How much can you bench...?

hobbescp

I'm curious as to what weights, if any, the forum members are lifting in the pursuit of cycling excellence (or mediocrity in my case)?

I'm not trying to evaluate training programmes or relevance of specific exercises to cycling performance etc... (and this isn't for my own ego as I am a weener in the gym!)

As a suggestion you could include age, gender, weight and your best 1 rep maximum weight on:

(a) Barbell Bench Press
(b) Standing Dumbbell Shoulder Press
(c) Barbell Squat
(d) Standing Barbell Curl

C'mon Arnie, I know you're a closet forum member...

ride_whenever

22/23 male 90kg

a) 50kg
b) not done
c) not done free as a max weight, but on the smith machine 4 years ago before starting rowing I did 140kg, and can probably do a fair bit more on a smith, so around 140kg
d) not done


This said, I'm not in training any more, and haven't done a max weight test for aaaaages

Alex_Simmons/RST

hobbescp wrote:

I'm curious as to what weights, if any, the forum members are lifting in the pursuit of cycling excellence (or mediocrity in my case)?

None. But I would if I wanted to go slower.

shockedsoshocked

My 1 rep max for bench was 75kg/165lbs which is also my body weight. I've stopped lifting heavy now though and started to just to higher reps/lower weight. Don't want a huge upper body but the last time I stopped upper body work I quickly plunged below 11 stone (6"2) and i didn't look healthy at all.

shockedsoshocked

My 1 rep max for bench was 75kg/165lbs which is also my body weight. I've stopped lifting heavy now though and started to just to higher reps/lower weight. Don't want a huge upper body but the last time I stopped upper body work I quickly plunged below 11 stone (6"2) and i didn't look healthy at all.

popette

my 1 rep max used to be about 85-90kg, can't remember exactly how much as it was a long time ago. That was with olympic bar.
Clean was about the same. Squat was over 300lb I think.
God, my memory is crap.

chrisw12

Easy for me to remember as I achieved what was for me the 'holy grail' of 300-400-500

That is 300lbs bench press
400lbs squat
500lb deadlift.

iirc I went a bit higher in the deadlift, but I did use straps and tried to find the 'tallest' discs possible to set my personal record. I also used knee wraps for my pb squat but again I was well over the 400 target in the end.

Bench press was a different story, I spent years training chest just once or twice a week and got nowhere near. Then one week I benched every day for about a week and in the end with small gains I got there.

They were the days!

As Alex says I wouldn't touch them now, I can't see how lifting weights will make you a faster cyclist. In fact I can safely say that the years of lifting have made me a slower cyclist as I'll never be that skinny teenager that I once was.

nasahapley

Oh go on then...

When I was doing regular weight training for rowing I could just about bench press 100kg (plus whatever the bar was) three times, but don't know what my one-rep max would be. For a bodyweight of 85kg it's good, but unfortunately a good bench press is about as much use for rowing as it is for cycling. Squat was (I think) 160kg plus the bar, and I'm not too sure what the other two are! I'd guess I could do about three-quarters of these weights right now, but I'm not too bothered about finding out!

Toks

hobbescp wrote:

I'm curious as to what weights, if any, the forum members are lifting in the pursuit of cycling excellence (or mediocrity in my case)? .

Perhaps mediocrity need not be your destination if you spend more time riding your bike and less trying to lift weights. Thas assuming you ain't planning to be a track Sprinter of course

phreak

I usually do 15 reps of 100kg. Don't know what my 1 rep max is. I'm 29 and 60kg (5'5" tall). Always had a strong chest as I used to swim a lot when I was younger. Butterfly was my stroke so upper body was always strong.

fuzzynavel

3 x 10 reps of 100kg split by 2 minutes used to be part of my training before I found cycling. Not entirely sure what my max would be but I found the 100kg challenging so maybe around 110kg to 115kg currently.

I'm 5'11" and currently 96kg

was 107kg when I was doing to weights above.

Max weight for reps for the leg press machine is around 160kg....can only do 5 reps so not far off my max there.

Not really a free weights person so haven't done the other 2

pbt150

22 y/o male, 5'10", 69kg

a) 50 kg
b) don't know
c) 130 kg (but have been training hard and doing weights and circuits since)
d) don't know

I don't know why people are so set against adding weights to a cycling training programme - wasn't there something in a Cycling+ a few months ago about weights? I seem to remember they said that leg weights can increase your time to exhaustion on a bike, and that upper body strength is important if you're getting out of the saddle/sprinting. Obviously you don't want to bulk up, but you can strengthen your muscles without putting on weight if you use weights properly.

bahzob

I do weights (and find they help a lot) but none of the above.

a, b and d not much use in terms of cycling.

c: Do freeweights at home so maxing out squats could be a wee bit dangerous as not sure my missus is up to acting as a spotter given she only weighs 50k.

Instead I do single leg step up onto a bench around 35cm. Bit safer as weight involved is much less and also easier on back. Still dont risk maxing out though.

At the moment doing 2x6reps (each leg)@67kg, (just short of the 69kg I weigh right now)

hobbescp

Toks wrote:

hobbescp wrote:

I'm curious as to what weights, if any, the forum members are lifting in the pursuit of cycling excellence (or mediocrity in my case)? .

Perhaps mediocrity need not be your destination if you spend more time riding your bike and less trying to lift weights. Thas assuming you ain't planning to be a track Sprinter of course

Don't worry Toks, I'll be chasing you down on the 2009 Richmond 3 lap challenge (I need to get under 60 mins as a first target though...!). You'll know it's me when I lap you, I'll be the one doing arm curls as I pedal

McBain_v1

37yr old bloke, 76kg weight

a) 97.5kg
b) 45kg (22·5kg dumbbell in each hand)
c) 125kg
d) 50kg

Not very good but I am starting to worry about the stresses on my joints these days and am going more for endurance work (sets of 25reps plus) because it's all very well being able to do one impressive lift, but what if you need to do another :?:

warrior4life

32 yr old male
85kg 6ft1
max bench 105kg
front shoulder press 70kg
squat 100kg
barbell curl (with good technique) 50kg

I was acyclist in the early 90's weighing 10 to 11 stone
i got fed up being skinny and stopped cycling, started hammering the weights and through the years got upto 14st 8 with 8% bodyfat
in the last 4 years ive been doing both but ive decided to drop bodywweight and muscle and start racing bikes again, my strength is still good though and im having a hard time shifting upper body muscle.

Tino4444

hobbescp wrote:

I'm curious as to what weights, if any, the forum members are lifting in the pursuit of cycling excellence (or mediocrity in my case)?

I'm not trying to evaluate training programmes or relevance of specific exercises to cycling performance etc... (and this isn't for my own ego as I am a weener in the gym!)

As a suggestion you could include age, gender, weight and your best 1 rep maximum weight on:

(a) Barbell Bench Press

110 kg

(b) Standing Dumbbell Shoulder Press

45kg dumbells

(c) Barbell Squat

120kg

(d) Standing Barbell Curl

45kg

My body weight is 13 stone 9 pounds, 6 foot tall, and 30 years old.

However, I do not regulary lift these weights as it would bulk me up which is not great for a cyclist. I actually prefer to use my own body weight to train. On a morning I do 60 press ups first thing which is great for boosting the metabolism.

Tino.