Run low 16 5k, bench press body weight 30 times?

I'm bitter.. I could only do 25 reps (kept hitting the damn bar) and then that *explicit* drafted off of me for over a mile of the race, refusing to share the lead. "I'll be back" next year

Mediocre 5k time plus Mediocre strength equals first place. This event represents institutionalized medocrity at its best....maybe this guy should be the next President.

If you think a 16:16 5k is average then I'm assuming you've never been out among the general public.

It also is far from mediocre strength. Very few people can bench their bodyweight 30 times, even those very strong in the bench.

Mediocre 5k time plus Mediocre strength equals first place.

Not much for the Decathlon, are you? How dare an event reward well rounded fitness as opposed to very good at one area and piss poor at everything else.

I'll be impressed when someone can bench their own weight 30 times and average sub-5 pace on the roads. It seems like any decent runner could train really hard to get the bench press aspect down and then with some light training get under 16:30 for a 5k.

I do have to admit that I don't think the decathlon is a very exciting event to watch, although I do think they are good athletes. I don't really get excited about the WNBA either.

i could probably bench press my body weight 40 timse, but could probably only pull off an 18:50 5k. great effort to mr obrien

depends how much he weights, I ran 16:12 and benched 135pnds (2plates) 3 sets of 15 times at decent effort doing this weekly. I only weight 120pnds and I'm short. The lighter you are the easier it is to bench your own weight.

American Way wrote:

I'll be impressed when someone can bench their own weight 30 times and average sub-5 pace on the roads. It seems like any decent runner could train really hard to get the bench press aspect down and then with some light training get under 16:30 for a 5k.

just to clarify, sub 5 min pace is under 15:30, 16:30 is not 5 min pace.

But i do agree with you. this is a great test for overall fitness. however arbitrary it is to combine bench pressing with running, it does weed out the bulky muscle heads as well as the scrawny xc guys.

for the record, i've run 15:20 and with no training (pushups, thats it) i was able to do 20 reps. I'll be eagerly waiting registration for next years event after a full year of the weight room.

nevermind, i realized you phrased it "i'll be impressed"

sorry.

stillllll searching..... wrote:

American Way wrote:

I'll be impressed when someone can bench their own weight 30 times and average sub-5 pace on the roads. It seems like any decent runner could train really hard to get the bench press aspect down and then with some light training get under 16:30 for a 5k.

just to clarify, sub 5 min pace is under 15:30, 16:30 is not 5 min pace.

But i do agree with you. this is a great test for overall fitness. however arbitrary it is to combine bench pressing with running, it does weed out the bulky muscle heads as well as the scrawny xc guys.

for the record, i've run 15:20 and with no training (pushups, thats it) i was able to do 20 reps. I'll be eagerly waiting registration for next years event after a full year of the weight room.

ok this post is complete bullshit. All of you are f***ing liars on here, I bet 95% of the people on this forum cannot bench there own weight. If you've never done bench before, there is no way, NO WAY, you are benching your weight once, let alone 20 times. Let's say you weigh 135 (random guess, but average runner weight) and if you can bench that 20 times, a bench press calculator spits out 220 or so as your max. So you're telling me that you can bench 220 having never done bench before. Yeah, okay, keep dreaming bud. You are an absolute f***ing liar.

I was helping with the bench press portion.

Saw some guy who was like 48 years old and weighed 200lbs rip off 30 reps and looked like he could have done about 10 more!

I agree, that is a total bullshit post.

NO ONE is putting up their bodyweight 20 times without training, doing only push ups. That is laughable.

A lot of people who can put up twice their bodyweight would be hard pressed to do bodyweight 30 times. It takes a special kind of training.

fdsfadf wrote:

Let's say you weigh 135 (random guess, but average runner weight) and if you can bench that 20 times, a bench press calculator spits out 220 or so as your max. So you're telling me that you can bench 220 having never done bench before. Yeah, okay, keep dreaming bud. You are an absolute f***ing liar.

Not going to defend the guy saying he can bench his weight 20 times, but a standard bench conversion calculator 1) is not the be all end all conversion - just like a running calculator will screw up a 400m time predicting a 10K time and 2) a distance runner has a mindset (and training set) for ENDURING not explosion. 20 reps at low weight is endurance and strength, max is explosion and strength. With this second point, I am not saying it is possible for this guy to one or the other, I am just saying that he is further away from the average lifter, for which that calculator was created.

With ALL this said, you, sir, need to get off whatever lifting high horse you are on. Bodies are all built differently and can do different things more efficiently than other things. What is the big deal if this guy can do what he said? He never said perfect form, and I am assuming his form wasn't the best since he had never lifted before. Or he could have been cranking out a couple hundred push ups a day for years - that will get the endurance lifting ability built up.

Lastly, maybe he DOES have the strength to max out at 220 at this moment. He never said what he eventually maxed out at so your assumptions are just that - baseless assumptions about the guy.

Gret job everybody. It looks like they finally made them run a whole 3.1 miles this year!!

ok big shot. Please tell me what you think of this post:

Hey letsrun. I've never run before, but I was randomly talking to my running friend and he was telling me about all these college kids going sub 4 for the mile this winter, and I was thinking to myself, that's not too hard. So I head over to the track a couple days ago and do a lap hard, and then a lap jog, hard, jog, etc. Then I start timing my splits, 59,58,59,58,58,47!!!!58,57,58. I've never ran before except when playing sports. So anyways, a couple days after that workout I ran the mile, 358!! What do you think man.

So basically, the likelihood of this guy being able to do his bodyweight 20 times is about as likely as someone running sub4 without training. Honestly, you bitches on letsrun don't lift weights!!! You have to be in incredibly good shape and do bench religiously for years before you'd be able to bench your weight 20 times, I don't care how 'efficient' you are. The tool that posted above me, pushups don't make you better at benchpress, doing benchpress makes you better at benchpress. Bench is not actually a very good indicator of strength, it's something that if you practice it a lot you will become good, but you can't just be great at it without ever doing it.

20 reps at bodyweight is not the equivalent of a sub 4. lets be honest here....

nobody get their panties in a bunch, im not trolling here.

I do a lot of upper body work with dips and pushups and chin ups, its just been awhile since ive been in the weight room. I can do 100 pushups straight, and a lot of the time for variation i do pushups gripping db's (mimicking the stability required for benching to an extent).

Captain in college, ran 14:20's could bench press 235lbs once, NFL reps at 220lbs 3-4 times. Weighed about 130-135lbs.