“How a few years for a 225 bench?”
It’s a query most guys ask sooner or later within the coaching journey.
Many assume it’s inevitable—stick to the gymnasium for a number of months and shortly sufficient you’ll be “benching two plates.”
In actuality, that’s not the way it often goes.
In line with a number of the most skilled coaches on this planet, the quickest you may realistically hit 225 is a few 12 months. However for a lot of, it takes far longer—as much as three years or extra—relying on elements like measurement, intercourse, and coaching expertise.
And even then, there’s a catch: You need to prepare critically. When you simply undergo the motions, you would possibly by no means get there.
For girls, a 225 bench is even rarer. Exterior of elite-level powerlifting, it’s just about exceptional.
So, how lengthy will it actually take to bench 225 for you? And what are you able to do to get there sooner? Get evidence-based solutions to those questions and extra on this article.
Key Takeaways
- Most males can hit a 225 bench in 1-to-3 years in the event that they prepare critically. For girls, it’s extraordinarily uncommon.
- Age, measurement, intercourse, coaching historical past, and anatomy have an effect on how lengthy it takes to bench 225. Youthful weightlifters (25-to-40), larger folks, and males have a bonus.
- Inexperienced persons progress shortly at first and have a greater shot at reaching 225 in the event that they prepare correctly from the beginning than those that’ve already been coaching for a number of years.
- To bench 225 as shortly as doable, prepare with heavy weights, prioritize progressive overload, and bench a minimum of twice per week.
- Consuming sufficient energy and protein helps you get stronger, whereas chopping makes progress slower.
- To bench 315, you’ll doubtless must press 225 for 7-to-8 reps first.
How Lengthy Does it Take to Bench 225?
It’s laborious to say how lengthy it takes to bench 225, because it relies on elements like your age, intercourse, and measurement. That stated, we will use the “power requirements” set by skilled coaches to present us a tough thought.
Powerlifting coach Tim Henriques believes most males who comply with a structured power program can attain a “respectable” degree of power—which incorporates becoming a member of “Membership 225”—inside 6-to-12 months:
Whereas I’ve coached tens of hundreds of individuals, I don’t profess to have the identical depth of expertise as Henriques. Nonetheless, I believe his timeline is a bit of optimistic. Mark Rippetoe’s requirements, however, appear extra reasonable.
He estimates most males can hit a 225 bench inside 1-to-3 years of significant power coaching:
Within the eyes of each coaches, a 225 bench is extraordinarily uncommon for girls. Exterior of elite feminine powerlifting, solely a handful ever attain this milestone, and those that do sometimes have distinctive genetics and years of devoted coaching. In my expertise, this holds true.
Taking all this under consideration, a good rule of thumb is that almost all males who prepare critically ought to have the ability to bench 225 inside 3 years. For girls, it’s merely not a sensible objective for the overwhelming majority.
That stated, loads of elements could make hitting a 225 bench simpler or more durable. Let’s break down the largest ones and the way they have an effect on your progress.
Dimension
Your measurement performs a significant position in how shortly you may bench press 225 kilos. Usually talking, larger folks get there sooner as a result of they’ve extra muscle, which helps them generate extra drive and raise heavier weights.
Bigger folks typically even have a bonus in the case of vary of movement. When you have a big torso, the bar doesn’t need to journey as far to the touch your chest, so that you’re doing much less work per rep than somebody with a smaller torso who has to decrease and press the bar additional.
Intercourse
Males sometimes have a better time bench urgent 225 kilos than girls as a result of they often have extra muscle, particularly within the higher physique.
As an illustration, a 2021 examine revealed within the Journal of Purposeful Morphology and Kinesiology discovered that skilled male weightlifters have been nearly 60% stronger on the bench press than their feminine counterparts, primarily as a result of that they had extra muscle within the chest and higher again.
Coaching Expertise
Coaching expertise is one other key think about how lengthy it takes to bench 225 kilos. When you’re new to weightlifting, you’re in luck—learners often acquire power shortly, largely as a result of your mind learns to make use of your muscle mass extra effectively while you begin lifting weights.
That makes closing the hole to 225 simpler within the early phases, particularly in case your coaching focuses on boosting bench press power (extra on the specifics quickly).
