What exactly makes the bench press less practical for athletes, especially fighters?

[Stargazer Rex]

You’ve made similar jokes several times over the years as if me and KK were close friends and his death really hit me hard on a personal level. It’s…odd, to say the least.

But, to answer your question, you and KK can probably currently do the same number of reps with 225.

 

[aus101]

To be fair a lot of NFL plays have thrown up unimpressive combine bench numbers, especially some of these little slot receivers who barely crack 180lbs in body weight. Not the greatest metric when you take different positions into account.

I think you may have just been suffering from the Mandela effect.

It's a metric that judges if a player spends time in the weight room. Higher number means more time spent (or good natural strength).

Can't equate it to power, in fact a good combine bench kinda proves the opposite. I'm slow twitch as fuck yet thanks to decent clavicle width combining with a skinny Irish frame it means with good technique and dedication to bench I can hit 225 for 26 weighing 165 5'10. On the field would I out muscle nfl players benching 25 and down? Hell no, slow as hell compared to half the worlds male population, small and with no throwing ability I wouldn't make a high school football team.

 

[vision1]

It's a metric that judges if a player spends time in the weight room. Higher number means more time spent (or good natural strength).

Can't equate it to power, in fact a good combine bench kinda proves the opposite. I'm slow twitch as fuck yet thanks to decent clavicle width combining with a skinny Irish frame it means with good technique and dedication to bench I can hit 225 for 26 weighing 165 5'10. On the field would I out muscle nfl players benching 25 and down? Hell no, slow as hell compared to half the worlds male population, small and with no throwing ability I wouldn't make a high school football team.

I think you're most likely an outlier if that's the case.
Or you're downplaying your abilities

 

[JimRussel]

I think you're most likely an outlier if that's the case.
Or you're downplaying your abilities

This. There's nothing terribly normal about benching 225x26 as a 5'10, 165 lbs dude.

 

[GolovKing]

It's a metric that judges if a player spends time in the weight room. Higher number means more time spent (or good natural strength).

Can't equate it to power, in fact a good combine bench kinda proves the opposite. I'm slow twitch as fuck yet thanks to decent clavicle width combining with a skinny Irish frame it means with good technique and dedication to bench I can hit 225 for 26 weighing 165 5'10. On the field would I out muscle nfl players benching 25 and down? Hell no, slow as hell compared to half the worlds male population, small and with no throwing ability I wouldn't make a high school football team.

You have a lanky body type at 165 and you can bench 225 26 times?

 

[gspieler]

Those bench press standards are low. You're saying 1.25x bodyweight bench is acceptable for a professional fighter?

Yes? Plenty of great fighters are/were probably right around that ratio. Anderson, Jones, Werdum, Shogun, Machida, Cain, BJ...I doubt any of those fighters has ever benched 1.5x bw with full ROM.

 

[boingyman]

It's a metric that judges if a player spends time in the weight room. Higher number means more time spent (or good natural strength).

Can't equate it to power, in fact a good combine bench kinda proves the opposite. I'm slow twitch as fuck yet thanks to decent clavicle width combining with a skinny Irish frame it means with good technique and dedication to bench I can hit 225 for 26 weighing 165 5'10. On the field would I out muscle nfl players benching 25 and down? Hell no, slow as hell compared to half the worlds male population, small and with no throwing ability I wouldn't make a high school football team.

That's impressive given your height.

 

[hardheart]

You have a lanky body type at 165 and you can bench 225 26 times?

I'm glad I'm not the only person who's bullshit meter broke when they read that. I suppose it's possible but nobody I know that could have done that would have called themselves unathletic. Perhaps he thinks 225 means a 25 on each side?

Yes? Plenty of great fighters are/were probably right around that ratio. Anderson, Jones, Werdum, Shogun, Machida, Cain, BJ...I doubt any of those fighters has ever benched 1.5x bw with full ROM.

We can probably exclude Cain from this list. ASU has a solid strength program.

That's impressive given your height.

Some would call it, unnatural.

 

[gspieler]

I'm glad I'm not the only person who's bullshit meter broke when they read that. I suppose it's possible but nobody I know that could have done that would have called themselves unathletic. Perhaps he thinks 225 means a 25 on each side?



We can probably exclude Cain from this list. ASU has a solid strength program.



Some would call it, unnatural.

