I can go from not running for 5 years, to a respectable runner in about a month (if I don’t injure myself, which I tend to do when running). Took me years to have respectable lifts. I guess respectable is subjective, but I would say a sub 6 minute mile is respectable, and a 300 lb bench for a male is respectable.
Yeah, conditioning and cardio capacities to me seem easy to gain but maybe quicker to lose. I can’t really say though because I’ve had to be in at least okay shape for much of my life. I was a very competitive athlete for a while and cannot relate to the people who spent most of their life sitting on the couch, barely dabbling in sports, but as adults pursue strength and or cardiovascular training. Sounds elitist, but I genuinely don’t want to speak for everyone.
Especially at the same time!
I kinda think it’s funny how I almost have a better sense of what is “good” for males than for females, but so it goes.
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Agree here. The only aspect of strength I find comparable is grip strength. It seems I can increase grip strength by a significant amount in a month, but 2 weeks off, and it is gone.
When I started running, I was a fresh slate. Had been lifting, but was also too fat. My first mile was probably around a 9 minute mile. I cracked a 6 minute mile in a month, but I was training my running. I say training, because I was determined to get better each run. I was a bit over ambitious, and my hip was kinda messed up for a while after that first month. My first run was 2 miles, 2 days later it was 5, 2 days later it was 7, then I waited 3 and did half marathon distance (where I messed up my hip). I sure wasn’t doing those fast, but I built endurance very quickly. Maybe I have good abilities as an endurance athlete. Problem is, I don’t like it much, and I don’t want to look like a marathoner.
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That’s me you’re thinking of.
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Hey! I’ve done a 200# overhead press and a 475# deadlift, but I will never in my life hit a 300# bench. I feel so attacked right now… 
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I think 200 lbs strict ohp is harder than a 300 lb bench.
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I think overhead pressing indicates upper body strength much better than bench.
But all in all it really all depends on the specific person and goals. Maybe you wouldn’t consider a 300 pound bench respectable at all for a certain demographic, like an elite powerlifter. On the other hand, Dan John mentions some coach, whose name I cannot recall, who urged his marathon runners to deadlift and bench 2x and 1x bodyweight, respectively. Maybe those feats would impress others more. Some people don’t care about being multidimensional athletes, hitting X number on the bar or relative strength ratios, etc.
In my experience you can significantly improve cardio by just doing more cardio – a pretty simple route for people who don’t care about strength. Strength training seems like so much more of a self-experiment to me (one I have not yet figured out that well).
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BBB C1W2D1
65 pullups
Press
35x5
45x5
52.5x5
57.5x5
45x12,12,11,11,12
Standing ab wheel progression 8,8,6,7
Lots of lateral and front raises
75 band pullaparts
Felt a bit weaker than usual, but here’s to hoping that all of this shoulder work will make my shoulders less pitiful
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That is a lot of pullups! I too really like pullups and chins.
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holy crap that is impressive!
Great work as always!
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Well, I was really just flipping @mnben87 some crap for my own amusement. Part of the reason I’ll never hit a 300# bench is because I tore my left pec completely off my shoulder about 8 years ago, so I’m always ultraconservative on bench, and it’s not really a goal. Even if I ever decide to compete in a powerlifting comp, I’ll just let my squat and deadlift carry me, and just do my best on bench. I’m more interested in strongman, where overhead strength is more important anyway.
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I’ve come to the realisation that my Bench sucks but I don’t really care. It’s gone from the lift I cared most about to the one I care least about, to the point that I used a home gym for a year during lockdowns and didn’t bother spending £100 on a Bench.
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I’ve just given up on bench…
Press is more fun anyways
I care the least about bench, yet it always seems to progress for me. Not well, because none of my lifts progress at a decent pace, but better than zero. I care about pressing, but it goes pretty much nowhere for years. Maybe I should just stop caring about all the lifts, hahaha
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Says the girl who knocks out 65 pullups.
I will just go ahead and agree with the idea that overhead strength is the truest expression of upper body pushing strength.
Disgusting (lol)
What kind of fractional plates are you using here?
That’s just cause you are good at it! 
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I am finding traditional benching is making my shoulders scream as I get older. Dumbbells aren’t as bad from that standpoint and I get more muscle activation (since my goal is size - this is better for me).
I want to get some kettlebells for my birthday and see what kind of workouts I can design with just those and some bands. I think I have been locking myself into to much rigidity when it comes to thinking about movements that can build muscle.
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In relative terms, I am probably about as good/bad with chest exercises when I work on them. When I declined 140 last year, I was like “cool”. But pressing 90 was way more signifcant, and way more difficult.
Pressing has an absolutely brutal ROM that you cannot really cheat, and form and technique only get you so far. No leg drive, no real bounce off the chest, limited reflex. Arching is a thing, but not like the exteme arch on a flat bench (I am aware of the extreme exceptions, but you never see that in real life). Your press only improves because you are stronger.
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I absolutely agree with @Cyrrex . That seems even more biased because I’m a good presser and terrible bencher but recently I’ve came into contact with a really really good bencher who is helping me work on my technique and I realized even more than ever before how much the bench is influenced by technique, rom and so on.
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