“How much can you bench press?” ”Should you be able to bench your weight?” These are commonly asked questions which we hear in our everyday life.
But to find out the answer for these questions sometimes becomes very difficult for us. A man in his 20s will be able to lift his own bodyweight as an intermediate lifter. Though this number varies from person to person by considering different factors.
The ratio will be different for different age people, it also varies according to gender, experience on bench press, height, weight and other physical capacities.
As a novice or untrained presser, if you intend that you can bench your weight or 1.5 x your body weight, then you are wrong.
Because to make yourself an expert, you need to train yourself and then gradually you will achieve your desired goal. Your hard work, consistency, patience, and passion about bench pressing will definitely help you to achieve your goal.
Again you are a beginner and if you compare yourself with an elite lifter and try to lift more weight which your body can’t take, it will also cause injury to yourself and will cause frustration.
How much weight should you be able to bench press
The amount you can bench press should be used as a mark of your strength. This amount depends on your fitness levels, size and experience which are actually the indicators of how much weight you should be able to bench press.
Only you can do more bench press, if you have proper knowledge in this regard and you know the techniques and have experience.
We all know that within a day we can’t do anything, so if you want to be an elite lifter, then as well you have to build yourself gradually.
If you think you should be able to bench your weight by going to gym once then you are absolutely wrong because you have to work hard with patience and then only it is possible to touch your desired destinations.
An athlete can bench press more than twice of his own body weight but you may begin your journey of bench pressing by lifting only a bar which is only 45 pounds.
And the athlete also had to work very hard to achieve this position and had to sacrifice a lot of things. He gained nothing within a night. It took him several years to come into this position.
Average bench press for man
Generally, men can bench press 90% of their body weight on an average. Still it depends on different factors, for example: age, height, weight, size, fitness level and so on.
But if you are physically strong and fit, and already have little experience in the gym then you should be able to bench your weight very easily.
As a novice obviously you can bench press your weight or more than your own bodyweight.
And as an intermediate lifter or an advanced lifter, you will be able to bench press 1.25x or 1.5x of your own body weight.
A man whose body weight is 114 lbs will be able to lift 130 as an intermediate lifter and 180 as an advanced lifter.
If you are an elite lifter or an athlete or who has advanced experience in this regard then without any doubt, you will be able to bench press 2x your bodyweight or at least more than 1.5x your own bodyweight.
As an elite lifter a man weighing 114 lbs will be able to lift 220 which is almost double of his weight.
Average bench press for woman
If you are a woman then the ratio will be obviously different because we all know by birth there is a huge difference between a man and a woman, starting from their body structure, fitness, capacity of working, in every sector they are different.
Marsland said that bench press should be very beneficial for women, especially to develop their strength.
And she added that women should start it gently and should not do things which her body can’t and if you think you don’t have enough strength, then you have to build yourself gradually rather than doing anything forcefully which will cause injury to yourself.
If you are untrained, you will be able to lift more than 50% of your body weight on an average.
As a novice or an intermediate lifter or have a little experience on bench press then you will be able to lift 65% to 75% of your body weight approximately.
A 105 lbs woman can lift approximately 70 as an intermediate lifter and 80 as an elite lifter.
And if you are an advanced lifter then you can bench press your own body weight on an average.
If you are an elite lifter then you can bench press 1.25x your own body weight. A 105 lbs woman can lift 125 as an elite lifter.
Though there are some exceptions, Becca Swanson benched 2.5 times her body weight which is about 600 pounds and made the world record for women’s.
These numbers will gradually decrease if you become older or if you have any kind of physical complexities.
Ways to increase the weight in bench press
If you want to increase the weight in bench press or want to become an elite lifter, then the first thing you have to do is to be patient and first you have to work on your weights which you can lift and need to make it perfect then you have to add more weights.
“Slow and steady wins the race”, this is a very famous proverb which is universally true. So if you increase the weight of lifting slowly then you will see the number rise quickly as well or else if you just increase the weight impatiently then it’s going to be injurious for you.
Consistency plays an indispensable role in this regard. Because if you take training once and forget it for the next couple of days then it is not going to give you any result. So you exercise for 20 minutes but make sure you do it everyday.
Sometimes you will be monotonous with the same kind of exercises everyday. Try to keep your exercises interesting by adding different kinds of exercises in the routine.
Always remember to warm up your body before starting exercise and cool it down after your exercises. And remember you are competing with yourself, so always try to break the personal record to progress yourself and challenge yourself.
You have to drink as much water as you can because staying hydrated is very important at this time. Since you do exercise, you sweat more.
To balance out this, you have to drink liquids more before, after and during workout sessions.
You have to eat more protein-containing food and nutritious food at this time because you need more energy at this time. Make sure to intake an appropriate amount of fruits, vegetables and minerals.
Conclusion
So first you have to know how much you can bench press, then you have to set your desired goal and then you need to work hard to achieve that goal.
If you practice and make yourself an expert, then only it is possible to bench your own weight.
So you have to focus on yourself and then you need to compete with yourself and break your own personal record. The main goal for you will be to make yourself better from the previous day rather than comparing yourself with others.
And you need to be very careful while doing bench pressing and should not lift heavy loads or else it will cause injury to yourself.