"How Much Can You Bench?" vs Weight Training

[Gunny]

Yeah, I know, it's not about Trump so it'll get the fast track to oblivion I was digging around on youtube last night and found this bench press competition and watched it. The political forums on the board were getting too hot, heavy and fast for me

So I notice a few things right off the bat. These guys are trying to bench between 750 and almost 900 pounds. Unreal. Sorry, but I don't believe those guys aren't juiced to the gills. There's nothing normal about the weight, nor these guys sizes.

So naturally, I'm looking at these guys. They can hardly move. Their sole function is lay down on a bench and push a weight up. Pretty impractical if you ask me. Then I started trying to remember when "How much can you bench?" became the question du jour between weightlifters in the gym. Sometime in the 80s.

To sort of set the background, probably half the Marine Corps lifts weights. Maybe a quarter or so seriously. I was in that quarter so I was ALWAYS around it. At some point, "how much can you bench?" became the measuring stick for both Marines and in the civilian world for how strong you are. And yes, I am about to piss ALL OVER the "How much can you bench?" crowd cuz i'm just a nice guy like that

When I started lifting it the mid-70s prior to society going on a fitness craze and was just one of those dummies that lifted weights to overcompensate for being stupid , it was NOT "How much can you bench?" It was "How much can you clean and press?" (taking the weight from the floor to your shoulders then pressing straight overhead) and "How much can you squat?" We did bench presses of course and tried to bench as much as we could, but they weren't some special focal point. The clean and press was.

In contrast to now, if you were in a bodybuilding competition if the 70s or earlier, part of the competition was the clean and press. THAT was the indicator of strength, and is a much better one than laying flat on your back and pushing a weight straight up. The clean and press requires strength, timing, speed and coordination. Pound for pound, it was and still is my strongest lift to this day.

This isn't bragging and I can't even do it now. It's a comparison. My best bench press was 345 lbs. On the USS Boxer while under way. Means my platform was moving In contrast, I could clean and press 245 lbs and squat 350. Unlike these guys I was watching last night, I could also run 3 miles in 22-24 minutes, play basketball, practice martial arts and I was Water Survival Qualified at Swim Qual. Meaning I could move and get practical app out of my strength.

Really came in handy as an electrician when we would get stuck hauling 80 lb bags of cement. I would clean the weight to my should and off I would go while everyone else did all kinds of monkey-ass crap trying to haul them.

I know. I lead an exciting life