How much can you bench?

[dhanks]

I'm 5'5" 145lbs. I bench 315lbs reclined about 8 degrees and bench 280lbs flat.

No I am not ripped or very large. My waist is 29" and chest is 40" I have 14.5" arms.

 

[Evil ANT]

if you are pysically prepared to go for a new 1RM performing the actual lift is about 90% mental...you should be physching yourself up, not out man !

Yeah, I know what you mean. I have a pretty good group of guys come over on Monday nights and we have "Monday night lift" where we all try for our one-rep max. Lately I've been lagging due to low energy and motivation, so I took the weekend off to rest some. On Monday I walked into the gym totally motivated and full of confidence and ended up getting a great lift in.

I tell ya' though, no matter how hard I try, I totally blow it when I have 300 in front of me. Or should I say, over me. On the way down I'm thinking, "Holy crap, this is a lot of weight, I hope I can do it. Can I do it? I better try hard. Good God this is heavy. I can't do this."

Yup, I'm thinking all that (and more) during the lift. Probably my problem, huh?

From now on I'm definitely going to be a bit less reserved and a lot more aggressive. Instead of saying, "I hope I can bench X weight today," I'm going to say, "Today I am going to bench X weight!"

I found out the problem with my bench anyway. My shoulders are too pussified to handle a heavy bench even though my chest can handle it fine. I'm going to work on my shoulders (and triceps) a lot more and that should be a big help. I'm going to train my ass off and with any luck someday I'll be up there with you greats who can bench over 400!

 

[Randy]

I want to get all my top lifts on digital video too... Those are the kewl kinds of accomplishments to have preserved to look back on in future years. .

Some people are going to be dishonest here and there, thats just how it is. So if you feel its dishonest and on a forum, big deal, just ignore it.

I question claims of a 515 press and such, but so what really. I'm in the gym and I know my numbers are true, seeing how I have it on video

For me to get to a 405 press was no walk in the park, I am still working on form after all this time but without a shirt I might see 20-25 pounds more tops with a good form coach.

 

[Randy]

"Monday night lift" where we all try for our one-rep max.

That is funny....

 

[Randy]

I'm 5'5" 145lbs. I bench 315lbs reclined about 8 degrees and bench 280lbs flat.

No I am not ripped or very large. My waist is 29" and chest is 40" I have 14.5" arms.

 

[Randy]

Funny, I got stuck at 295, too. Maybe it's a mental thing. Almost every time I went for a 300 I'd start thinking, "good god this is a lot of weight." I'd freak myself out to the point where I'd fail before I even got the bar off the cradle.

No shit Evil.... When I'm liftin that much I start thinking ... hmmmmm if I blow this I could be wearing that bar on my neck and life as I know it would be a thing of the past Can be scary. If your wrists buckle or something you are in deep Sheiiiiit .

 

[Mudge]

I found out the problem with my bench anyway. My shoulders are too pussified to handle a heavy bench even though my chest can handle it fine. I'm going to work on my shoulders (and triceps) a lot more and that should be a big help. I'm going to train my ass off and with any luck someday I'll be up there with you greats who can bench over 400!

Stop benching with the shoulders, much safer.

 

[BigDyl]

How does one chose which muscle to bench with?

 

[dhanks]

LOL

No, I do not use any drugs at all. Matter of fact my diet has been horrible this month.

 

[LAM]

How does one chose which muscle to bench with?

depends on what benching technique you use. the technique used mainly for power is not the same as that when focusing on hypertrophy...

 

[westb51]

225lbs x 16

 

[Evil ANT]

Yeah, I know it's not good practice to put the emphasis on your shoulders but it seems to be a bad habit of mine I have a hard time breaking. When I'm done doing heavy benching I can always feel it in my rotator cuffs. That can't be a good thing.

 

[Mudge]

Its not easy and the shoulders are going to be used somewhat anyway, but you can try to reduce it with proper form (pulling the shoulder blades back and keeping the arms in). Without a tank top or open back shirt though, its hard to keep your back stuck to the bench like this.

I haven't found a way to bench high numbers while having the elbows really close in, that is my own personal sticking point. I am stronger when I bring them out a bit but honestly, I can't recall seeing a raw bencher bring the arms in that much ever.

