bench press bet

You might as well just hand him the money...

You probably don't have a chance.

Just out of curiosity, what does your friend have to do?

Is that his 1 rep max? Does he put 250 on and do it several times? How much does he weigh?

Regardless of these answers though, you're in deep $hit. I'm pretty big into lifting and I can't imagine many - if any - guys your size putting up 250.

Head

You can if you have some time to get ready. Like at least a month or preferably 2. When is the date?

Try this wrote:

You can if you have some time to get ready. Like at least a month or preferably 2. When is the date?

Highly doubtful in that timeframe. Unless he's already benching 200+ for reps, which I seriously doubt he is.

I'm 190 lbs and bench 250 lbs as my one time max, and it's taken me almost a year of consistent lifting to get to that level. I think you might be in trouble with this one.

Does he has to do anything running related? I know I would be very lucky to 17:00 in 5k right now.

He has to run a mile under 5 minutes. I downgraded his task as I thought 250lbs was easy as it is his standard rep weight and 5 minutes is attainable for most. The time frame was set at 6 months.

I havent lifted weights seriously in 4 or so years. When i was training for soccer i lifted a bit but more machine weights bench pressed 180lbs, this was when i was 15 though but weighed a bit more.

At the moment i feel safe though as no way does he run sub 5. However, would want to at least get close to my target

It depends on the person. I was 5'11/6ft 150 and could put up 185lbs the one time I tried to max in high school. I've never lifted for bulk but I'd imagine that I could when that time comes. Over the winter my running was scaled back to 40-50mpw over the course of about two months I put on about 8 lbs without really trying to (the same routine I did in hs just with fewer miles) and had my reps increase 20lbs to 3x10 at 155. I've seen several guys put on 20-30 pounds once they finished with the team and started lifting seriously for a 2 months or so. Depends on who you are and what you want to do.

what gives wrote:

I havent lifted weights seriously in 4 or so years. When i was training for soccer i lifted a bit but more machine weights bench pressed 180lbs, this was when i was 15 though but weighed a bit more.

At the moment i feel safe though as no way does he run sub 5. However, would want to at least get close to my target

When you were "machine" benching 180lbs, that was probably the rough equivalent of 145lbs benching for real, give or take.

I'd postulate that you would struggle GREATLY with 200lbs right now, and may indeed kill yourself if you were to even attempt 250lbs.

What in the world even made you think you'd be able to get anywhere close to 250lbs???

Like one of the other posters, I'm 185lbs and my 1 rep max is 260lbs, and that's after almost 2 years of serious lifting (I gave up running a while back but still enjoy the sport from a fan's point of view).

I hope you have $100 to spare.

there are precious few guys who can rep 250 and run a mile under 5:00. I wouldn't worry too much.

My guess is that with 6 months of serious lifting you might be able to approach maxing at 200.

people you're size can bench 250, but only if they have very short arms, and/or have been lifting pretty seriously for awhile, and/or are naturally quite strong, or some combination of these. I don't know your arm length, but since you don't seem to have the 2nd two characteristics I mentioned (lifting for awhile, naturally quite strong), it is quite doubtful you will be able to approach this amount any time soon.

But it also sounds very unlikely that your friend will be able to approach a 5 minute mile ( unless he runs a decent amount or is a naturally great athlete who does decent cardio) . If he is like most meathead lifters, he won't be able to approach 6 minutes.

So you will both lose, meaning no one will lose: a draw. (you could do a tie-breaker: whoever, in 2 months time comes closest %-wise to the goal. In other words, if he runs 5:30, that is 110% of the goal (divide actual performance by goal performacance). You'd have to lift about 225 to match him. If he runs 6:00, you'd have to bench 210 to just beat him. Maybe THAT is your answer, and you will both get in better overall shape.

It's not "you're" it's "your."

And arm length has very little to do with bench pressing ability, but is usually one of the biggest excuses used by people who just plain aren't strong.

Head

Im 150 and can bench 225/100kg for 3-4 reps. Im only 5'11. Id say its possible if you were shorter (and thus had more 'weight' in your upperbody. How long have you got to train for this, if its anytime soon you just lost $100. It is possible you could, with a little time, throw up a one time max of 250lb.

Chris Dresser wrote:

And arm length has very little to do with bench pressing ability, but is usually one of the biggest excuses used by people who just plain aren't strong.

Sort of like short people who say that's why they can't dunk a basketball or a nearsighted guy who can't hit a baseball. They are really just unathletic but want to blame their height/vision! Bunch of losers...

kartelite wrote:

Chris Dresser wrote:

And arm length has very little to do with bench pressing ability, but is usually one of the biggest excuses used by people who just plain aren't strong.

Sort of like short people who say that's why they can't dunk a basketball or a nearsighted guy who can't hit a baseball. They are really just unathletic but want to blame their height/vision! Bunch of losers...

Apples and oranges, stud, and even you know that. Total red herring.

Unless your arms are ridiculously out of proportion from the rest of your body, the relative ratio of arm length:body length is roughly the same for most people. Thus the real variable is muscle size/strength.

If two people people are both 6' and one person's arms are like 3 inches shorter than the other, then I may conceded that there might be an issue there, but that's taking it to the extreme. This subject irritates me after hearing plenty of tall skinny guys complain about not being able to do pull ups/bench press as well as shorter people because they have longer arms, when the problem is clearly overall weakness.

So you will both lose, meaning no one will lose: a draw. (you could do a tie-breaker: whoever, in 2 months time comes closest %-wise to the goal. In other words, if he runs 5:30, that is 110% of the goal (divide actual performance by goal performacance). You'd have to lift about 225 to match him. If he runs 6:00, you'd have to bench 210 to just beat him. Maybe THAT is your answer, and you will both get in better overall shape.[/quote]

Thanks for the advice and i like this idea. Will run this over with the "meathead" mate!

*concede, not conceded

I think it can be done in 6 months. You may really have to sacrifice your running to spend more time in the gym than out on the roads though. I'm 5'9" and maxed out at 200 on the bench press in 2 months. I weighed about 155 at the time. I certainly do not consider myself naturally strong at all.

About the arm length issue.

Does the arm length body length really mean anything for the bench press where you are laying down? (or for pull-ups, hanging from a bar) Wouldn't a person with longer arms have a disadvantage in the fact they have to push the weight farther away from their chest? I would think the more important ration would be arm length : strength.