Two plates on each side: 225 pounds. Three plates on each side: 315 pounds. Four plates on each side: 405 pounds.
4 Plates 225 lbs. 6 Plates 315 lbs. 8 Plates 405 lbs.
What Percentage of Men Can Bench 225? A two-plate bench is relatively uncommon. Only 17% of men who completed my survey had ever benched 225 pounds, and only 1% had reached the next milestone of 315 pounds.
Assuming the Smith Machine bar weighs 20 pounds and you're aiming for a lift totaling 225 pounds, you would need to add 205 pounds of weight plates.
Weight-to-Bodyweight Ratio: Bench pressing 225 lbs is considered heavy, often reaching up to 1.3x to 1.5x the lifter's body weight (2). This ratio makes it even more challenging, especially considering that the majority of adult males can only bench press approximately two-thirds of their total body weight.
Most men are physically inactive and couldn't bench bar itself. There are some that workout regularly, but 315 lbs is no easy task - it takes a lot of time and commitment and even those working-out will not became pro in most cases. So it's like 1% out of 20 % of physically active popoulation.
Bench pressing isn't a one-size-fits-all exercise. Factors such as age, gender, fitness level, and training history contribute to the amount you should be able to bench. The average male beginner might aim to bench press 135 lbs. A beginner female, on the other hand, might start with a 65 lbs lift.
As you'll quickly find out if you do some reading, most Smith machine bars typically weigh anywhere between 5 pounds and 45 pounds (2.5kg to 20kg). However, it depends on the type of Smith machine you are using.
However, very few ever reach 315 pounds – aka three big plates. To get to the point where you can one day clank three 45-pound plates onto each side of the Olympic bar and bench press it, or at least get close to that kind of weight, here are five tips to increase your bench press.
After a year of lifting weights, 56% of guys could bench more than 135 pounds, but only 5% could bench 225. A third of guys were still benching less than 135 pounds. In your second year, I would aim to get past 135 pounds. You might even be able to bench 135 for sets of 6–12 reps.
After a decade of lifting weights, almost everyone can squat with more than 135 pounds on the bar, and most guys can squat at least two plates for at least a few repetitions. As before, only around 1 in 6 lifetime lifters have ever squatted 315 pounds, but now 1 in 17 can squat 405.
The average man in the United States weighs 198 pounds. We know that there are almost 1,000,000 men in the United States who can bench press 225 pounds.
Likewise, a “two-plate” lift would mean two 45-pound plates on each side, for a total lift of 225 pounds, and so on. In case you're wondering why standard plates aren't just configured at 50 pounds instead of 45, it's because they're made according to the metric system, using kilograms rather than pounds.
By doing this repeatedly as you train each day, you'll eventually know that 25-lb plates take you to 95 lb, 45-lb plates take you to 135 lb, etc., and this type of accidental memorization speeds up the process even more.
Very rare. We're talking like beyond one in a million. 1% of 1% of the poplation type rarity. A lot of people dont realize this, but even a 225+ bench is a little abnormal.
However, the Smith machine at Planet Fitness is a bit different due to its construction and safety features. The bar is counterbalanced, which can make it lighter than standard Olympic barbells. At most Planet Fitness locations, the Smith machine bar's weight ranges from 15 to 25 pounds (6.8 to 11.3 kg).
Why is incline bench press harder? Some people find that the incline bench press is harder than flat bench presses because the front delt likes to dominate the movement and tends to take away from the action of the upper chest because of how close in proximity these two muscles are.
In the US they use 45 lb bars and plates. So one plate (per side) is 135 lbs, two plates is 225 lbs, three plates is 315 lbs, four plates is 405 lbs, five is 495 lbs, six is 585, seven is 675 and so forth.
For men, a good starting point is to bench press your own bodyweight. The average American male weighs about 200 pounds. An untrained 198-pound man can usually lift around 135 pounds. Women should aim to bench press 50-75% of their bodyweight.
Fully grown silverbacks are in actually stronger than 20 adult humans combined. How strong is a Mountain Gorilla? – A Silverback gorilla can lift 4,000 lb (1,810 kg) on a bench press, while a well-trained man can only lift up to 885 lb.
The current world record (equipped, with shirt) is held by American Jimmy Kolb established on July 29th, 2023, at the 2023 IPA Tristar Bash meet, when he successfully locked out 635 kg (1,401 lb), beating the previous record by 23 kg (51 lb).
Only 1 Out Of 50 People Go To The Gym, So 0.00012% Of The World's Population Can Squat 405lbs… That's 3 Out Of Every 25,000 People.” #LegDay #Squats #Weightlifting #StrengthTraining #Exercise #Outlier #JoeRogan #Discipline #Consistency #SuccessHabits 🗓️ #CompoundEffect 📈 #SRTF.
That requires an impressive amount of weight for each lift, which is why hefting it all is such an honored strength standard. But if you think it's beyond your capabilities, you're probably wrong. With the right training plan and enough dedication, just about any man can achieve it.
Only around half of us ever load 315 on the bar. Deadlifting four plates is rare, impressive, and takes quite a bit of structured effort, especially if you're naturally thin.