The vids I've seen of Cain lifting always look more conditioning-based, and always with atrocious form. But I also wouldn't be surprised if he had some genuinely-good gym lifts either.

Pure speculation, but I'd put the over/under on prime Cain's bench at right around 315lbs(bouncing off chest, of course). If Cain weighed ~240lbs, that'd put him at right around 1.3x bw.

 

[hardheart]

The vids I've seen of Cain lifting always look more conditioning-based, and always with atrocious form. But I also wouldn't be surprised if he had some genuinely-good gym lifts either.

Pure speculation, but I'd put the over/under on prime Cain's bench at right around 315lbs(bouncing off chest, of course). If Cain weighed ~240lbs, that'd put him at right around 1.3x bw.

Fair enough. I'm purely speculating as well, as the need for push strength, such as that acquired from big benching, is kind of important for heavyweight collegiate wrestling. And Cain has always been fairly big in his chest, and his like 85 shoulder injuries lead me to speculate there's been a lot of bench done with them there shoulders. Again, 100% speculation but I would put him as clearly the strongest on that list, prior to Jones work with Stan Efferding and Henry. I think Jones is going to absolutely blow people's minds with his size/strength gains. It's not like I live 12 minutes away from Fight Ready or anything...

 

[ASUThermo]

I'm glad I'm not the only person who's bullshit meter broke when they read that.

If the max translated properly, we'd see a 405-420 bench press. That would rank in the top 200 of all 45,000+ 165lbs lifters that have competed in a full powerlifting meet. Being top .05% is nice.

 

[JonJonesNeedle]

I agree, 225lb for 26 reps at a BW of 165lb is bs.
Especially for someone who is a self proclaimed slow twitch muscle fiber guy. Slow twitch muscle fiber people can bench 225 for multiple reps, but not while only weighing 165lb.

 

[hardheart]

If the max translated properly, we'd see a 405-420 bench press. That would rank in the top 200 of all 45,000+ 165lbs lifters that have competed in a full powerlifting meet. Being top .05% is nice.

And I'm sure he's talking UNSHIRTED, no sleeves, no wrist wraps, no slingshot...so...lol.

 

[gspieler]

And I'm sure he's talking UNSHIRTED, no sleeves, no wrist wraps, no slingshot...so...lol.

Maybe Smith Machine, doing partial reps. Otherwise, yeah...highly implausible.

 

[hardheart]

Maybe Smith Machine, doing partial reps. Otherwise, yeah...highly implausible.

Anything is possible, I suppose.

 

[gspieler]

Anything is possible, I suppose.

 

[wufabufa]

It's a metric that judges if a player spends time in the weight room. Higher number means more time spent (or good natural strength).

Can't equate it to power, in fact a good combine bench kinda proves the opposite. I'm slow twitch as fuck yet thanks to decent clavicle width combining with a skinny Irish frame it means with good technique and dedication to bench I can hit 225 for 26 weighing 165 5'10. On the field would I out muscle nfl players benching 25 and down? Hell no, slow as hell compared to half the worlds male population, small and with no throwing ability I wouldn't make a high school football team.

My point is that it doesn't always translate specifically into better on field performance if the player doesn't need pressing strength to be effective. If we're looking at a guy who's a gym rat that can crank out 10+ reps compared to his peers but is slower on the 40, 20 yard shuttle, and 3 cone drill I know for sure who is hitting the showers early.

I do agree though, if your position doesn't necessarily benefit from a strong bench but you've put in the effort to bring it up then it can sometimes be an indicator of work ethic. I think we all agree; natural ability >>>>>>>>

Otherwise the league would be full of overachieving, yet mediocre manlet Rudy's.

 

[spdrew2143]

Yes? Plenty of great fighters are/were probably right around that ratio. Anderson, Jones, Werdum, Shogun, Machida, Cain, BJ...I doubt any of those fighters has ever benched 1.5x bw with full ROM.

I stand corrected. Mma fighters are terrible bench pressers.

 

[Fahcough]

I stand corrected. Mma fighters are terrible bench pressers.

Outside of Tank and Shawn Jordan.

 

[ChickenBrother]

Perhaps he thinks 225 means a 25 on each side?

LMAO this is the more likely explanation. Or maybe he has Artem Lobov arms and a cirque du soleil back arch. But huge if true.