Bench Press

angievaughn

I am new to the weight lifting workout...

What is everyone bench pressing these days? Let me know so I will know where I am fitting in with this whole weight lifting program.

This is my second week at weight lifting and I currently do 3 sets with 12 reps with the bar and 10 pounds on both side....if I am correct that is only 65 pounds. Any suggestions?

Should you be able to bench press 1/2 your weight?

wellbert

10 on each side of an olympic bar is 65. Pretty good for week 2!

And I think the standard is bench 1x body weight to be "strong"

Bakkasan

http://www.exrx.net/Testing/WeightLifting/BenchStandards.html

Here is a chart, one of many out there so ymmv grain of sat etc etc

Im between intermediate and advanced at a weight of 255 and bench of 275.

angievaughn

Wow.....1x my body weight......I want to be strong...but I wonder if I will ever get there!!!

angievaughn

http://www.exrx.net/Testing/WeightLifting/BenchStandards.html

Here is a chart, one of many out there so ymmv grain of sat etc etc

Im between intermediate and advanced at a weight of 255 and bench of 275.

Guess I would be untrained....so 95 pounds....maybe I can try it on Wednesday when I do my next upper body to see if I can at least do it once!!

tomomatic

I lift at home by myself so I go for reps rather than poundage. Also, sometimes I substitute my bench press workout with a push up workout.

joannathechef

http://www.exrx.net/Testing/WeightLifting/BenchStandards.html

Here is a chart, one of many out there so ymmv grain of sat etc etc

Im between intermediate and advanced at a weight of 255 and bench of 275.

Guess I would be untrained....so 95 pounds....maybe I can try it on Wednesday when I do my next upper body to see if I can at least do it once!!

Please do not try this unless it is on machine or you have a spotter!

mommamuscles

I think when I started I was lifting about 65 on BP. I'm up to about 115 now for 8-12 reps depending on the day but its taken me about a year to get there. You will get there, just stay consistent and remember it is all about what is heavy for YOU!

kimothy38

It takes some months to work your way up to bench pressing your bodyweight. I am currently using 33 pound dumb bells rather than a barbell and it absolutely kills me.

Yanicka1

I have been lifting for a year and can do 0.6 time my body weight. It is my worst lift.

jenluvsushi

65 is great! When I started, I could barely bench the naked bar (45)....now I am repping 90 which isn't even half my body weight (almost). It has been a really slow progression but I'll take it. Good luck!

TexasTroy

Safety is key if you plan on trying for a max....def have a spotter. I found a pretty good android phone app that can estimate your 1 rep max...its called 1RM from the android market. It is pretty accurate. It lets you choose a weight you know you can lift and you do as many reps with that weight as you can...how ever many reps you get with that weight it can determine your 1RM. Its based on the same math equation the NFL uses for testing max reps for there players without having to do a dangerous 1 reps max test.

thedreamhazer

http://www.exrx.net/Testing/WeightLifting/BenchStandards.html

Here is a chart, one of many out there so ymmv grain of sat etc etc

Im between intermediate and advanced at a weight of 255 and bench of 275.

Guess I would be untrained....so 95 pounds....maybe I can try it on Wednesday when I do my next upper body to see if I can at least do it once!!

Be careful. I've been working on my bench press since May and I press 95 lbs for 3-5 reps. I'm not saying you can't be stronger than me (you surely can) but it is a lot of weight to just try from the get-go.

joannathechef

I am new to the weight lifting workout...

What is everyone bench pressing these days? Let me know so I will know where I am fitting in with this whole weight lifting program.

This is my second week at weight lifting and I currently do 3 sets with 12 reps with the bar and 10 pounds on both side....if I am correct that is only 65 pounds. Any suggestions?

Should you be able to bench press 1/2 your weight?

What bar are u using 45 lbs is the mans olympic - 35 lb is the womens olympic then no olympic depends on the lenght but are around 25lbs

Jynus

http://www.exrx.net/Testing/WeightLifting/BenchStandards.html

Here is a chart, one of many out there so ymmv grain of sat etc etc

Im between intermediate and advanced at a weight of 255 and bench of 275.

Guess I would be untrained....so 95 pounds....maybe I can try it on Wednesday when I do my next upper body to see if I can at least do it once!!

Please do not try this unless it is on machine or you have a spotter!

DO NOT EVER DO 1REP MAXES ON MACHINES!!!!! Hell, avoid strength training period on machines. Stick to endurance, or more ideally machines actual use. Bodybuilding and rehab.

