What was your bench , squat and dead Max ?
Nice name drop! If you can squat 2X BW, you will be stronger than 99.5% of the people out there… Is that good enough for you?!
1 Like
At 240lbs my best Bench Press in a meet (raw and a pause) was 450lbs.
I trained squats of 2 sets of 10 reps with 495lbs. I stopped at 10 reps but could have done more. My patella tendons frightened me going up any heavier, though one day I did 5 reps with 555lbs.
I trained Deadlift on my back day after doing bent over rows (405lbs 2 sets of 8 reps.) I pulled 2 sets of 10 reps with 505lbs. I did do 650lbs in a powerlifting meet.
It’s been ages since I’ve taken statistics. Does this mean that you’re saying to be “strong” one must be able to achieve lifts that are in the top 5% of gym goers?
Yes. When someone in the gym is “strong” they are quite a bit stronger than average for the gym.
Isn’t average gym strength just average for the gym. Yes, I will consider the average strength gym guy is strong when compared to the average guy on the street.
When i was in my early 20s i thought i was strong, was I?
Squat 465 for 5
Deadlift 425 for 6
Bench 300 for 1 or 275 for 4
was my best…at a bodyweight of 175lbs
this was following arnolds 6day a week routine with running and working outside
You might find this article interesting: Is a 300-Pound Bench Rare?
That’s insane tbh.
You were never interested in bodybuilding, right ?
Or you had a thought about it ?
1 Like
Bodybuilding was my focus. I also did a little powerlifting.
1 Like
Most of the guys I see benching 300# are a good bit more than 175 lbs BW. Therefore 300 is NOT 2XBW for most gym rats
1 Like
The day I bench pressed 450lbs in the meet, there were three guys in my gym who had lifted more: 460lbs, 470lbs, and 550lbs all of which were accomplished in a judged powerlifting meet.
1 Like
I’ve trained with and around outliers too. Guys who’ve totaled 2,400+ in multi ply and a couple of all time raw world record holders at 242. The kinds of gyms folks like us gravitate towards aren’t the norm. I think Tim Henriques’ gut instinct in the article I linked is about right – 5% of so of male gym goers will hit a 300# bench for a single. I think the numbers you posted are more like the top 1% of gym goers.
Not in my case in 1980. There weren’t a huge percentage of men lifting weights, but the ones that did tended to excel well above today’s average. In that regards, could explain the difference. Quite a few members were benching 315lbs and hardly anyone took notice.
2 Likes
Using percentages I calculated your 10 rep max in all three lifts
Bench Press was 240lbs (or 1.37 times your body weight)
Squat was 413lbs (or 2.36 times your body weight)
Deadlift was 386 (or 2.2 times your body weight)
Your Bench Press is your weakest, but still good.
Thinking powerlifting total where 5.5 times your body weight for 10 reps is “strong” your 10 rep total was 1039 or 5.94 times your body weight.
Based on our old rule of thumb: You were strong!
1 Like
So for you and according to you, what was the most productive loading scheme and methods ??
I don’t know. I tried about everything and all produced some results. One thing always foremost was getting stronger.
And I don’t mean 1 rep max strong. I mean 8 to 10 rep max strength.
2 Likes
Consistency. Specific program hardly matters compared to that.
2 Likes
Im glad you added this bit, Its amazing how many people hear “get stronger” to build muscle and just instanly take that to mean be a powerlifter.
1 Like
I need to add a qualification to our old 1.5 times body weight for Bench Press (and the 2 times body weight for Squat and Deadlift.) Very many of us competed in powerlifting meets and were well aware of the Schwartz Formula for “Best Lifter” (When I competed they were transitioning from the Hoffman Formula to the Schwartz Formula.)
Poundage relative to body weight strongly favors the lighter lifter. We didn’t care, because most of us wanted to put on more muscle, more so than be concerned of the relative strength for our body weight.
In other words, the heavier you are the more difficult it will be for you to achieve our standard for strength.
5% of male trainees can only hit 300lbs for a single? Really? I mean, I can believe it based upon some of the god awful technique seen over the years, but good lord. Males are getting weaker by the day.