The STRONGEST male & female distance runners (weight-lifting)

Me!

"Little" Joe Falcon used to bench press over 300lbs.

I read in a Detriot Free Press article years ago, that Ryan Shay could bench press 250lbs. in high school. But is bench press a real indicator of strength?

Joe Falcon's bench press totals are greatly exaggerated. He might have benched 200 or even 230, but certainly not 300.

Kevin Krause of William and Mary is to my knowledge the only human ever to bench press 300 lbs. AND run a sub 30 minute 10k. That guy was/is HUGE.

Kelly Christiansen from Western State is the strongest distance runner I have ever slept with. Every month at max outs he has to stop at 230 and he doesn't seem to strain. So I am saying that he could easily push 250.

They are not exagerated. It was a routine thing for him to bench amounts near to that. He was small, had very large arms, and could easily do 300lbs-I saw it many times.

A Former Training Partner

That is the truth about Falcon. He could actually bench more than about 30% of the football team (of course mainly defensive backs and receivers, etc,)

Strongest man: Dathan Ritzenhein

Strongest woman: Milena Glusac

What's a good bench press for a girl? [who runs]

I'm 18 and weigh around 110 pounds. I usally do 3 sets of 10 reps at 90#.

Is that truly pathetic?

I feel a little stupid next to the bodybuilders, but hey, I'm not looking to beef up so I guess it doesn't really matter.

You may think you've seen strong....

My college teammate at Penn State, Paul Stemmer, a 28:29 10k runner, weighing in at 120 could bench 285. This guy was a physiological freak of nature - his biceps looked like a cartoonist drew them. He used to put Vaseline on them before he ran to reduce the chaffing! He's never been sick a day in his life, either. The Stem is non-drinker, and one of the Letsrun readers here once served 8-10 extra strong Kamikazes to him and it didn't phase him at all!

Awhile back I went to watch him compete in the Northwest Bench-Press Championships. He finished third. The two guys who beat him in his weight class were 1) a hulking guy about 6-0 220 who made the weight class by weighing in without his two prosthetic legs, and 2) a midget, whose arms were only about 12 inches long and didn't have much of a lever to overcome to pop up the bar! Needless to say, this was the most bullshit competition I've ever seen and it drew quit a few catcalls from the crowd.

They were not Kamakazies, they were Tequila Sunrises with LOTS of Tequila. Stem had about 8 of them in a glass so big you could have used it for a fish tank. A bartender should recognize signs of intoxication but in this case I saw nothing. Stem must have had some wires loose!

why are we talking bench values here?

shouldnt (if any) we be talking about squat values/leg press?

Anyone remember Tim Montgomery saying "I dont waste my time in the weights room now, I only work the muscle groups I have too" (thus saying he doesnt push weights for the hell of it) - he doesnt even do a standard bench press.

Also - at the end of the day, who cares how much someone can bench. I am more impressed with power and endurance as a middle distance runner.

I would be more impressed if I saw someone doing 50 reps hard out at 40kg (90 pounds) than someone doing 3 reps at 220.

Triple digits are for mileage, not weight lifting.

Mr. Chest, this post is asking who is the strongest DISTANCE RUNNER, which you are not. Go for a run loser!

You're 110 lbs. and can bench 20 lbs. (= 90lbs.) under your weight for three sets of ten reps? That's far from pathetic--it's pretty damned good, especially for a female distance runner. I am willing to bet that some of the guys on your team can't do that with their weight. Imagine a 160-pound guy doing 130 for 3 x 10 reps--it wouldn't be a cakewalk for some of those guys...keep at it.

Men have the anatomical edge in a bench press. According to some stats I read a few years ago, the average male can bench 1.26 times their weight for one rep. The average female can bench 0.78 times their weight for one rep. However, comparing leg muscle strength, pound for pound, men are roughly 1.0% stronger than women, which is very negligable. And women have abdominals that are about 2.0% stronger than men (pound for pound).

There are many ways to measure strength. It's very likely I can do more unassisted pull-ups than Mr. Chest (27 and intend to hit 30 by Jan. 1). He might out-bench me, but that may be all he's good for. And I guarantee my ex-roomate can out-bench him (maxed at 560 pounds--the guy's a freak but at least he's cool about it unlike Mr. Chest).

I NEVER ACTUALLY PUT UP 300, IT WAS 285, DOESNT DO MUCH FOR THE 10K TIME

T Helton wrote:

Joe Falcon's bench press totals are greatly exaggerated. He might have benched 200 or even 230, but certainly not 300.

Kevin Krause of William and Mary is to my knowledge the only human ever to bench press 300 lbs. AND run a sub 30 minute 10k. That guy was/is HUGE.

I heard Regina Jacobs threw up 350.