Why do so many people say that your bench is mostly dependent on your age?

[ImTheDoubleGreatest!]

I know of a few people (mostly trainers actually) who say that your bench is pretty much dependent on your age and experience with it. Like your age as in a younger person is gonna be able to bench more than an older dude because his youthful hormones are higher and that someone with more experience (IE. noob vs. elite). But basically your bench doesn't really go up like your other lifts though and that it is basically more dependent on your age. I'm wondering why this is or why they've said that as some of them trained higher level athletes or were elite athletes themselves. I tend to notice this somewhat to be true myself because my legs and lower back get stronger much more quickly than my chest, though I am pretty sure most people are like this too though. Anyone else's thoughts on this?

 

[mrgoodstuff]

I know of a few people (mostly trainers actually) who say that your bench is pretty much dependent on your age and experience with it. Like your age as in a younger person is gonna be able to bench more than an older dude because his youthful hormones are higher and that someone with more experience (IE. noob vs. elite). But basically your bench doesn't really go up like your other lifts though and that it is basically more dependent on your age. I'm wondering why this is or why they've said that as some of them trained higher level athletes or were elite athletes themselves. I tend to notice this somewhat to be true myself because my legs and lower back get stronger much more quickly than my chest, though I am pretty sure most people are like this too though. Anyone else's thoughts on this?

Many of us have been getting stronger over the years . it takes time. I'm 45 and 35% or more stronger than when I was 25.

 

[marmel75]

Personally I think the bench is a poor indicator of strength as it is very easy to make the movement front-delt dominated with very slight changes in positioning of the arms. I much prefer weighted dips and view that as a better indicator of your overall upper body strength along with weighted pullups

 

[ImTheDoubleGreatest!]

Many of us have been getting stronger over the years . it takes time. I'm 45 and 35% or more stronger than when I was 25.

How long have you been working out for?

Personally I think the bench is a poor indicator of strength as it is very easy to make the movement front-delt dominated with very slight changes in positioning of the arms. I much prefer weighted dips and view that as a better indicator of your overall upper body strength along with weighted pullups

Oh man, both those exercises destroy my shoulders lol

 

[Who Dares Win]

I have no evidence in either direction yet I believe that bench press performances increase with age, right now I have 130% of my body weight as 2reps best.

At 21 I could have barely match 100% of my bodyweight while pullups, shoulder presses and most exercises didnt have such difference.

Many friends told me the same, same thing with dead lifts.

Hard to say however if its a matter of hormones, age or nutrition.

 

[ImTheDoubleGreatest!]

I have no evidence in either direction yet I believe that bench press performances increase with age, right now I have 130% of my body weight as 2reps best.

At 21 I could have barely match 100% of my bodyweight while pullups, shoulder presses and most exercises didnt have such difference.

Many friends told me the same, same thing with dead lifts.

Hard to say however if its a matter of hormones, age or nutrition.

The general idea was that you begin to decline in your bench as you age (one guy specifically told me that for him it was 26 when his started to decline that there was nothing he could really do about it aside from taking gear) but that the other lifts decrease at a much later age. That was basically what they were all saying.

 

[Who Dares Win]

The general idea was that you begin to decline in your bench as you age (one guy specifically told me that for him it was 26 when his started to decline that there was nothing he could really do about it aside from taking gear) but that the other lifts decrease at a much later age. That was basically what they were all saying.

I dont know, Im not a doctor.

Maybe that guy simply was an early bloomer in terms of strenght?

Maybe he just got a huge hormone boost in his teens and early 20s but burned himself later than others?

Think of women who get in an adult shape much earlier than guys but also degrade much faster.

Anyway we are all different and our life choices influence our hormonal settings, a guy used to play football who moves to a sedentary stressful job clearly has a drop in testosterone while a nerd who moves to a high social position and pratice violent sports clearly has a huge boost in androgens.

Our brain makes out body adapt to different stimulations, high test is necessary in a violent setting while it backfires in a politically correct environment where niceness is mandatory.

Way too many factors to give a clear sure answer.

 

[ImTheDoubleGreatest!]

I dont know, Im not a doctor.

Maybe that guy simply was an early bloomer in terms of strenght?

Maybe he just got a huge hormone boost in his teens and early 20s but burned himself later than others?

Think of women who get in an adult shape much earlier than guys but also degrade much faster.

Anyway we are all different and our life choices influence our hormonal settings, a guy used to play football who moves to a sedentary stressful job clearly has a drop in testosterone while a nerd who moves to a high social position and pratice violent sports clearly has a huge boost in androgens.

Our brain makes out body adapt to different stimulations, high test is necessary in a violent setting while it backfires in a politically correct environment where niceness is mandatory.

Way too many factors to give a clear sure answer.

I see what you mean. And this guy was an elite athlete who became a trainer. Went to the CFL, could have gone to the NFL but didn't want to be training year-round lol. He was training at a young age so maybe he got closer to his biological peak sooner than most people. He was actually the reason why I asked this because he was the best trainer I have ever had or even known (I have met many other trainers even at the college level and they still didn't compare to this guy). Funny thing is, he was only a trainer who rented the weight rooms and field house at the first high school I went to.

 

[blind_one]

Oh man, both those exercises destroy my shoulders lol

Thats is a new for me : O , I think bench does have a potential to fvck with your shoulders, especially if you are not retracting the scapula correctly or have a previousy shoulder injury which is pretty common.

 

[ImTheDoubleGreatest!]

Thats is a new for me : O , I think bench does have a potential to fvck with your shoulders, especially if you are not retracting the scapula correctly or have a previousy shoulder injury which is pretty common.

Bench doesn't destroy my shoulders, dips and pullups do, especially dips. I think it's just how my body is though cuz my brother says the same thing. I don't know why though, they just hurt my shoulders. I think pullups only hurt though because I go full extension to the point of essentially slack-arming it to get full range of motion, so that's probably why. Dips just hurt though. I was told that your elbows are not supposed to go further back than shoulders and dips go completely against that rule.

 

[marmel75]

Bench doesn't destroy my shoulders, dips and pullups do, especially dips. I think it's just how my body is though cuz my brother says the same thing. I don't know why though, they just hurt my shoulders. I think pullups only hurt though because I go full extension to the point of essentially slack-arming it to get full range of motion, so that's probably why. Dips just hurt though. I was told that your elbows are not supposed to go further back than shoulders and dips go completely against that rule.

Most people do dips completely wrong. They go straight up and down when you are supposed to be leaning forward at about a 30 degree angle.

 

[ImTheDoubleGreatest!]

Most people do dips completely wrong. They go straight up and down when you are supposed to be leaning forward at about a 30 degree angle.

That's actually how we naturally do dips. Still strains it though.

 

[marmel75]

That's actually how we naturally do dips. Still strains it though.

You'd think that is how most people would do them but they don't...can't count the number of time watching people do dips and I'm like WTF are you doing??

Might just be how your body is...I do dips no issues but flat bench bothers the hell out of my shoulders...

 

[ImTheDoubleGreatest!]

You'd think that is how most people would do them but they don't...can't count the number of time watching people do dips and I'm like WTF are you doing??

I always thought we did them differently from others.

Might just be how your body is...I do dips no issues but flat bench bothers the hell out of my shoulders...

Yeah you are probably right. Every person is different.