How heavy is 100KG for an average man?

Det Somerset

Long story short, I'm considering various weight bench options. I wouldn't like to invest in something and have to replace it in the foreseeable future as I'm on a limited budget at the moment.

The options that suit my budget use standard weights and seem to have a weight limit of about 100KG. My guess is that would be fine for me. I don't have any desires to be the next Schwarzenegger and my understanding is that Olympic equipment is only necessary for those lifting significantly heavy weights. I work at a desk 5 days a week nor do I get much physical exercise apart from walking. I believe myself to be relatively weak for a man of my size so my goal is to simply improve my strength.

I'm 6ft, weigh 170lbs, in my late 30s, my diet isn't great, I drink regularly and I won't be notably changing either of the last two. I can currently just about do a single standing one arm press with a 20kg kettlebell. So I expect I might be close to being able to do a 40kg bench press (maybe that's not how that works?) so I'd probably be starting around 30/35kg to do multiple reps. 100KG would therefore seem to be a long way off, and with the knowledge I won't be making the effort with diet, the question I'm asking is ...

Is 100KG a ceiling I'm unlikely to reach based on my goals and approach to diet?

There is no ego here on my part. I'd be quite happy to hear opinions that I'm unlikely to reach 100KG unless I change my approach to training and take it far more seriously than I expect to. If that ever happened it would prove I was enjoying and committed to my training enough to justify spending further on equipment. I would just hate to waste money now if regular lifting is all it would take to reach that barrier within two years. All opinions welcomed. Thanks

conzy

100kg is a decent milestone for bench press but would be pretty light for deadlift / squat. Do you plan on doing anything other than bench press?

LuckyLloyd

If you train bench consistently over time there's no reason you wouldn't eventually get to a reps at 100kgs+. How long that takes would be a product of your application and inherent ability.

But as conzy says, if you intend to Deadlift or do any lower body training then 100kgs will be outgrown quicker.

At the end of the day, purchase the 100kgs, start working out and take it from there. If you start outgrowing it in a few months you can always purchase a couple of additional plates and so on and so on.

Det Somerset

Thanks for the replies. If I'm honest, it sounds like 100KG will be absolutely fine for me as a ceiling. I don't have a current interest in deadlift or squats. The bench I'm looking at will allow me to barbell press, do leg extensions, hamstring curls and use the bench for a variety of dumbbell exercises. As I said, I'm not interested in true body building, just building up my strength at the moment.

The same bench suggests a max weight of 180kg. At 12 stone, I'm nearly 80kg so I see the bench dealing with 100kg weight in addition to me, so that's where the ceiling comes in. It's not about buying additional plates at that point, I'd have to look to replace the bench. If you were all saying 6 months of average training could easily lead to me wanting to bench over 100KG then I wouldn't waste my money on that bench. But it sounds like I'd need to be pretty dedicated or a natural to reach 100kg so if I do hit it, I think there would be easy justification to reinvest in better equipment. Right now I can't afford to spend the extra to 'future proof' myself against something that's unlikely to happen so that's why I'm trying to do my due diligence here.

Mellor

Det Somerset wrote: »

I can currently just about do a single standing one arm press with a 20kg kettlebell. So I expect I might be close to being able to do a 40kg bench press (maybe that's not how that works?) so I'd probably be starting around 30/35kg to do multiple reps.

Overhead press and bench pressing are related. But they aren;t directly equal.
You will be stronger in a horizontal plane (bench press) than the vertical plane (overhead press). Then, due to stability, you barbell press will be slightly stronger than twice your dumbell/kettlebell press.

At a guess, you should be able to bench 60kg. So 100kg probably isn't as far off as you imagine. How long it takes depends on your dedication entirely though.
That said, the bench isn;t going to explode if you+weights total more than 180kg. Realistically its capable of much more. They often give a max user weight too.

Det Somerset wrote: »

I don't have a current interest in deadlift or squats. The bench I'm looking at will allow me to barbell press, do leg extensions, hamstring curls and use the bench for a variety of dumbbell exercises. As I said, I'm not interested in true body building, just building up my strength at the moment.

If you want to build strength, then squats and deadlifts are your best option.
These basic strength exercises, stuff like leg extensions and hamstring curls is more typical of bodybuilder training tbh.

Det Somerset

Mellor wrote: »

At a guess, you should be able to bench 60kg. So 100kg probably isn't as far off as you imagine. How long it takes depends on your dedication entirely though.
That said, the bench isn;t going to explode if you+weights total more than 180kg. Realistically its capable of much more. They often give a max user weight too.

If you want to build strength, then squats and deadlifts are your best option.
These basic strength exercises, stuff like leg extensions and hamstring curls is more typical of bodybuilder training tbh.

That's interesting, thanks. I'll be quite surprised if I am benching close to 60kg to begin with, but overall it still sounds like 100kg is a decent ceiling for someone with my current aspirations.

The bench I'm looking at is this one . I can fully appreciate it's not a perfect bench, but it's affordable and seems to offer me most of what I'm looking for right now. The fact it folds is very attractive as it means I can keep it in my study and it's out of the way when not in use. Having it in the study also means I'm more likely to use it as any other bench would have to go in the garage and I could see myself having motivation issues as the garage is cold and dark.

I also note with interest what you said about squats and deadlifts being better for strength building. I've started doing bodyweight squats while cradling a 20kg kettlebell, but I don't intend doing barbell squats as I don't have a suitable rack and can't afford one currently. Similarly I expect I'd need to invest in a lot of extra weight plates for those and dead lifts and that's not within my budget. If I get bitten by the training bug, I will consider adding them to my routine as soon as I can afford the extra equipment.

LuckyLloyd

Well Deadlifts are simple as you can take the bar off the bench and work from there.

I'd repeat what I said yesterday: bench looks fine. Get it bought and get going and good luck.

Dwarf.Shortage

Det Somerset wrote: »

That's interesting, thanks. I'll be quite surprised if I am benching close to 60kg to begin with, but overall it still sounds like 100kg is a decent ceiling for someone with my current aspirations.

The bench I'm looking at is this one . I can fully appreciate it's not a perfect bench, but it's affordable and seems to offer me most of what I'm looking for right now. The fact it folds is very attractive as it means I can keep it in my study and it's out of the way when not in use. Having it in the study also means I'm more likely to use it as any other bench would have to go in the garage and I could see myself having motivation issues as the garage is cold and dark.

I also note with interest what you said about squats and deadlifts being better for strength building. I've started doing bodyweight squats while cradling a 20kg kettlebell, but I don't intend doing barbell squats as I don't have a suitable rack and can't afford one currently. Similarly I expect I'd need to invest in a lot of extra weight plates for those and dead lifts and that's not within my budget. If I get bitten by the training bug, I will consider adding them to my routine as soon as I can afford the extra equipment.

My honest opinion on benches like that is the plate loaded leg extension/hamstring curl attachment tends to be too flimsy to load up an appreciable weight. Doing leg extensions with a 10kg plate won't provide a decent growth stimulus to an able bodied man who weighs north of 80kg. I would buy a simpler more sturdy bench for benching, do lunges instead of hamstring curls and squats instead of leg extensions. Far better stimulus than that attachment could ever provide. Also the fact that it's foldable is a concern because it could be shaky at that joint and the last thing you want under you is a shaky bench when you're going at some heavy benching, can't fire a cannon out of a canoe and all that. I had a similar bench for a while and found it's only decent use was as a clotheshorse. Then again I once owned and wore a matching tracksuit, I can be very wrong.