I work out at a commercial gym and rarely anyone can bench 225lb and above. At least the times i go and i work out like 6 days a week.
It seems like everyone and their mother on Reddit can bench 225lbs.
I work out at a commercial gym and rarely anyone can bench 225lb and above. At least the times i go and i work out like 6 days a week.
It seems like everyone and their mother on Reddit can bench 225lbs.
Comments
Yeah also
Everyone on Reddit had a rough childhood and got their PHD while working at Wendy’s and living in their car too.
Yeah bro if you only bench 225 you’re basically a weak child. I bench 9000lbs on one arm while I do massive squats with the other arm (arm squats are an advanced technique). Also I am super rich and I have 2 of every car and like 500 girlfriends.
(People lie on the internet, 225 is p impressive)
I can lift 10 times that, and I only have one hand.
See, lying on reddit is easy.
Most of the time only people putting up impressive numbers, or at least willing to claim impressive numbers, are going to say anything online.
Especially if you’re in a section of reddit dedicated to people who lift seriously.
Sampling bias all over the place even if we assume everyone is honest. Which…hey its the internet.
In real life it is actually quite rare, unless you go to certain gyms. But on the internet everyone can do it because like other commenters said, people lie. Plus if you see footage of people actually doing it, you’re still seeing a small percentage but it seems much more common due to how algorithms are built.
I can’t lift anywhere near 225. That’s impressive to me. Good job!
Benching over 200 is pretty high for a regular person, but 220 max isn’t unattainable for most men, with a year or two of weight training.
I think my bench press max when I used to lift was like 180, despite being able to squat like 260, and leg sled some ridiculous amount like 320.
I was lifting twice a week back then, with about 8 months of training.
Compete with yourself, not reddit. It’ll be more satisfying. Everyone here is doing 315# and always reracks their weight. Just ask em.
Depends on your body weight.
If you are an obese male, who weights 350, chances are you could do close to it without much training.
I would say double plates is impressive. However most gym bros think thats average.
This feels like you’re trying to humblebrag about benching 225.
Which I could do when I was an infant.
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To power athletes 225 isn’t anything. Former football player and played D3. Over half the team could bench 275 and 20% could bench 315. 5% into the 400s.
I heard only 1% of the population can bench 225, but I think that’s only when you factor in most people aren’t even going into the gym. I find it weird you can call something impressive when majority literally don’t try at it.
I think ANY man with a regular gym routine after 3 years can EASILY bench 225. It’s not a special number if you look at it from that perspective. 315? I’d say 1 out of 8 men could achieve that with 5 years of training. 405+ is something you have to be genetically gifted for.
For as often as you see it online, it’s definitely in the minority of my gym experience. I probably see the 165-185lb range the most for benching. Depending on your weight, most strength standards would classify even just a 1RM of 225 as intermediate to advanced level. I am impressed with anyone that can rep out 225lb, it took me like 1yr to get there.
I bet there’s some selection bias too, in that the stronger people go to more strength/weightlifting focused gyms, which you may not be seeing if you’re going to a regular gym.
A lot of the people who make fitness content and who post in fitness spaces on Reddit have an overinflated view of what is normal to achieve. They also often have an unusual view of what is a normal amount of time and effort to dedicate to training. My personal best is 105kg (230lbs) on Bench, which took me many years of training (5 years total, of which I knew what I was doing for about 3 years). I’m somewhat shorter than average with nothing special as far as genetics.
There are definitely people who could have achieved this in a shorter time, either through better genetics or through a much higher level of dedication. I think that’s what many online posters miss—progress in lifting requires a lot of dedication outside the gym as well as in it. In order to make the kind of progress that a lot of people write about online you need to eat properly, rest and recover properly, and always prioritise lifting over social engagements etc.
From experience, those heavy benchers don’t go to commercial gyms all that often. They tend to go to smaller niche gyms.
I worked out obsessively for a few years and only did 195×5 as my best bench set ever.
It won’t turn heads in my gym, where jacked dudes are loading 2+ plates and repping it like it’s nothin…but I have to imagine it’s still about as uncommon as it’s ever been and is still kinda seen as a benchmark for serious lifters
That said, I happily rep 145 hahah
I bench press 225 lb with one arm.
I work out at two gyms, both very large. I’ve worked out semi-regularly for more than 35 years. Both with mainly people 20’s to 40’s. One near my Son’s work so I can catch time with him and one by my house, because it’s 20 minutes each way closer. I bet less than 5% of the people there, that I’ve seen, can put up 185, let alone 225. The one location is very very close to a powerlifter gym that closed recently, and a gym that used to be frequented by serious old timer bodybuilders, but those two places, those guys are in their late 60’s and 70’s now, and not as strong as they were.
