"How much do you bench?"

[Fortress]

Things have been distorted. Yet only to some extent. Ive done 395 at 183lbs raw in upa, same in usapl. Around 10 years ago... stopped using insulin for 5 years before. Currently just started a traing cycle to compete again. Only doing 360 for pause rep sets right now, going for 165 lb class. However ive also worked out 25 years. Competed with and trained with founders of some of the most popular templates out there, nd been fortunate. If youre around powerlifters (not some guy v running sheiko, cube or some other nonsense) then the numbers you say arent impressive at all. Have you seen some of the recent numers. Things have changed in the last 10 years. This isnt wpo days anymore. I rember training with guys that did 900plus in a shirt. And only 550 raw. Today theres guys at 198lb class and under over 500. The standard in powerlifting has changed. As for guys saying a 3plate bench is rare.
Youre in box gyms. Thats why.
Ive done 4plates in training at bill crawfords years ago. And was one of the weakest people there. Adirondack barbell had teens repping 3 plates. Box gyms and strength gyms arent the same. Anyone remember ken liesters iron island gym?
At 24hour or la fitness these numbers are rare. But at a serious strength gym ive seen women with 3 plates. Granted im also tlking abot gyms where most ofbthe members compete.

I'll say it again. Drugs.

The standard has changed, but so, too, has the drug component.

NO 198-pound guy is pressing 500 without using. And NO chick is benching three plates without using.

The guys in this thread who claim they've lifted 500+, they still haven't answered: Were they using? Of COURSE they were/are.

These days, everyone and his girlfriend is using. At my "box gym", I'd suggest at least 40 percent of the regular members are on. And these people are NOT hardcore/serious lifters.

The culture of drug use in gyms everywhere has become outrageous.

Just saying'.  

[Fortress]

And let me add ...

The techniques used to achieve some of these unreal numbers have also changed.

Show me a drug-free lifter who Olympic squats 650 ass-to-grass (really ass-to-grass, not this horseshit that passes for this) and you're talking one of this planet's very strongest specimens.

[T-REX007]

Women pressing 315 ? not sure about that one,

yeah Bev Francis, Paula Suzuki , Becca Swanson, and a few others have reached 315 but were juiced to the gills

A woman pressing 225 " natural"  for a few reps would be astonishing to me, at almost any body weight too, you just don't see it anywhere

A natural male lifter pressing 365 under 220 bwt is pretty freakin' strong, not elite, but darn powerful presser

[Melkor]

The bench press is an interesting lift. Of all of the powerlifts it is perhaps the most dependent on natural body proportions and limb leverages (hence the prevalence of "bench-only specialists"  ). I personally struggle the most with the bench press (I can push press more than my bench) but this is partly due to my refusal to adapt a benching technique that is not conducive to long-term shoulder and pec health. I would rather be able to slowly improve a decent close grip bench consistently for several decades than have a big wide grip, several inch ROM, elbows flared bodybuilder type bench for 6 months and end up with a blown pec.

And let me add ...

The techniques used to achieve some of these unreal numbers have also changed.

Show me a drug-free lifter who Olympic squats 650 ass-to-grass (really ass-to-grass, not this horseshit that passes for this) and you're talking one of this planet's very strongest specimens.

Hmmm... you got me thinking long and hard about that one... One that comes to mind is Kendrick Farriss (see below). Sure, 594lbs for 5 reps does not transfer over to 650 for one rep at all (not even close, no matter what rep-max calculation you want to use) but for an 85 kilo lifter who I believe is drug-free this is an impressive feat of strength. (The first rep was solid, the rest were legit but I cringe to think of the potential knee problems one could encounter squatting like this consistently). Also, possibly Mark Henry or Shane Hamman come to mind? (AND for the three lifters I mentioned we are literally talking the cream of the crop in US weightlifting in the last 20 years - not the average gym rats)

[Hulkotron]

That is completely true. On internet boards every other guy can do that, irl I only see weird stares from these around when I bench as like they see an alien. Yeah I sound like one of these who "can do that", but I can, that's the difference.

I would imagine internet boards about bodybuilding/strength/muscle etc. like this one attract a disproportionate fraction of the population that can do these things (e.g. bench 315) rather than a slice of the general population where that sort of strength is extremely rare.

In generally I agree with you though, I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen someone legitimately bench 315 or more but this seems to be a common feat in most getbigger's gyms.

[mazrim]

In generally I agree with you though, I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen someone legitimately bench 315 or more but this seems to be a common feat in most getbigger's gyms.

Same and some of those are no biggie as the ones doing them are fatsos.