OT: Weight lifting #s

[devilsrain]

This thread makes me laugh. What it sounds like is everyone can bench between 275-400 lbs. Cmon you guys are reading too many comic books.(or lifting alot of long boxes?)

 

 

[500Club]

Interesting thread.

 

It's extremely difficult to bench twice your body weight. I've been trying for a long time and can't seem to crack the 170-180% barrier. Trimming weight costs me strength, while bulking up worsens the wt/press ratio.

 

One thing I will say about bench press claims is that most of the numbers claimed are not accurate. Either the 'spotter' deadlifts 30% of the weight, the lifter arches his back, or the 'range of motion' is to bring the bar halfway to the chest.

[Calidream'n]

This thread makes me laugh. What it sounds like is everyone can bench between 275-400 lbs. Cmon you guys are reading too many comic books.(or lifting alot of long boxes?)

 

 

 

I was thinkin' the same thing. Either that or we've got some buff muthrfockers on this board that should stand out like sore thumbs at these comic-cons!

[bronze_rules]

In my high school/college transition the holy grail for the few was considered to be what we called two plates. That is to say 2*45 lb plates per side + the bar which is about 45 lbs.

That right there was 225. It wasn't too hard to get to an additional 35lb/side afterwards

(295).

 

I'm 5' 11' and weighed around 180 at the time. So i speak from experience. Although I doubt I could do it now. Anyone who's ever been into bulking up knows this is achievable.

And most of the prior posts sound plausible, IMO.

[DR.X]

Interesting thread.

 

It's extremely difficult to bench twice your body weight. I've been trying for a long time and can't seem to crack the 170-180% barrier. Trimming weight costs me strength, while bulking up worsens the wt/press ratio.

 

One thing I will say about bench press claims is that most of the numbers claimed are not accurate. Either the 'spotter' deadlifts 30% of the weight, the lifter arches his back, or the 'range of motion' is to bring the bar halfway to the chest.

 

Your exactly right. Most guys in a gym claiming these bench numbers would be crushed in a sanctioned AAU bench meet with judges. If anyones ever been into or around powerlifting in the competitive state, you know what I mean. In a meet you have three judges. One head in front of the bench, one on each side of the bar. Each is looking for something different. Im quoting rules from years ago so dont hold me to them. I ran with alot of powerlifters for years and went to plenty of big meets, and judged also. Lifter can have his choice of bars. A power bar, or olympic bar. Diameters a little different and is the knurling. Hands must be inside the lines on the bar. Feet have to be flat on the floor, and not locked on the bench. Feet cannot move period. You butt cannot leave the bench at all. Once the bar leaves the rack by the spotter you can lower it to the chest where it has to come to a dead stop!!! The head judge says lift, and thats when the press begins, from a dead stop! Yea this separates the men from the boys. Now on the way up you are only allowed 1" of trail on your weaker arm if thats the case. Any more you get a red light. Any foot movement, red light. Any heaving, red light, ( and i knew 600 lb benchers that were masters at heaving. Any trail more than a inch red light. Arms have to be locked out, and the judge says rack it. Alot of 450 bench pressers now become 320 bench pressers overnight. Seen it countless times. My

 

DRX

[the blob]

i'll buy it..come on, comics and steroids go hand in hand. no seriously, when you're home alone on a friday night why not read a stack of comics and work out for 4 hours?

 

personally, throwing around a lot of weight lost its appeal a while ago when I maxed out at 315 pounds (and yes, that probably would not have been a legal lift in a meet) and weighed 185 at age 16 or 17. shortly after that while doing like a set of 25 reps of 225 (yeah, I was probably doing a little bit of chest bouncing/cheating to do that many reps and I know I was a bad boy arching my back) I heard a little tear in my pec. after that any time I tried to go over 225 I would feel like it was going to tear again and that was that. i worked out on and off, but never much on the bench, lots of reps at 185 or whatever, didn't want to tear that pec all the way. a few years back i went to a sports medicine doctor about something else and he felt around and said he definitely could feel some scar tissue under the surface. given that i also played a lot of tennis and this was my right pec (and I'm a rightly), that's not an area I wanted to mess around with and miss a couple of years of tennis.

[MutantKeys]

This thread makes me laugh. What it sounds like is everyone can bench between 275-400 lbs.

I agree. I go to the gym a couple of times a week and rarely see guys free-lifting that much weight and a lot of them look like Arnold.

[COI]

Yep. I never realized how weak I was until I read this thread. It seems that everyone here as a teenager "back in the day" could bench more than I can now as a 28 year-old who works out consistently. Interesting.

 

I'm now afraid of getting my comic money taken away from me if I ever decide to attend a forum dinner.

[EwanUK]

This thread makes me laugh. What it sounds like is everyone can bench between 275-400 lbs. Cmon you guys are reading too many comic books.(or lifting alot of long boxes?)

 

 

 

I was thinkin' the same thing. Either that or we've got some buff muthrfockers on this board that should stand out like sore thumbs at these comic-cons!

 

I agree, the numbers being quoted here as being typical are unbelievable. I've been lifting for nearly 17 years and weigh in now at a fat 245lbs. I can incline bench 264 (120KG) max and 220 (100KG) for 10 high quality reps. I have a fat 48" chest and fat 18" arms. Compared to most Brits, that's pretty big - and I like feeling heavy. And I like to think I'm pretty strong.

 

I smoke, eat chocolate, have a hard job with 2 hour commute and have 2 lovely but demanding kids.

