Milestone with my bench press.

BrokenArrows

Im 6'1 83kg.
Well i was stuck on 70kg for a long time. Seemed to be unable to get past it so i stopped benching for about 2 months.

Instead i started lifting with dumbells. Got myself up to pressing 30kg per hand.

Then yesterday decided to go back to the bench.

Started with a 40kg warmup x 10.
50x5
60x5
70x5
80x5 barely made the 5th.
85x3 the third was clean.

85kg which is 2kg over by bodyweight. Im very happy with that.
I felt i could do 90kg for 1rm but there was noone there to spot.

Im very happy with myself and it couldnt have come at a better time as my dedication of going to the gym was beginning to dwindle.

So next milestone on the cards is 100kg.

brianthebard

Very nice work. Theoretically if 85kg was your 3rm you should be capable of 100kg, but please don't go trying 1rm's without a spotter regardless. Good stuff though.

daveywavey08

Fair play, man, keep up the good work. We all lose motivation from time to time, me especially. Just keep in there, I've been getting places with my weight gain lately and it is motivating me big time.

conceited

Fair play !

kevpants

Well done. It's amazing how sometimes just staying away from the bench and concentrating on other movements can lead to you being so much stronger on the bench when you return.

Reyman

It sounds like your bench barbell 1RM is around three times your bench dumbell 1RM? Would this be other guys' experience?

brianthebard

He said he was using 30kg dumbells, that's 60kg and presumably for reps.

BrokenArrows

Reyman wrote: »

It sounds like your bench barbell 1RM is around three times your bench dumbell 1RM? Would this be other guys' experience?

ya thats 30kg per arm so 60kg in total.

im assuming the reason i can bench more now is because of the greater control that is needed when using the heavy dumbbells.

Climate Expert

brianthebard wrote: »

Very nice work. Theoretically if 85kg was your 3rm you should be capable of 100kg, but please don't go trying 1rm's without a spotter regardless. Good stuff though.

I woulnd't be too sure about that. I'd say 90-95Kg would be is 1rm. I'm about the same as the OP,10Kg lighter but hit 80Kg for 3 reps there last weekend.
I was stuck for years on 65Kg and just a few workouts on my rotator cuffs sorted me out.

Hanley

Climate Expert wrote: »

I woulnd't be too sure about that. I'd say 90-95Kg would be is 1rm. I'm about the same as the OP,10Kg lighter but hit 80Kg for 3 reps there last weekend.
I was stuck for years on 65Kg and just a few workouts on my rotator cuffs sorted me out.

Yeah if you're only getting 3 reps then it's not really gonna be 85% of your max, unless you're incredibly efficient or fast twitch dominant. I'd guess it's apporx 90-92% so around 90-95kg sounds right to me!!

Reyman

BrokenArrows wrote: »

ya thats 30kg per arm so 60kg in total.

im assuming the reason i can bench more now is because of the greater control that is needed when using the heavy dumbbells.

What I was really wondering was how the weight lifted on a dumbell press trasfers to bench press. i.e. If you're handling 30kg per arm on the dumbells can you multiply by 3 or 2.5 to get your probable bench press equivalent?

brianthebard

Usually the dumbbell equivalent of a barbell bench is 80% of the latter.

Reyman

brianthebard wrote: »

Usually the dumbbell equivalent of a barbell bench is 80% of the latter.

Thanks Brian! That's what I reckoned myself - the bench should be around 2.5 times your individual dumbell press.
If you're handling say 3.0 times your dumbell press it probably indicates instability around your shoulders is limited your capability with the dumbells.

This possibly exposing you to injury risk.