Shaolin

Right then,

This is a standard bench press, but using dumbells.
What do you think is a good...ish weight ( total weight, not per dumbell )for a grown man to be able to do?
What weight in your mind would class him as being reasonably strong?
And i mean doing at least 4 sets of 6 reps.
Just interested in peoples opinions really !

Fire away

lightning101

60kgs each hand - so 120kg total for flat bench

turboman786

Think 60kg in each hand on dumbells would be VERY difficult for the 'average man'....maybe someone who has been lifting for a while could do this, but I think more than 75% of those in my gym couldnt do 60kg on dumbells....

I think reasoanably strong wuld be 40kg in each hand...

ALSO, its all about the form, you always get heros who can do silly weights, but do them appallingly, I train with medium weights (for me), but aim for proper form and technique...

My own max would be 100kg on a barbell, about 40kg on dumbells for bench press.

stilover

Only 60kg PUFF

I'd say at least 80kg each hand.
































Come on, this IS Scoobynet

The Chief

Agree with above.

Crikey my max is 60kg in each hand and that is my limit and i've been lifting on and off for years so anything 40-50kg is still very good - but tbh i couldn't care less what i lift anymore (weight wise) its all about good form.

KiwiGTI

A good guide is to use your bodyweight.

Kyl3cook

60kg each hand for the average man!!...not going to be shouting my mouth off where you live.

I reckon 30kg is a pretty good dumbell weight per hand for a reasonably strong guy...barbell's are always easier to load a bit more weight on. As above though, it depends on form...some people at my gym lift more than me, but their range of motion is about 2 inches!!!

Mostly the larger guys that spend all their session lifting weights in the hope that one day when they get 42" biceps they might get a bit of definition.

The Chief

I think all round body strength is more important then just having a big bench press, so concentrate on the 'core' exercises such as deadlift, squats, bench and military press.

The Chief

Well thats me totally fooked then

KiwiGTI

Several police forces in the US use it as one of the entrance pre-requisites, it drops slightly for your age but it's still close to 1x (drops to 0.93 if you are >40 or something like that)

The Chief

A few years ago they had a chart in Mens health magazine on this and it went off how much you can bench compared to lean bodyweight - if you could bench x2 then you were considered very strong.

TelBoy

Come on, let's be realistic. Most blokes can't even pick up a pair of 60k dumbells. The record in my gym is 70s for 6 reps, but that's from a 23 stone guy taking a cocktail of stuff. Day to day most guys don't get much past 35, the serious guys to about 45 and the druggies something beyond that. Very very few men can bench twice their bodyweight, that's competitive to a very high standard. In the real world 1x bodyweight is good, 1.5x is outstanding.

SPEN555

****, I would only do 1.4 to 1.5, but I am $hite at benching

KiwiGTI

World record is about 459kg.

I would say a rugby player weighing 90-100kg in a good state of fitness should be able to do 180-200kg.

The Chief

Bloody hell mate what gyms have you been going???

my record is 60kg for 4 reps and i'm totally natural (and a fat git at that ) 60 is only 130 in each hand - not sure if i could do it now but i could certainly do 50 kg no probs. there were at least half a dozen blokes in my Gym and ok they were juiced up monsters who used to wipe the floor with me and they used to press with 160lb dumbells no probs at all!!!

The Chief

neither can i mate but my body weight is 21st so i'm boll***s really

DeltaBravo 9

i agree , we are talking about dumb bells here which are a lot harder to press than weight on a bar, the average guy pressing 60 kg bells , don't make me laugh !!

TelBoy

Disagree. 180 is a massive bench press, massive. I'd like to see any guy not on Deca doing that.

TelBoy

Which bit was causing you the disbelief? Not sure your comments contradict mine?

richie001

iTrader: (3)

some of the biggest guys at the gym i goto can't do 60kg d/b and honest they are big guys

KiwiGTI

OK, lbs then.

richie001

iTrader: (3)

my pt who i know is clean can bench press(barbell)210kg

TelBoy

Who is that, Richie? He must be known in the powerlifting world, seriously.

PPPMAT

I'd say 35 to 40kg per hand is good for the average bloke. I'm average and thats what I can do. I wouldn't have thought many blokes who don't train at all could walk into a gym and lift that for 4 sets of 6

60 kgs is just not realistically average IMHO

richie001

iTrader: (3)

he is a power lifter but he does do competitions but hes not well know i know he not telling lies i seen him train with other power lifters and they all bench around the 190kgs

EXSCOOBY

lets inject some realism here
i blew out my pectoral using 65kg dumb bells
so if you (chief) can do 4 sets of 6 reps in one sitting with 60 kg dumb bells i would be amazed
i am a bodybuilder and the guy spotting me at the time i tore the pec was mr great britain overall 3 times
and very very strong

LG John

Telboy and I don't see eye to eye often but I totally agree with his sentiments here. Generally if I saw someone rack up two 25kg plates on a 20kg bar then I'd regard them as fairly strong (70kg).

I would say 95% of 90-100kg Rugby players dream of benching 180kg ONCE

I'd say my natural state of strength is below average but when I trained I could achieve around 85kg (on a bar)(I'd say individual dumbells is harder as you use other parts of your muscle to stabilise the movement). Anything over 100kg is pretty impressive to me - it was generally the bigger guys or the very well cut guys that were pushing over 100kg in my Gym. I saw a guy hitting 140kg once and he was a total beast!! Again, I think its absurd to think a 100kg Rugy player is going to be benching near 200kg?! Where is he going to develop this strength without hours and hours in the gym, a perfect eating routine and probably 'other' assistance.

I think a lot of peeps in this thread are talking lbs thinking they are talking kg

banny sti

iTrader: (68)

Judging by the folk down at my gym, i would say between 30 to 40kg for the average bloke but as The Chief says form is much more important than weight.

Banny

Buckwheat

Totally agree with Telboy. 60kg dumbells are a BIG weight for shrugs let alone the bench press, and difficult to hold on to without straps.

Also you can't just take your regular bar bench weight and divide it by two, it doesn't work like that, there's a lot more stabilising to be done with dumbells and that tends to dissipate your strength for the actual lifting.

sbk1972

Turboman is correct. People get confused with weight over technique. Performing a curl correctly, stesses the muscle better, than just lifting a heavy weight and doing a poor curl.

Ok, you can lift a 40Kg barbel, curl, but can you do it, with perfect technque ?? If you can, then fair play.

Im no weak guy, and the most I can curl, single bar bells is about 36Kg. I can do about 5 reps before my arms rip off and run out of the gym :-)

What ever excercise or muscle group I do first, gets the best lifts in terms of weight I can lift, as once you've done a few sets of different excercises, with primary /secondary effect, my arms arent as strong.

Saying that, the eyes are always spot on, and on the look out for fit girls doing squats !! :-) oooo yes !

SBK