I only need two hands to count the number of times I've ever seen someone bench more than 315 for reps with good form. I mostly work out in commercial and university gyms though. The people on here who act like that level of strength is a common thing are either restricting their sample to a very narrow slice of the population (e.g. athletes who train to be big and/or strong) or are just full of it. 315x8 or so is crazy strong among the general population and most people will never get there even if they are very dedicated lifters.
People also way overestimate what their one-rep max is from multi-rep maxes. I've known lots of guys who will grunt out 225x8 with their platonic lifting partner rowing half the weight off their chest the last two reps, then will claim they are good for "a few reps of 315" (lol).
The most I've ever done is 230.
** type d. this out twice and my phone died each time from taking it off the charger too soon and it got a littlenjumbled up LOL**
For general population even 200lbs-even is"strong". Itsbassumed here are ppl arnt "gen pop"& have at least some experience training, especially on thenbench.
When I bench, i use proper powerlifting technique. After switching from the common bbing bench technique (elbows out,& the bar coming down to the nipple level with medium arch in the back, & a wide, thumbless grip on the bar), to a powerlifting technique with...
-elbows tucked in by my sides. This helps the late drive out of bottom of the movement and helps get the triceps involved as much as possible. IMO triceps are the most important muscle group used in the bench press. You have a good bench press without a strong chest was wrong shoulders but you cannot have a good mattress without strong triceps.
-bar comes below my nipples to the bottom of my sternum,
-with as'a arch as I can get in my back, (see below)
-and a tight, closed grip that's a hand-space wider than shoulder-width.. So tight it seems as if im trying to "break the bar" like it's a stick. This also 'activates' the triceps and forces the elbows to stick by the sides. Benching with an open or suicide grip is like turning the triceps off in the movement
Pressing in this manner allows the pics two come into play as much as possible.
If you go to the Mirror and look at your hand placement and the angle of your upper arms in relation to your torso when you are flexing your chest, in a most muscular pose for instance, you will see then your arms and hands are not out in front of your face or straight out front of your chest like you're throwing a punch. Instead, when flexing your chest & tensing the pec fibers your hands are down much lower sort of like a most muscular pose... That's the same angle you want to mimic when bench-pressing to activate as many of the pec fibers as possible. To getnthat similar angle, you gotta have as much arch in your back as possible. In the bottom of the movie you want your forearms to be perpendicular to the floor.
When you bench press like a bodybuilder with your arms out almost forming a "T", with no arch in your back, you place your upper body in a really weak position to use the pecs, and it turns into an anterior delt and triceps movement.
Put 60lbs on my working weights within a couple weeks after switching to a powerlifting style bench press after using a bodybuilding style bench press for 12years... And that was after an 8month layoff of not pressing anything due to a bursa in my right shoulder.... meaning that after 2 weeks of returning to pressing I was already pressing 60 lb heavier with the powerlifting style bench press then I was prior to the injury with the bodybuilding style bench press
