[Bomber]

Got a very important question that concerns bragging rights (haha).

Which is a more significant accomplishment.

For a 22 year old at 160 lbs to bench 325 or for a late starter to lifting to bench 330 at 190 lbs at 41 years old?

Beer is riding on this, so please give me your thoughts!

[bLacKjAck.]

Originally Posted by Bomber

Got a very important question that concerns bragging rights (haha).

Which is a more significant accomplishment.

For a 22 year old at 160 lbs to bench 325 or for a late starter to lifting to bench 330 at 190 lbs at 41 years old?

Beer is riding on this, so please give me your thoughts!

I'd give the edge to the lightweight....

[Beelzebub]

i'd vote for the 41 y/o. almost 20 years older and doing roughly the same weight is pretty damn impressive in my book, especially considering the testosterone level difference. what is the height difference? if any?

[MEH89]

I would go with the young guy, because he had less time to mature. My dad is like 48 years old, and from working a blue collar job for thirty years he is ALOT stronger than me, and he dosent even workout.There is no telling what kind of work the 40 year old guy does, and has done in his life time.

[whitedevil74]

The win goes to the taller person, not the heavier. Long Arms are a huge minus when it comes to the bench press, a tall person has much less leverage than a short compact person.

[EasyEJL]

Originally Posted by Bomber

Got a very important question that concerns bragging rights (haha).

Which is a more significant accomplishment.

For a 22 year old at 160 lbs to bench 325 or for a late starter to lifting to bench 330 at 190 lbs at 41 years old?

Beer is riding on this, so please give me your thoughts!

I'd give it to the old guy, but thats because i'm an old guy It depends on how long both of them have been lifting for really, and how much they've improved from where they started.

[CustomNW]

Height is a big thing, with that said... I'd lean towards the 41yr for what beelez mentioned.

[Bomber]

Here are the details. The 22 y/o is my older brother and he did this back in 88 or 89. He is 5 6 or so and had been lifting heavy but still only weighed 160. I am 5 10 and had always been extremely skinny and weak bordering on the crack addict look. I did not start lifting hard until I was around 28 or so, but I turn 41 this month. But strength gains have never come easy for me. But after a round of cigars and beer and bravado, I decided that I would do what ever it took to break his 325, because I know he will not go up that high again, he hasn't lifted heavy in 15 years. But when I told him of my goal, he said he still claims to be the champ because of his weight versus my weight now (195 19-20% BF). But my argument was that the kudos should go to me because I will have a 20 year disadvantage. So which one wins?

Thanks, and please be honest, unless you side with my brother!

[LCSULLA]

Side with the older guy on this.
Plus what can he lift now... not what he lifted almost 20yrs ago.

[Sonny Crockett]

You are older and have a longer bench stroke- I say hands down you are the winner. At 5'6" your older brother unracks it and it is almost touching his chest already. There is an age PL formula used at some meets to determine best lifter (not common) but if i can find it I will post.

[Jstrong20]

Originally Posted by whitedevil74

The win goes to the taller person, not the heavier. Long Arms are a huge minus when it comes to the bench press, a tall person has much less leverage than a short compact person.

Thats just something tall guys use as an excuse.lol. The strongest raw bencher in the world is over 6' tall. Scot Mendelson is either 6'1'' or 6'3'' can't remeber. Actually the strongest shirted bencher(ryan kennelly) is also over 6'1''. I promise you can't find a midget to outlift them.lol.

Sorry! but I have to give the advantage to the 160lbs. Your lift is good to but 320 is impressive for 160lbs.

[Beelzebub]

Originally Posted by Jstrong20

Thats just something tall guys use as an excuse.lol.

really? so a longer ROM is the same as a shorter ROM? i'll call the universities and tell them of your discovery. they'll be baffled.

[Jstrong20]

Originally Posted by Beelzebub

really? so a longer ROM is the same as a shorter ROM? i'll call the universities and tell them of your discovery. they'll be baffled.

Well a taller person should be able to hold much more muscle mass than a shorter person. Lee Preist will never have the size of ronnie coleman or markus ruhl. Plus you can look at the records in powerlifting and see not many people under average height hold world records in most weight lifted. Shorter athletes are better at relative strenght and taller, larger athletes have the advantage in absolute strenght. If your looking for in depth info buy Vladimir M. Zatsiorsky's "Science and practice of strength training"

[Beelzebub]

true, but all that avoids ROM. the bench press guys over 6' tall don't necessarily have a large wingspan. to go extreme, let's take someone like shaq vs. glenihan. by your reasoning, it's the same. again, this is an extreme case but the point remains.

[Jstrong20]

Also from my personal build only about 2'' of the bench press is hard. I'm explosive off the chest but stall about 3/4 of the way through when the triceps take over. I'm not very tall at 5'10'' used to be 5'11' before heavy lifting.lol But still I'd think even if I was 3-4'' taller that 2'' wouldn't be stretched that much.

[Jstrong20]

Originally Posted by Beelzebub

true, but all that avoids ROM. the bench press guys over 6' tall don't necessarily have a large wingspan. to go extreme, let's take someone like shaq vs. glenihan. by your reasoning, it's the same. again, this is an extreme case but the point remains.

True someone like shaq may have a problem. I'd agree that extremes may cause a problem. I think the problem is when someone is shaqs height their width will never match their height. What I'm trying to say is they are usually severley disproprtioned. And it is true its more likely to see a short guy with a regular bone structure than it is to see a tall guy that has the bone structure that is proportionate to his height.

[xtraflossy]

Range of motion can also depend on the grip on the bar.

If both are benching basicly the same weight, I'd give it to the guy who weights 20lbs less.

-lol,.. and depending on how good the beer is, I'd even rub in the fact that a particular someone had a LOT more time to get their bench up