 

So not very impressive against the above numbers - but every gym I've trained in has very, very few guys who ever exceed 200 or even 150lbs using good form.

 

And as I don't do steroids, I am also hung like a grand national winner.

[cheetah]

After nearly 10 years of lifting regularly, I managed to press 225 once while I weighed 165. I soon came down with tendinitis of my biceps tendon that degenerated into shoulder impingement that took me over two years to get over. Skinny guys ain't meant to bench press heavy weights. I'm better at collecting comics.

[TeddieMercede]

Yep. I never realized how weak I was until I read this thread. It seems that everyone here as a teenager "back in the day" could bench more than I can now as a 28 year-old who works out consistently. Interesting.

 

I'm now afraid of getting my comic money taken away from me if I ever decide to attend a forum dinner.

 

how long have you been working out for.

[seanfingh]

Yep. I never realized how weak I was until I read this thread. It seems that everyone here as a teenager "back in the day" could bench more than I can now as a 28 year-old who works out consistently. Interesting.

 

I'm now afraid of getting my comic money taken away from me if I ever decide to attend a forum dinner.

 

When I was lifting every day, I could do wheels about ten or twelve times and then with 10s added 4 or five and that was about it. I could do a lot better on other exercises, but never bench. I embrace my inner wuss and I walk tall because in my mind I have great stand up and submission skills.

[COI]

Yep. I never realized how weak I was until I read this thread. It seems that everyone here as a teenager "back in the day" could bench more than I can now as a 28 year-old who works out consistently. Interesting.

 

I'm now afraid of getting my comic money taken away from me if I ever decide to attend a forum dinner.

 

how long have you been working out for.

 

I've always worked out, even as a kid, but I got really consistent in my early 20s.

 

I do cycle in heavy weights from time to time to shock my body, but I tend to focus a lot on calisthenics because I actually enjoy it. I like being able to throw around my own body, so to speak. I realize there are some very powerful individuals that can have it both ways, but that's not me.

 

I'm not saying these numbers I'm hearing on bench are impossible, but it doesn't match up to what I see around me. I don't know most of these guys, so maybe they do train at a very high level, but I'm hearing numbers like 270 and 305 being thrown around like that's some kind of an average. And the idea that you aren't considered "strong" unless you can bench double your weight is a little nutty to me. Maybe that's how it is in bodybuilding circles, but among normal humans, you'd be hard pressed to find a lot of "average" guys who can do more than half to 3/4 of their body weight without struggling.

[COI]

Bench has always been a weak point for me as well, so maybe this is all sour grapes on my part. I've always been much better at pulling than pushing, which is why I enjoy chin ups/pull ups.

 

I have great stand up and submission skills

 

Well, you're quite witty, so that could translate into great stand up. I'm not sure about your submissions; can we get your girlfriend to chime in here?

 

 

 

[seanfingh]

I'm not sure about your submissions; can we get your girlfriend to chime in here?

 

 

 

Not likely. I haven't had a steady girlfriend since UFC 3.

[Silver Surfer]

The best shape of my life was when I didn't lift. Push ups, leg raises, etc combined with grueling cardio (hitting a heavy bag).

[THE_BEYONDER]

A weight-lifting thread in comics general. Hammer chime in yet?

[COI]

A weight-lifting thread in comics general. Hammer chime in yet?

 

I actually have a pm of Hammer criticizing me for being "skeletal" @ 5'11 185lbs. Then he tells me I'm built like a runner, or something like that, which was supposed to be some sort of insult. Good times.

[TeddieMercede]

I've always worked out, even as a kid, but I got really consistent in my early 20s.

 

I do cycle in heavy weights from time to time to shock my body, but I tend to focus a lot on calisthenics because I actually enjoy it. I like being able to throw around my own body, so to speak. I realize there are some very powerful individuals that can have it both ways, but that's not me.

 

I'm not saying these numbers I'm hearing on bench are impossible, but it doesn't match up to what I see around me. I don't know most of these guys, so maybe they do train at a very high level, but I'm hearing numbers like 270 and 305 being thrown around like that's some kind of an average. And the idea that you aren't considered "strong" unless you can bench double your weight is a little nutty to me. Maybe that's how it is in bodybuilding circles, but among normal humans, you'd be hard pressed to find a lot of "average" guys who can do more than half to 3/4 of their body weight without struggling.

 

Being strong only if you can bench double your body weight is what people who have been lifting for a long time consider strong, not your average joe. I ask how long because Ive only met maybe 2 or 3 people in my life who could naturally just come in off the street and put up 315 without a normal workout routine. For 99.9% of the rest of the people in the world it involves a long process of constantly challenging your body and continually lifting weights. To expect that you could put up the same amount as those people by alternating calisthenics and heavy weights isnt realistic.

 

In terms of seeing people around you at gyms doing 3 plates and above you ll never see it really if you go to a new york sports club or an equinox. Meatheads have their hangouts too you know, just like comic collectors.

[Old Fashion PB and J]

Double bodyweight in bench press is ridculous. At my best I could press 285 for rep's on my 4th set. My warmup weight is always 185, second set 225. And my chest and shoulders are my weakest points. My squat WAS up to over 500lbs before I broke my ankle, and deadlift was around 400 lbs.

 

These days, who knows. I havent gotten to the gym. But today will actually be my first day back. I will post results from whatever later.

 

And I am 5'9" 225 lbs. Twenty lbs out of shape. And need to get back into routine.