Greeting T-Nation from Cannabis Nation a.k.a. Canada.
Do you Bench Press? Good for you! So does the ruler of the free world.
George W. Bush - love him or hate him, 185 lbs x 5, at his age deserves some respect.
Kevin Durrant - basketballer, 2nd pick in 2007 NBA entry draft 185 x big fat 0
Check out the list of other people courtesy of a cool sports blog called 100% Injury Rate.
I was most impressed by:
Brady Quinn - QB 350 lbs max, dude is lean 225lbs, 6’ 3" Since quarter back is a fineness position I would have thought it to interfere with his throwing. There’s a NFL combine video on youtube of him benching 225 x 24.
LaDainian Tomlinson - RB 220 lbs, 5’11 runs 40 yards in 4.4 sec, 41 inch vertical, throws a touch down from time to time also.
Will Smith - lousy rapper, good actor, funny guy, married Jada Pinkett.
Some may argue that performance on the bench isn’t indicative of success elsewhere,
but I think that it’s a pretty good indicator of hard work one puts in.
I believe the thing on George Bush. I’m sure all that wood chopping and brush clearing should keep him pretty strong lol. I don’t believe a few of those lifts though. Like Will Smith benching 385, and Wilt Chamberlain puttin’ up 465. I’d have to see that. Cool read though
[quote]AssClown wrote:
I believe the thing on George Bush. I’m sure all that wood chopping and brush clearing should keep him pretty strong lol. I don’t believe a few of those lifts though. Like Will Smith benching 385, and Wilt Chamberlain puttin’ up 465. I’d have to see that. Cool read though[/quote]
[quote]AssClown wrote:
I believe the thing on George Bush. I’m sure all that wood chopping and brush clearing should keep him pretty strong lol. I don’t believe a few of those lifts though. Like Will Smith benching 385, and Wilt Chamberlain puttin’ up 465. I’d have to see that. Cool read though[/quote]
For some reason I think I almost buy Will Smith’s.
[quote]Agressive Napkin wrote:
AssClown wrote:
I believe the thing on George Bush. I’m sure all that wood chopping and brush clearing should keep him pretty strong lol. I don’t believe a few of those lifts though. Like Will Smith benching 385, and Wilt Chamberlain puttin’ up 465. I’d have to see that. Cool read though
For some reason I think I almost buy Will Smith’s.[/quote]
Will Smith’s 385 was actually in a Men’s Health magazine. What I don’t believe is Reggie Bush’s 335. It has got to be more than that.
[quote]and1bball4mk wrote:
Agressive Napkin wrote:
AssClown wrote:
I believe the thing on George Bush. I’m sure all that wood chopping and brush clearing should keep him pretty strong lol. I don’t believe a few of those lifts though. Like Will Smith benching 385, and Wilt Chamberlain puttin’ up 465. I’d have to see that. Cool read though
For some reason I think I almost buy Will Smith’s.
Will Smith’s 385 was actually in a Men’s Health magazine. What I don’t believe is Reggie Bush’s 335. It has got to be more than that.[/quote]
It being in a Men’s Health further makes me question… well whatever. But yeah I read somewhere online Bush’s bench was somewhere around 425. He pulled off 24 clean reps so that seems about right
[quote]AssClown wrote:
and1bball4mk wrote:
Agressive Napkin wrote:
AssClown wrote:
I believe the thing on George Bush. I’m sure all that wood chopping and brush clearing should keep him pretty strong lol. I don’t believe a few of those lifts though. Like Will Smith benching 385, and Wilt Chamberlain puttin’ up 465. I’d have to see that. Cool read though
For some reason I think I almost buy Will Smith’s.
Will Smith’s 385 was actually in a Men’s Health magazine. What I don’t believe is Reggie Bush’s 335. It has got to be more than that.
It being in a Men’s Health further makes me question… well whatever. But yeah I read somewhere online Bush’s bench was somewhere around 425. He pulled off 24 clean reps so that seems about right
[/quote]
BS on Reggie Bush. 24 reps at 225 means nothing more than 24 reps at 225. Someone as small as him who likely doesn’t care about his bench does not (in my opinion) do anywhere near 425. Reference Tom Platz vs. Dr. Squat in their 500 lb “squat off” competition.
Platz did MANY more reps but his one rep max was hundreds of pounds lighter than Dr. Squat’s. Weight for reps and maximal effort strength are two different beasts and I doubt a speed and agility RB cares much about his maximal bench press strength (at least not enough to train for a HUGE 425 @ 200 lbs bench).
So the Reggie Bush claim of 335 seems very conservative because at the NFL combine he did 24 reps with 225 lbs.
