what % of average lifters bench more than they squat?

iplayoutside19

I agree with OP assumtion. If I taylored it to my gym I'd put it at 90%, I've only seen one other person use the squat rack and it was a woman. I'm so used to being the only person to use the leg area I was slightly annoyed I had to wait for a dude to finish his deadlifts this morning. But then I calmed down and realized that, that was a good thing that someone else was working on legs.

I'm deadlift>squat>BP>power clean (my fav exercise) I've been lifting off and on for 18 months.

Since ya'll seem pretty versed in lifting. What do you think of the standards listed in this link:

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

Are these pretty standard "standards"? If they're not, can someone point me in the right direction to a more accepted weight to ability ratio?

n0ob

I agree with OP assumtion. If I taylored it to my gym I'd put it at 90%, I've only seen one other person use the squat rack and it was a woman. I'm so used to being the only person to use the leg area I was slightly annoyed I had to wait for a dude to finish his deadlifts this morning. But then I calmed down and realized that, that was a good thing that someone else was working on legs.

I'm deadlift>squat>BP>power clean (my fav exercise) I've been lifting off and on for 18 months.

Since ya'll seem pretty versed in lifting. What do you think of the standards listed in this link:

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

Are these pretty standard "standards"? If they're not, can someone point me in the right direction to a more accepted weight to ability ratio?

My lifting life: 8-12 grade (off for 5 years) 2.5 years in grad. school (off again for 5 years) this year since february. I'd say the standards are pretty good. The one caveat is that to really move up properly if you are on the low end, you probably need to be eating at a surplus. I made my progression to "advanced" while eating a surplus.

Getting strength back after a layoff has taken me about 4-6 months after each layoff (thanks newbie gains/muscle memory).

iplayoutside19

I agree with OP assumtion. If I taylored it to my gym I'd put it at 90%, I've only seen one other person use the squat rack and it was a woman. I'm so used to being the only person to use the leg area I was slightly annoyed I had to wait for a dude to finish his deadlifts this morning. But then I calmed down and realized that, that was a good thing that someone else was working on legs.

I'm deadlift>squat>BP>power clean (my fav exercise) I've been lifting off and on for 18 months.

Since ya'll seem pretty versed in lifting. What do you think of the standards listed in this link:

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

Are these pretty standard "standards"? If they're not, can someone point me in the right direction to a more accepted weight to ability ratio?

My lifting life: 8-12 grade (off for 5 years) 2.5 years in grad. school (off again for 5 years) this year since february. I'd say the standards are pretty good. The one caveat is that to really move up properly if you are on the low end, you probably need to be eating at a surplus. I made my progression to "advanced" while eating a surplus.

Getting strength back after a layoff has taken me about 4-6 months after each layoff (thanks newbie gains/muscle memory).

I always forget the lifting in HS part. I'm approaching intermediate on the scale. I just thought it was a little generous given that I'll lift for 2-3 months then get out of my routine, and then start all over again a few months later. I'm kind of ADD. But, I'm in a good groove now and ready to take the next step as far as lifting goes.

xcoyote

People should be careful judging people with skinny legs . One of my mates has a hard time growing his legs and his top was not proportionate , however he put me to shame on leg day he also squats 180kg for 3 on the last set. I have thick muscly legs and yet his are small!

kiachu

This past weekend my wife and I went to watch a natural bodybuilding/fitness show. We had never been to one before, just thought it would be interesting. In the men's division they had a "physique" class, the contestants wore "board shorts" knee length swim wear. As soon as they came out the first thing my wife asked was "is this the class for the guys who don't squat?"....... my reply was yes, they are trying to win the Captain Upperbody title. You could not see the ham or quad and they all had sticks for calves, but the upper was cut and well developed. So I guess there are enough ppl who ignore lower body work to create a class for.............

How could you tell they weren't squating? You can't see their glute, quad or hamstring detail in the board shorts. They don't need hyuuuge legs because they aren't in the bodybuilder class which rewards mass. Calves are the hardest muscle group to get to grow and you specifically have to target them at some point, which is not required for men's physique.

katherinepolumbo

Bench is definitely my weakest lift. I squat twice what I bench press. Right now my squat and dead lift are equal (working on some grip issues with my DL).

There are actually quite a few people who squat in my gym. We have 2 squat racks and a power cage and usually at least 2 of them are in action (during busy times). Not all of the people using them are squatting in them though of course. lol What I don't see a lot of is dead lifting in my gym. I've seen one or two guys, myself and another girl and that's about it.

Wonderob

Bench is definitely my weakest lift. I squat twice what I bench press. Right now my squat and dead lift are equal (working on some grip issues with my DL).

There are actually quite a few people who squat in my gym. We have 2 squat racks and a power cage and usually at least 2 of them are in action (during busy times). Not all of the people using them are squatting in them though of course. lol What I don't see a lot of is dead lifting in my gym. I've seen one or two guys, myself and another girl and that's about it.

I'm not surprised to be honest, it's very difficult to get deadlift and squat form right and very dangerous when you get it wrong. I'm quite happy with my deadlift form but not so much the squat so I'm put off. There's lots of conflicting info out there too, (feet parallel or pointed out??)

JasonDetwiler

I agree with OP assumtion. If I taylored it to my gym I'd put it at 90%, I've only seen one other person use the squat rack and it was a woman. I'm so used to being the only person to use the leg area I was slightly annoyed I had to wait for a dude to finish his deadlifts this morning. But then I calmed down and realized that, that was a good thing that someone else was working on legs.

I'm deadlift>squat>BP>power clean (my fav exercise) I've been lifting off and on for 18 months.

Since ya'll seem pretty versed in lifting. What do you think of the standards listed in this link:

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

Are these pretty standard "standards"? If they're not, can someone point me in the right direction to a more accepted weight to ability ratio?

They're OK. The Elite total for SBD comes in shy of the Elite total for 198 by 65 lbs, but proportionally they're alright. A lot of it depends on body geometry. For instance, my training partner and I are very different size wise (5'7, 190 and 6'6 225) and as you would expect, our lifts are very different (475/355/525 vs. 400/275/565). Use the tables as a means to set goals for advancing your lifts, but don't worry about the proportion of each lift against the others. As long as you're moving up in weight, you're making good progress.