Overall I’ve seen the percentage of truly strong men decline to near zero compared to 35 years ago.
I agree with the flood of comments saying “it’s the internet”… Take it all with a grain of salt, a mountain of sugar and still presume at least 50% of those people are lying.
Now me, I haven’t benched in forever so I can’t even imagine what my max would be but it used to float between 235 and 250 depending how I was feeling. While this may sound impressive to some people, half my lifting buddies were putting up closer to 300 or over so 🤷🏻♂️
That said, we also used to have a general rule… You should at least be able to bench your body weight. So I would say what people lift is only half the conversation. Basically, a 180lb dude benching 225+ is impressive (imo), but a 300lb dude lifting the same wouldn’t be. Who knows if this standard is still acceptable nowadays. Like I said, it’s been quite a while for me. Lol.
Good job either way. Keep it up. 👍🏻
If you’re comparing yourself to the world population, a 225 lb bench makes you in the top ~0.4% strongest people on the planet
It all just depends on who you’re talking about. Average guy who doesn’t work out much, or ever? You have to be incredibly big and/or naturally strong to do 225 without working a lot for it. But some guys are just built that way!
Guys who are a bit smaller (under 200 lbs) and work out sometimes, but kinda haphazardly, and without dedication and consistency? Probably not gonna hit 225.
Guys who are a bit smaller (under 200 lbs) and work out a lot, and very consistently, and have at least average genetics (I fall into this category), it’s really not that hard to achieve with 1-2 years of consistent lifting. I can’t remember exactly how long it took me, but I was doing 225 (at around 190-200 lbs bodyweight) within three years of when I started taking it semi-seriously. It might have even been under two years.
So it’s totally possible. Just don’t expect to be doing it without putting in the work for an extended period of time. And for god’s sake don’t force it. Take your time with it. If you are so impatient that you want to be doing it within three months, you lack the required patience and dedication and you should just just give up now. For real. Good things come to those who wait.
Bench is the dumbest exercise to be a judge of strength, also a lot of the power/strongmen i train with dont even do bench more than once or twice a month. If you can do two wagon wheels on each side youre fine.
DependS on the gym. Planet Fitness? No you won’t see many 225lb bench presses. Most gyms with multiple power cages and deadlift platforms, yes, lots of guys will be benching 225.
I was taught that the bench press is secondary to incline/decline and other isolating shoulder/chest/yoke lifts, so I never realized flat bench-pressing 225 was a thing.
Bench pressing 225 is fucking hard, man.
I work in a gym that’s pretty popular in my area and I rarely see anyone using flat bench most people like 80% use machines and never touch a bench press. The only time I see people benching are powerlifters who are competing and need to bench heavy and even then 3 plates for singles is the most they do not on competition days
I really don’t find it impressive how much other people can bench press.
I can’t bench press 100lb, let alone 225lb
All the people who bench less than that just don’t comment on the threads dude.
Among the general population it is strong. Among regular gym goers it is a typical amount of weight to move. Among people who engage in weightlifting internet communities discussing weight lifting it is not impressive. What you’re seeing is selection bias. People who bench under 185lbs will not be posting on the internet about the gym.
It’s impressive to lift weights and remain active in general. We are all on our own journey. Most people never even go to the gym.
225 is incredible and noteworthy for most runners and it’s not much at all for professional weight lifters.
Objectively for people who lift weights – bodyweight or more is pretty damn good.
It depends on the person. For 285 lb guy, that’s barely more than a pushup with your hands around the bottom of your ribs. For a 175 lb guy, that’s a very good lift. For a 125 lb woman, that’s a Hurculean feat.
Not only do people lie, but if you’re seeing people on weightlifting subs saying that, there’s a good chance that you’re experiencing a LOT of selection bias, because the people that can’t lift 225 (the majority of people) won’t be posting about it to begin with
In my high school we had 3 guys who could bench 225+, all were offensive linemen on the football team. As such it became the premier goal for weak-ass me when I was in college, I got there eventually after a strict diet of cafeteria hamburgers, weed and beer and just like working out 6 days a week and being 22yo. After that I no longer cared. However even now 30 years later I still remember benching the double plates (and also squatting 350) and brag about it. So yes, it is still impressive and stronger than most regular folks who don’t do any weight training.