Yes, he may have specifically trained for it, but still the guy gets respect for being strong and running 40 yards in 4.38 seconds. So much for the argument that bench press impedes athletic performance.
Some may argue that the 225 bench for reps doesn’t mean anything. I disagree.
I think it’s a great test of performance improvement. I’d like to propose a Summer 2007 T-Nation Performance Improvement Challenge.
Interested? Look out for my next post with the details.
There will be no trophies, no ribbons either, I do promise new self-respect.
I think it’s a great test of performance improvement. I’d like to propose a Summer 2007 T-Nation Performance Improvement Challenge.
[/quote]
I think cleans over head squats squats deadlifts or all kinds and box jumps would all be a better indicator of preformance improvement.
Benching is a good excercise for alot of sports but I would much rather be infront of a 400 bencher who squats 350 than a 500lb squater who benches 250.
If you took 2 teams and had one bench all year and had the other squat all year the squating team would rape the benching team.
Everything about Chambelain was exxagerated. I saw an interview where he said he had a 50 inch vert and 3% bodyfat in his prime. Let’s not forget about the 20,000 women he fucked…
Dwight Howard does not bench 345. I saw a special on him in the off season and he put up 185 around 10 times. That doesn’t translate to a 345lb bench.
[quote]Gianacakos wrote:
BS on Reggie Bush. 24 reps at 225 means nothing more than 24 reps at 225. Someone as small as him who likely doesn’t care about his bench does not (in my opinion) do anywhere near 425. Reference Tom Platz vs. Dr. Squat in their 500 lb “squat off” competition.
Platz did MANY more reps but his one rep max was hundreds of pounds lighter than Dr. Squat’s. Weight for reps and maximal effort strength are two different beasts and I doubt a speed and agility RB cares much about his maximal bench press strength (at least not enough to train for a HUGE 425 @ 200 lbs bench).[/quote]
I know what you’re trying to get at, but I’m just saying that for most players entering the draft, 24 reps usually is around a 425 bench. Shaun Cody put up 24 reps and had a 425 max, same thing for Laron Landry, but they only counted 2…yes 2… of his reps at the combine because I guess he wasn’t locking out.
[quote]superhero#1 wrote:
I was sure I read Arnold’s best was 500lbs
Yao Ming 300?! That surprised me, and that LB with a 700 lb one.[/quote]
Larry Allen isn’t a LB, he’s a 6’3", 325 lb OL. He’s famous around the NFL for his strengh, so I believe those numbers. If you’ve ever seen him maul other professional football players, you’d believe it too.
I’m not gonna say this blogster just pulled numbers out of his ass, but the Will Smith example shows how unreliable these stats are. I remember reading the article in Men’s Health a long time ago that talked about the program Smith used to bulk for I-robot and mentioned that lift. He probably compiled the rest of the numbers through other such second hand accounts.
Matt Leinart probably jokingly said in some interview that he never benches and this author believed him. How the hell did he survive the USC strength program and the NFL combine? Along with the 40 yd dash, the 225 lb bench press is as standard as combine tests come.
Hmmm I just read on wikipedia: At 6ft-3in and 326 lb, Allen may be physically the strongest man to have ever played in the NFL.[citation needed] His weightroom highlights include an assisted bench press of 700 pounds and a partial squat of 900 lb. [1]. His strength combined with his noted on-field aggressiveness have made Allen one of the best offensive linemen in the league’s history.
I was just surprised to see him have a bench only 15 lbs below the WR.
[quote]bluedog23 wrote:
I’m not gonna say this blogster just pulled numbers out of his ass, but the Will Smith example shows how unreliable these stats are. I remember reading the article in Men’s Health a long time ago that talked about the program Smith used to bulk for I-robot and mentioned that lift. He probably compiled the rest of the numbers through other such second hand accounts.
[/quote]
Have you ever seen Ali? Smith is pretty fit in that movie.
[quote]duck_dodger23 wrote:
bluedog23 wrote:
I’m not gonna say this blogster just pulled numbers out of his ass, but the Will Smith example shows how unreliable these stats are. I remember reading the article in Men’s Health a long time ago that talked about the program Smith used to bulk for I-robot and mentioned that lift. He probably compiled the rest of the numbers through other such second hand accounts.
Have you ever seen Ali? Smith is pretty fit in that movie.[/quote]
IMO, he looks even better in I-robot. I believe his numbers. I’m just saying that example shows this author compiled his stats from a variety of sources without citing where or (generally) when he found them.
I think this comes down to the same situation as if I come one here and say I do 425. I don’t believe it unless I see it. None of those, with the exception of Larry Allen, seem likely to me without video evidence. I am a lifelong skeptic though.