Interesting bench press data

[dylanvb]

Damn, dude. adding 25 lbs to your bench with those numbers is impressive. I know at that level, progress slows ways down.
Over the years, I have noticed that around 275 lbs is a hard wall for many people as the programming becomes so critical. You can get to 275 lbs a bunch of different ways, but you'll only get past that with a handful of programs and almost nobody will get past that just bench pressing when and what they feel like doing.

Something was in the water this past month at the gym, IDK what's going on. It feels like I was grinding out to get 315 comfortable not to long ago but now I am able to rep it for 5. I am not on any program or following anyone's guidelines but I have been making progress almost weekly which is nice because yes adding any weight at this point sometimes takes a while. I am also 30 which i feel like I am getting to that muscle maturity point of my lifting life but these PRs are nice. Also natty.

 

[Matt G.]

It is an interesting statistic. I haven't done the barbell bench in 5 years after local gym closed. With kids being young focus on body weight and things i can do in basement. In my early 30s was at 315 and 200 lbs.

Sent from my SM-S921U using Tapatalk

 

[omicron1792]

Bench can be an awkward exercise for many. Even guys who regularly work out and bench press don’t have the body type and/or supporting muscles to be well above average at the movement.

Then you have a farm kid who’s first time benching is freshman year football practice and he benches 230 lbs haha. Or the guy who seems to be in decent shape and struggles a bit with just the bar.

I usually saw the opposite. Farm country boys had weak bench presses but could whip you in wrestling or knock your jock off in football. Bench for most requires consistency benching imo.

 

[omicron1792]

If you look at world class, olympic level sprinters, the vast majority probably bench press quite a bit. Granted, they aren't specializing in the distance of a mile, but the ability to run or jump explosively fast is often hinged on a high degree of neuromuscular recruitment: these athletes are able to recruit as much as 96% of the muscles in their bodies to contribute to a single effort. When you watch a sprinter sprint, you can literally see their upper body muscles working/contributing to their speed:

There was a study a while back that took men and had them only squat for a period of time. No other lifts. At the end of the time period their bench press had gone up a considerable amount. Working large muscle groups definitely causes anabolic growth for th whole body.