able to max in high school at 250 lbs. on bench press. I was a XC and t&f athlete. You are telling me the big fellas on your high school football team could not bench press much more than I could as a 145 lbs. XC runner? So you don't think my memory is faulty, I can bench (190 to 200) lbs. today. Give me a few weeks and I'll be back to 225 lbs. on bench press.

bigger stronger & faster wrote:At 145 lbs. in high school, I was able to max in high school at 250 lbs. on bench press.

Cool. Did you compete at powerlifting nationals? Or what your squat and dead not as strong. Depending on your age, that puts you at Masters or Elite level in powerlifting and would have made you one of the best in your region.

power lifter wrote:

bigger stronger & faster wrote:At 145 lbs. in high school, I was able to max in high school at 250 lbs. on bench press.

Cool. Did you compete at powerlifting nationals? Or what your squat and dead not as strong. Depending on your age, that puts you at Masters or Elite level in powerlifting and would have made you one of the best in your region.

In Pennsylvania, the high school state record for the 145 lb class is 254 lbs for a bench press only competition. For the bench press within a full powerlifting competition, the high school state record is 220 lbs.

What state did you compete in?

Most top high schools do not have a dozen or so guys who can bench 300. It shows how out of touch posters are. As someone stated before a top program may have 3-4 guys on average. Many kids haven't been in a highly structured lifting program long enough in high school. I'm a fan of college football and even the majority of top high recruits aren't benching 300. After a few years in a top college program most lineman can do 300 but they also weigh close to 300.

In high school it's much easier to find a bunch of kids who can break 5 than to find the same number who can bench 300. Benching 300 in high school is very rare.

After high school the numbers get closer because people tend to mature and put on more weight. This is good for lifting more weight but bad for running a sub 5. Also a lot of guys who didn't lift in high school start lifting for the women so the lifting more pool has expanded while the running fast pool has contracted.

From a pure performance aspect a 300 lb bench is more impressive than a 5:00 min mile. But if you went to gyms and tracks/road races across the country the 5:00 miler is more rare because of the training motivations and self selection measures each group. "Hobby joggers" far outnumber "hobby lifters".

bigger stronger & faster wrote:

My max is about 265 lbs. I'm fine with that.

bigger stronger & faster wrote:

So you don't think my memory is faulty, I can bench (190 to 200) lbs. today. Give me a few weeks and I'll be back to 225 lbs. on bench press.

cool

Power lifter: From ninth grade on I only competed in XC and t&f. My max on free weight squat I believe is 310 lbs. For weight lifters and sprinters I know 310 lbs. squat is not super impressive.

Was this to me or power lifter? I think in a reply earlier I stated, I did not overly care about bench pressing or other weight lifting. I was weight training on all muscle groups as a runner. I mostly tried to do what Herschel Walker did. I understand he did 500 push ups and 500 sit ups daily. I tried to do 250 ea. five days a week.145 lbs., 254 lbs. a PA high school record? Really? MN

310? That's a weird weightlifting max.

2(45+45+35+5+2.5) +45 = 310

I've never been around a squat rack where an increment of 2.5 was added on.

BFS program user wrote:

310? That's a weird weightlifting max.

2(45+45+35+5+2.5) +45 = 310

I've never been around a squat rack where an increment of 2.5 was added on.

Same with 250 on the bench. The guy must like the little 2.5 lb plates. I'd say that lifters laugh at you for being a girly man if you use the 2.5s, but "bigger, stronger, and faster" was one of the top 145 lb powerlifters in the country when he was in high school, so you have to give him respect for that.

Are you saying 2.5 pound plates do not fit the barbell while squatting? If you're calling b.s. on my ability to have a max squat of 310 lbs., I am sure I can squat 225 lbs. today. Does that make you happy? Four 45 lbs. plates and 45 lbs. bar.