If you can bench your weight (or more) that’s ballin
225 is still a lot. I believe the majority of men who don’t train cannot bench 100lbs
A 225 pound bench press will always be impressive. Among the entire global adult population, nearly nobody can actually do it.
I cannot bench 225. 225 is pretty impressive to me. Don’t believe the internet hype.
Reddit is a place to comment puns, see the same 10 questions be posted constantly, and to doom scroll. It is not a place to take people literally.
If that were the case, everyone here would be teenage millionaires who were horribly abused by their parents but still have tons of sex while at the same time being basement dwelling nerds playing WoW and D&D using coconuts. Oh, and English is no one’s first language here.
I thought it was a milestone when I hit 225. Hearing that second plate was a big deal for me.
In my experience, other lifters are generally supportive about everything. Especially if you hit a personal best.
How many people in the world do you think can bench 225? Of the 8+ billion, how many?
As someone who just hit 225 for the first time in years, it is still impressive. I don’t care how many people say they can on reddit, no person that doesn’t work for it can just walk up and bench two plates.
I’ll be the boring baseline, current max bench is about 130
I put up 225 and was stoked. Told a bunch of people. I was super strong at the time.
I’ve been in the gym off and on most of my life am 40 now.
Within a couple months of hitting that PR life got busy and I didn’t keep up my training.
In 25 years of lifting I could put up 225 for about 6 weeks of it.
225 is a lot of weight
225 isn’t impressive for someone who actually lifts often. I was benching 290 in my senior year of high school. I’d assume anyone that’s in the gym seriously would be over 300 from my past experiences in the gyms.
225 is always impressive
There’s many factors that would also make a much lighter load very impressive still.
My 52 year old father benches 180 lbs for reps which is a lot at that age.
There’s some people that don’t know how hard you have to work for a good bench. Or they’re just enormous. My 7’2 250lbs teammate obviously lifts a crap ton more than me at 5’10 145lbs
I trained for 5 years to get above 200 lbs and he could almost do it the first time he touched the barbell.
It’s still impressive if you can do like 8-12 reps imo.
Amongst gym goers, not that impressive. Compared to the general population, it’s above-average. Be proud of personal milestones regardless of how common or impressive they are
Gymflation is real
But even among gym goers it’s rarer than you think
It would be cool if there was a calculator/table that allowed you to put in what percentage of your bodyweight you could bench press (1RM), and it would tell you what percentile of people you are in.
Comparison is the thief of joy.
Enjoy being strong. We’re all very happy for you.
It’s impressive for the average gym rat. The internet just has a weird way of making above-average seem average, especially when people only post their best lifts.
I lift 4x/week and haven’t even attempted 225 in years. I might be able to do it but I don’t have a spotter and I’m 36 so I care more about my joints than my ego.
I saw a fact awhile back that less than 1% of the population can put up 225, if that’s true, just assume that most people claiming it online are full of shit.
Comparison is the thief of joy. I can’t do that. I would be so amazed if I could. If you’re happy with it, great. If not, keep pushing and training. Do your best for you and not for others.
Are you asking whether Reddit or your real life gym is more representative of…real life?
What you’re describing is how it has always been in my book. Also, “everyone” on reddit can bench 225 because strong people are going to self select to respond, just like I’m doing with this response. Anyone lifting less is going to shy away from sharing their numbers. I’ve been lifting for 20 years and the majority of boys/men I see lifting tend to stop at around 185. That’s also generally around their own body weight. There’s a bit of mental hurdle for people to try to go beyond that. Personally, I do not consider 225 impressive, but I had blown well beyond that in high school along with several other guys I played sports with. Impressive starts around 275 for me for anyone that looks older then college age.
I benched 225 for the first time at home without anyone watching.
225 is the O.G LEVEL UP! it’s heavy af and very few around you can do it❤️😎
Don’t let ego lift the weight; let your body lift it. If your max is 150, then be happy. Don’t try and conform to other person’s standards 👍
102kg
I believe that any male under 30 can bench 225 in under a year.
I’m impressed only by the people who show up. No matter your size or ability, getting to the gym isn’t always easy.
I squat 225, on the reg.
Reg being one time 4 years ago.
The people that talk about bench press are typically the ones that do it. And for some people, it’s one the major things that they’re proud of, so they’ll talk about it often.
Objectively, compared to the general population, 225 is great.
To normal people it is. Even telling someone to lift 100lb in any way they want people are impressed. If you’re in the gym for a while it shouldn’t be.