I’m sorry but people are genuinely saying that a healthy man given 20 years hard work from 18 until 38 - with access to the best training, coaching, nutrition and equipment would not be able to get to a 350lb bench. Even if this was a life long goal around which all of their training is focused?
I’d say drug free 90% of guys should find this pretty achievable.
With drugs I’d up the success rate to 95%.
^ yes. This makes perfect sense to me. Again - the paradox for me is whether or not someone can be described as ‘average’ if they have access to the best training/coaching/nutrition/equipment and dedicate 20 years to achieving something, but if we’re talking about raw potential within, IMO, it’s hard to believe that someone couldn’t do this under the right circumstances.
I was just pointing out that YT videos of anomalies are a really silly way to prove this.
Where did I even imply that?
This is such a key word here. They should find it achievable. My 2c on this is that we’ll never know what 95% of healthy men would do, because they won’t do it. I genuinely believe that if you threatened to kill every man and all their families if they didn’t achieve a 350lbs bench by the age of 40, a very, very large proportion of them wouldn’t get off their arses to do it.
Maybe i missed read… so i assume that would be a no. If im in the wrong my apologizes
I think we are seeing a trend where the people who have done this lift or more don’t think it to be all that impressive, and the people far way away from it see it as something that requires extreme dedication, drugs, crazy weight gain for most to do.
Is bench pressing 2x a week extreme dedication? Is being around 200 lbs extreme weight gain?
I think you hit the nail on the head.
Yup, that’s the ‘paradox’ I’m referring to. When we say “average”, we are apparently discussing “average physique/build”, and not “average mindset”, because I don’t think the “average” mindset allows for focused dedication. The cool part about the discussion within those parameters is that it suggests that big numbers and big muscles are only a psychological barrier away.
No worries man, wasn’t trying to be an ass. I’ve seen less than 10 405+ benches up close, and they were all done for singles or low reps and all done by dudes that had to be at least 250.
I think some people get more high off of exercise than others, and I believe it to be genetic. I get a pretty large high off of a hard workout. I got hooked on working out pretty quickly and haven’t stopped in 10 years. That is likely partly genetic, and would likely result in more gains on average than someone who didn’t have this trait. This is purely my bro science BS, but I think it plays out. I remember CT Fletcher responding to someone asking about how he maintains motivation to work out, and he replied “do you have to motivate a smoker to smoke?”.
One thing to consider is how many of them injure themselves in the process?
That would be pretty dramatic weight loss for some of us.
Im trying to loose the chub.
At this point to get down to 200lb before Christmas my options are:
Marooned on desert island.
Amputation.
This thread bears a lot of similarities to weight loss discussions gone wrong.
The unfortunate fact is that not many people get their ducks in a row and keep them there in a sustained fashion that will get them to their goal. This can be for a variety of reasons, but you ultimately end up doing the things necessary to succeed, or not. Some may navigate this path on their own, others might need someone to spell it out for them to have any realistic shot.
That doesn’t make the goal impossible or even less possible. It remains entirely possible, but out-of-reach for due to impediments you either overcome, or don’t. Chief among these impediments can be the belief that what one is doing will result in the desired outcome. This is often not the case, and people often fail to recognize this.
This is why it is important to employ methods that have a track record of reaching the goal you are after. If you haven’t been doing the things necessary to achieve the goal, what perspective do you even have on attaining this feat?
Velocity diet.
Let’s tweak this question a bit:
If 350lbs is possible for “everyone”, what is the weight where the bench begins to not be possible for everyone?
Usually caveats on “everyone”
350, paused.
I was always open for debate on the 350, but for some weird reason my mind plants the flag in the ground at a 4 plate bench. I see a lot of really strong guys get stuck in that high-300 range. I don’t think you need gear to achieve it or anything - I’m sure you can naturally attain a good deal higher than a 405 bench, but I do think that’s where certain people would get injured too often to hit it.
This is probably a completely arbitrary load of bullshit constructed in my own mind, so who knows. That’s the number that I’ve had in my head that would lead me to strongly disagree that “everyone” could get it, whether it makes sense or not 
I lol’d.
It’s not unusual at commercial gyms to have a few guys who do bodybuilding-style training and can bench 405, but it’s rare to see anyone bench more than that. I have seen a few 405 benches in commercial gym but never more than that.