 

[flavoredmonkey]

i weigh 130 n i can do 135lb i just started kinda so dont make fun

 

[LAM]

i weigh 130 n i can do 135lb i just started kinda so dont make fun

that's not a bad place at all to start !

you would be surprised how many people out there can not bench their own bodyweight..

 

[Evil ANT]

Its not easy and the shoulders are going to be used somewhat anyway, but you can try to reduce it with proper form (pulling the shoulder blades back and keeping the arms in). Without a tank top or open back shirt though, its hard to keep your back stuck to the bench like this.

I haven't found a way to bench high numbers while having the elbows really close in, that is my own personal sticking point. I am stronger when I bring them out a bit but honestly, I can't recall seeing a raw bencher bring the arms in that much ever.

Yeah, when I try pulling my elbows closer as to keep my arms in, I definitely can't lift as much. It throws me off a bit and almost feels like a close-grip bench press minus the close-grip, if that makes any sense to you.

When I lift, I prefer to lift however it feels natural. I let my body dictate what is right and what isn't. After all, every human body is different. What works fine for one person might not for another. The most comfortable I feel on a bench is with my arms out, not in.

 

[Mudge]

Natural is a good generic rule, but benching dead fish style with big numbers the human body does not like.

 

[Evil ANT]

Yup, I noticed that after attempting heavy benches. My shoulders were killing me. I'll have to work on my form a bit more so I don't seriously injur myself be unable to bench for a long, long, long time.

Benching safe is better than not benching at all.

 

[Randy]

Mudge, why do you have a women in your clips displaying dead form?
You should lose the lady and put a man in there ....urrrrr urrrrr urrrrrr Or how does that guy say that on Tool Time?

 

[Mudge]

You mean pictures right? Its just a page I ran into.

 

[Randy]

Yeah..I was refering to your pictures.

 

[Randy]

Yup, I noticed that after attempting heavy benches. My shoulders were killing me. I'll have to work on my form a bit more so I don't seriously injur myself be unable to bench for a long, long, long time.

Benching safe is better than not benching at all.

This is the correct way Evil >

 

[Randy]

This is a pretty good article on form Mudge..

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/likness25.htm

 

[sgtneo]

ive only started doing a proper split on 3 sets of 12 i do roughly 30kg which is about 66 pounds but i dont know whats the most i could lift atm as i would rather concentrate on my work out for while untill i get used to it then i will try and find out my bench max how do you do this just do 1 rep and keep adding weights untill u cant do full bench?

Neo

 

[Randy]

You do this by first warming up with very light weight, and going through your normal sets progressively. Then as a last set you top off the bar with the amount you think you can lift for your 1RM. (Make Sure you have spotter standing by of course). If you underestimate, then you add weight and try again till you can lift 1RM. If you overestimate, then you remove weight till you can target your 1RM.

If you are new to bodybuilding, then don't worry about your 1RM, it will all come later. Since you're asking how, you must be new to this. I would focus on your normal sets for now..

What are your stats?

 

[sgtneo]

ok thanks when i start my bench presses is it a good idea to move up a weight then on my last set or should i wait untill im more used to doing bench presses

i think i do about 30kg cant remeber on my first if it was 25 or 30kg think it was 30

Thanks

Chris

 

[sgtneo]

lol what do you mean by my stats?

i am new

 

[Randy]

When you are new to bodybuilding, the most important thing is to not think so much about weight, but to focus on proper form and technique. Once you feel comfortable with that then you focus on lifting a light weight so you can do say ... 3 sets of 10 reps.Do that for a while... Then when you feel you want to move forward than after each set add about 10-20 pounds on each side... This is call pyramid . Do first set of 10 reps, then add 10-20lbs, do 8 reps, then add 10-20 more and do 6 reps.. Before you know it you will keep climbing in weight. This is how I did it. There are several methods though. You can use this one, or find others that work well for you. But if you want to build strength, you have to continue to add weight.

 

[sgtneo]

cheers i do need to learn form i know that much as it was back today and i found the good mornings uncomftable cause not sure where to place bar and just generally wernt sure if i was doing it right

Neo

 

[Randy]

Try doing good mornings first without any bar or weight..
Get comfortable with the movement before you add the weight.