There is no better way to blow out your shoulders than doing something dumb like that.

to the OP. Do 5 reps as your max and calculate 1rep max from that... Make sure you've watched Dave Tates Bench Press Cure. Or otherwise known as how to keep your elbows in and shoulders safe while benching heavy. Also as a general but still inaccurate formula, what you can push for 10 reps is around 2/3 of your 1 rep max. So 60lbs means around 90 for a max.

denezy

Definitely move up in weight slowly and as you move up it is super important to have a spotter!

Determinednoob

Hell when I started I was only benching like 62lbs on a smith machine even worse. I ended up spending a bit over a year lifting while eating at maintenance or below, so my progress hasn't been that of someone starting out with a one year bulk, but this afternoon I benched 3x5x175 and I weigh 177. Seemingly perhaps a bit contradictory, the widely accepted standard for "generally fit" would be benching your weight 1 time while the standard for passing from novice to intermediate lifter is benching 1.2x your weight for 1 rep, although I think I have also seen 1.5xbw.

Determinednoob

Bench pressing and to a greater degree overhead pressing are hard for average women to progress on. In Starting Strength Rippetoe suggests that women may need to start microloading (adding less than 5 lb increments) from the beginning or at least close.

JNick77

http://www.exrx.net/Testing/WeightLifting/BenchStandards.html

Here is a chart, one of many out there so ymmv grain of sat etc etc

Im between intermediate and advanced at a weight of 255 and bench of 275.

Guess I would be untrained....so 95 pounds....maybe I can try it on Wednesday when I do my next upper body to see if I can at least do it once!!

Please do not try this unless it is on machine or you have a spotter!

DO NOT EVER DO 1REP MAXES ON MACHINES!!!!! Hell, avoid strength training period on machines. Stick to endurance, or more ideally machines actual use. Bodybuilding and rehab.

There is no better way to blow out your shoulders than doing something dumb like that.

to the OP. Do 5 reps as your max and calculate 1rep max from that... Make sure you've watched Dave Tates Bench Press Cure. Or otherwise known as how to keep your elbows in and shoulders safe while benching heavy. Also as a general but still inaccurate formula, what you can push for 10 reps is around 2/3 of your 1 rep max. So 60lbs means around 90 for a max.

My man referencing Dave Tate's cure for the Bench Press video. Believe it or not his "So You Think You Can Bench" series is actually better. Dave is awesome to listen to.

Seemingly perhaps a bit contradictory, the widely accepted standard for "generally fit" would be benching your weight 1 time while the standard for passing from novice to intermediate lifter is benching 1.2x your weight for 1 rep, although I think I have also seen 1.5xbw.

The other thing to consider is that not everybody is built to have a great bench press, sometimes genetics is a ***** in itself. I for one am not made to bench but deadlift progression on the other hand as been easy for me.

Determinednoob

http://www.exrx.net/Testing/WeightLifting/BenchStandards.html

Here is a chart, one of many out there so ymmv grain of sat etc etc

Im between intermediate and advanced at a weight of 255 and bench of 275.

Guess I would be untrained....so 95 pounds....maybe I can try it on Wednesday when I do my next upper body to see if I can at least do it once!!

Please do not try this unless it is on machine or you have a spotter!

DO NOT EVER DO 1REP MAXES ON MACHINES!!!!! Hell, avoid strength training period on machines. Stick to endurance, or more ideally machines actual use. Bodybuilding and rehab.

There is no better way to blow out your shoulders than doing something dumb like that.

to the OP. Do 5 reps as your max and calculate 1rep max from that... Make sure you've watched Dave Tates Bench Press Cure. Or otherwise known as how to keep your elbows in and shoulders safe while benching heavy. Also as a general but still inaccurate formula, what you can push for 10 reps is around 2/3 of your 1 rep max. So 60lbs means around 90 for a max.

My man referencing Dave Tate's cure for the Bench Press video. Believe it or not his "So You Think You Can Bench" series is actually better. Dave is awesome to listen to.

Seemingly perhaps a bit contradictory, the widely accepted standard for "generally fit" would be benching your weight 1 time while the standard for passing from novice to intermediate lifter is benching 1.2x your weight for 1 rep, although I think I have also seen 1.5xbw.

The other thing to consider is that not everybody is built to have a great bench press, sometimes genetics is a ***** in itself. I for one am not made to bench but deadlift progression on the other hand as been easy for me.

Yeah my work sets on squats are at 225 up from 175 about a month ago during cutting, deadlift up to 315 from 275, bench at 175 up from 155... failed it last week at 5,4,4 but hit 3x5 today with not a lot of problem after upping cals AGAIN from 3500 to 4k for the last 4 days.

angievaughn

Those some of this is way over my head...thanks for all the input. When in high school l loved to lift weights...because I hated running....LOL.

I have always been told I am really strong "for a girl".

I guess only time will tell how strong I can be!!

Thanks!!!