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Ok, I can do a few press ups in one go and I've done them with my hands on the bathroom scales to see how much weight I am 'pressing', so I could compare against how much weight I can lift on a bench press. I 'press' 55kg doing a press up, but trying to lift 50kg on a bench is bloody hard work for me. This cant be normal? I do have a dodgy shoulder but the fact that I can pop a fair few press ups should make bench pressing the same weight easy?
Or is it like comparing cycling to running?
not taking the michael, but you are counting the weight of the bar as well, yes?
I was about to ask if you are talking about free weights or with a bar? remember the bar makes it a lot easier. On a machine I can bench press 59kg, free weights 32kg.
tell us more about how you are measuring using the scales?
How much do your arms weigh? 😉
Your whole body is involved in a press up but you're only usingspecific muscle groups in a bench press.
Although similar I would say not really comparable.
Just work on the bench press and find a level then go from there and don't associate the press up with it.
Free weights will wobble about so you have to be more controlled and you will be using other muscles to balance the weights. with press-ups you can just push as hard as you can with no control at all and it will work out.
Not a very accurate measure of press up "strength" though!
Your feet are on the ground when pressing up. I can do about 150 press ups - I definitely could NOT bench press around 72kg 150 times.
Machines do make a big difference - did one single bench press lift of 150kg on a machine once, yet benching 100kg on a bar was hard work.
its not the weight, its the technique with benchpresses. I would start with a weight (inc the bar) of half your body weight and work up to a weight equal to your weight in a given set. if you can do that easily try it next time with 75% (or just 5or 10 kgs more than last time) of your weight and work up to 125% of your weight (if you get that far)!
The scales flick between 50-60kgs.
Its free weights on a bar and I didnt count the weight of the bar, I can do reps of 40kg on the bar, but can only just do a couple of lifts at 50kg (+weight of bar).
I can manage 40 press ups in one hit, but I'd have to have the bar weights at about 30kg to do that many (estimating here).
Yeah, good point about using more muscles for stabalising free weights.
How heavy are you, relative to the 55kg you're pressing on the scales?
Benching your own body weight is something to aim for in the gym, rather than something you would just be able to do from the get go (unless your're naturally very strong). So if you're a wee man, or a woman, and struggling with 50 that might not be so unusual.
If you're more of an average 70-80 kg weight, though, and can't press 50 then something's up. Maybe get someone to check your technique? THere's loads of little things to it but the basics are easy - be sure you don't try and press the bar too high off your chest, like shoulder area - this is very bad esp with an already weak shoulder. It should come lower down on the chest, nipple area.
Doing freeweight benchpress does take more effort as you have to support the weight from going in odd directions, which is probably the main reason it's harder. I can press a LOT more weight on machines than free-weights. Never tested my weight on scales with a pushup though.
Olympic weights bars (the ones for weights with big holes through them) weigh 20kg IIRC.
So you're benching 70kg a couple of times then? Sounds fine tbh - probably more than most. If you get a good technique going you'll be able to do more - depends on how much you want to train at it.
If you tried to lift a 55kg bar using 550N of force (i.e. 55kg weight) then the bar wouldn't go anywhere. You need to accelerate the bar's mass upwards which requires counteracting the weight's downwards force and then adding more force to cause the movement. And then there's the whole stabilisation issue...
The weight you can bench press is very much dependant on your physiology - lengths of joints and where muscles are connected to the skeleton and thus leverage ratio. And your predominant muscle type - the more fast twitch muscle you have, the more you can lift for a given body type/weight. A wider grip will allow you to lift much more because you don't need to move it as far. But that takes more technique. Etc etc.
Used to spot (with another bloke) for a huge monster of a South African guy that did "negative only" reps. He used to put about 170kgs on the bar when benching. Pretty ridiculous. His squats were even more mental.
Be careful when benching with a bar - can go very, very wrong.
🙄 whatever chiefygg 😆
Yeahp I'd advise you use dumb-bell freeweights. Harder to lift as much but less chance of garrotting yourself.
right, most of that up there /\ makes sense, I weigh 80kg (6 foot 3). Its a small diameter solid bar, I'd estimate between 5-10kg. So I can max at 60kg.
I'd like to lift my own weight, so I'm going to research technique on the net. Cheers lads.
Doing press ups on bathroom scales doesn't tell you jack about how much you ought to be able to bench, it just weighs the part of your body not supported by your toes.
A bloke I used to work with told me I couldn't bench press 100kg. I reckoned I could, based on the fact I can do plenty of press-ups off the floor and I weigh 90kg (and no other knowledge of bench pressing 🙂 ). I was not entirely serious of course.
I never tried it though, as I felt ridiculous even contemplating going to his gym to have a bench press competition.
What do you reckon?
molgrips - how tall are you?
If you're under 5'10" I'm guessing you've an obstacle to completing 'full' pressups 😆
In a press up, you life the roughly 65% of your weight, which is one of the major reasons why you can't bench your own weight just because you can do a press up.
Bout 5'11 - what's the obstacle? Fat belly? 🙂
I can do more than a single press-up tho.
I'm gonna have to find a gym and try this now.
You got it.
I dont' have much of a belly. 90kg includes a fair bit of muscle shrouded in some fat 🙂
Mol - for maximum lifts, make sure no one is looking, set the weight then go for it. Used to test my max lifts every month or so.
My new press up is a freestanding handstand press up - can do a few then I fall over.
Also just about sussed out "the flag" - hard but quite cool.
make sure no one is looking
🙂
Gym in my current hotel is very quiet but instead of the usual machines it has this thing with loads of ropes and loops all over it connected to the same stack of weights. And no instructions or guidance...
Hotel gyms usually have home style multigym things that max out at 90kg - very, very gay...
Some do have decent kit though.
might try the press ups on scales thing...
Im 90kg do 60kg free weight bar lifts 3 sets * 12 reps two to three times a week. I think I could do 80-90kg as a single lift but wont try on my own - will get a spotter and make sure no chicks are about.
I wouldn't bench press free weights without a spotter. That's for the no brain - no pain club.
I was at the Village which had the biggest flashiest (and fullest) gym I've ever been in. No more tho.
Smith machine is good for "safe(ish)" free weight bar bench pressing.
A bar on a stand is a recipe for a crushed chest or dislocated shoulder.
Been a member of many gyms from the proper sweat and grunting style to the super high tech and a bit ponsy - much prefer "proper" gyms where there's no tarting about.
I only went there for some cardio or to do a sprint workout on a bike. Don't really like going to gyms.
60kg wouldn't crush your chest though, unless you're a very scrawny individual!
JUst build it up gradually. No-one does big bench presses overnight.
As pointed out the Olympic bars weigh 20kg to start with.
Warm up by pushing the bar 20 odd times - nice and smooth.
Determine what your maximum is by seeing the biggest weight you can press once (have a spotter).
Once you've got that figure then decide how you want to work. 10-15 reps at a lower percentage of your max - say 50-60% - will improve tone and endurance. 6-8 reps at 70-80% will increase strength and bulk.
You don't have to be huge to bench well - in fact short stubby arms are a bonus.
At 90kg bodyweight you should be able to press 100kg after several months of training - but take it slowly.
I used to always bench press on my own, just have to know when to stop.
I did a press up on the scales at home and it measured 45kg, about 15kg less than my total body weight. I think I used to bench press about 35kg 4x 15.
Kev
60kg wouldn't crush your chest though, unless you're a very scrawny individual!
It would still flipping hurt if you dropped it/overbalanced.