How rare is it to run a sub 5 minute mile AND bench press 225?

It’s probably rare. But I will say this, no one cares that you can do either. Those that are interested in running don’t care that you can run a 5 mile and those in lifting certainly don’t care about a 225 bench.

I would be surprised if too many on the College distance teams could, but I bet plenty of 4:10 milers that could bench over their weight.

I got into running as cross training for college swimming. I think several swimmers could run a 5 and bench 225.

I benched 225 and ran 4:31 and 2:00 as a junior in HS

This feat can be easier if you cross train or come to distance running from a multi-sport background, as I did.

My story is interesting because of who I serendipitously crossed paths with. It’s a circuitous tale; hang with me a bit.

I was a peripatetic U.S. military brat who was bussed from Treasure Island Naval Base in San Francisco Bay in the mid-70s to urban Lowell HS in San Francisco my sophomore year. There I played football and baseball at about 5-10, 170 lbs, while fitting in a couple track meets ( I managed a 2:11 880 to help the track team out a little bit, while eventually pressing 220 on the universal bench machine).

When we moved to suburban Fairfield (not too far from Sacramento) the summer of 1977 for my junior year, I arrogantly expected to start at linebacker for the so-so Armijo High football squad, having co-captained my Lowell JC team earlier (my teammates went on to win the San Francisco City HS Championship the next season; my fellow linebacker had I stayed would have been Gill Byrd, who went on to play a decade for the NFL San Diego Chargers).

Armijo had a new head football coach named Rick Candaele, and he and I didn’t see eye to eye. He leaned toward starting local guys who had put in the time, especially the seniors (which helped build a measure of trust with the guys, I think). As I rode the bench that 4-6 season, I gradually noticed the cross country guys on an adjacent field, who seemed to be having fun.

That Spring, I decided to run track instead of playing baseball, and managed to drop my mile time from 5:13 to 4:42 by season’s end, while still lifting weights during PE with the football team (and getting up to 250 on the bench). Come Fall football season, coach Candaele promised me the left starting defensive end position; he explained that even though I’d be 170 lbs. going up against a lot of 220-270 lb. farm boy tackles from Napa and Vacaville, he said I’d rush circles around them as the fastest end in our league.
Instead, still feeling the sting from not starting the year before, I decided to stick with running and try cross country. POSTSCRIPT: Turned out coach Candaele knew what he was talking about in terms of envisioning distance runners as football players. Whereas I ended up running 2:01 (yds) and 4:29 my senior year in track before a severe case of compartment syndrome put paid to my modest college running goals at UC Davis, Candaele (whose Canadian mother actually played professional women’s baseball for the team featured in the Tom Hanks film, A League of Their Own), ended up moving to Santa Barbara County in Southern California. There at Carpinteria HS his son Casey went to play Major League Baseball for several years, while son Coley became both an all-CIF quarterback while also leading the nation in the 1600 with a sterling (back then in what, 1990?) 4:06! Coley was stocky, could surely bench at least 250, and meanwhile also blazed something like a 1:51 half. Coley to this day remains as one of the pre-eminent examples in US history as an individual who succeeded at the highest prep levels in both football and distance running (the CIF section he starred in as a QB is one of the more prolific in the U.S. in terms of sending kids to eventually the NFL).

I can't even get my 170 lb. body out of bed in the morning so 225 lbs. isn't happening.

Genuinely curious, why are you obsessed w this particular statistic?

Sub 5:00 and bench press of 225? Hold my beer.

Image:media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/pr...

I ran 4:04 and maxed out at 315. But still breaking 5 I was benching probably 265 and still hitting around a 4:35

Something I can actually do in life and I am 48. To bad it means little to nothing.

Actually, Hall ran a 5:28 mile when he was trying to do the 500lb deadlift/ sub 5 mile challenge.

Granted, he ran that on a dirt track at altitude but he definitely wasn't smashing sub 5 miles when that picture was taken.

There was a jacked 800 guy at my college who ran 1:50 and benched 225 in the same season. His other PRs were 49 and 4:23. As others have said, 400/800 guy is the best bet for this, but it’s definitely not common.

I'm close to benching 250 and running sub 7. Running sub 5 is another story. That's very fast. But increasing bench from 225 to 250 is no small feet either.

It's rare. But it's pretty doable by most able-bodied males if you work hard for a year or two.

not rarer

A lot of people could do it, but it is hard and not a good investment for many athletes or fitness buffs.

My brother just did 395 pound bench and a 4.42 mile. Bodyweight 205 pounds, 6'4. He's a beast.

Bench press, believe it or not, is a useless exercise for most athletes. I don't think their is a single sport where excess chest muscle is beneficial, except for maybe American football and of course powerlifting.

Swimming, running, boxing/MMA, climbing/bouldering, and rowing are all sports I've done at some point in my life (or currently still do), and a 2-plate bench is unnecessary and even detrimental in all of those.

Being able to do 20+ pull ups with good form is probably just as difficult as a 2-plate bench, and has way better carryover to the sports I listed, or at the very least, doesn't make you worse at them.

High school or Euro teenage club T&F team, 400m/800m athletes, maybe. College age, decathlon athlete, maybe. How can one look in the mirror and call oneself a thrower and not bench press 250 lbs? Every college thrower and every college decathlon athlete should be a 250 plus pound bench presser. Some decathlon athletes can also run sub-5 mile.

These questions are getting old. How many people have given birth and dunked? That would be hard.