When you’ve been coaching for a number of years and nonetheless haven’t benched 225, you could have to work more durable to achieve your objective. That’s as a result of the extra skilled you’re, the much less responsive your physique turns into to coaching, and the more durable it’s to realize muscle and power.
Coaching Program
The kind of program you comply with vastly influences how shortly you may bench 225 kilos.
For instance, a routine focussed on lifting heavy weights for low reps and getting progressively stronger over time will show you how to bench 225 sooner than a program based mostly on high-rep “pump” coaching.
One other key issue is bench press frequency. A routine that has you benching 2-to-3 occasions per week will doubtless show you how to attain 225 sooner than one which solely consists of it as soon as per week.
Anatomy
Your anatomy influences how lengthy it takes to bench 225 in two important methods:
- Arm Size: Having shorter arms makes the bench press simpler as a result of it shortens the gap it’s a must to decrease and press the bar, so every rep requires much less work.
- Tendon Attachments: How your tendons connect to your bones impacts leverage. In case your tendons connect farther from a joint, your muscle mass can produce extra drive, making it simpler to raise heavier weights.
Thanks to those small anatomical variations, one particular person may raise 25% greater than one other even when that they had the identical quantity of muscle mass.
Age
Many individuals suppose when you don’t hit a 225 bench in your mid-20s, you by no means will. However information from powerlifting suggests in any other case—most individuals’s power peaks between the ages of 25 and 40.
Which means there’s a big window of alternative to achieve a 225 bench.
When you’re older than this, your strongest days are doubtless behind you, however that doesn’t imply a two-plate bench is unachievable. Supplied you prepare and get well intelligently, you may nonetheless construct the power to bench 225—it simply might take a bit of longer than it will have while you have been youthful.
Food regimen
Consuming in a “calorie deficit” (consuming fewer energy than you burn) makes gaining power tougher for a few causes:
- You are inclined to have much less power when “chopping,” which makes it more durable to push your self in your exercises.
- To achieve power successfully, your physique wants adequate power to restore and construct muscle. While you’re in a calorie deficit, your physique has much less gas obtainable to help these processes, making it more durable to get stronger.
Thus, to maximise your odds of benching 225, it’s best to eat in a manner that drives muscle progress and power acquire (once more, extra on the specifics quickly).
Find out how to Bench 225
You want a transparent plan if you wish to bench 225. Right here’s what works finest:
Enhance Approach
Fixing your approach is the quickest approach to attain a 225 bench. When you don’t bench appropriately, nothing else on this article will matter.
Right here’s every thing you’ll want to know:
- Lie on a flat bench and place your ft flat on the ground.
- Pull your shoulder blades collectively and down, and with out lifting your butt or shoulders off the bench, barely arch your again.
- Seize the bar with a pronated grip (palms going through your ft) barely wider than shoulder-width aside and unrack the barbell.
- Decrease the barbell to your chest, conserving your elbows tucked 6-to-10 inches out of your sides.
- Press the bar again to the beginning place.
Right here’s the way it ought to look while you put every thing collectively:
READ MORE: The Definitive Information to Correct Bench Press Kind
Prepare for Power
To bench 225 kilos for the primary time, you’ll want to prepare particularly for power. Constructing muscle helps, however power is very particular—it’s a must to apply lifting heavy weights.
Spend about two-thirds of your bench press coaching within the 4-to-6-rep vary with 75-to-85% of your one-rep max.
For the remaining third, prepare within the 1-to-3 rep vary with 90-to-95% of your one-rep max to develop the top-end power wanted to achieve your objective.
At all times finish these heavier units with a minimum of 1-to-2 reps within the tank. You don’t wish to be grinding out all-out max makes an attempt—the concept is to construct maximal power safely and successfully whereas reinforcing good approach.
So, for instance, when you bench press 3 times weekly, you may bench within the 4-to-6 rep vary on Monday and Wednesday, then within the 1-to-3 rep vary on Friday.
Concentrate on Progressive Overload
Progressive overload refers back to the course of of constructing your bench press exercises progressively tougher. It’s paramount as a result of it maximizes the muscle- and strength-building results of weightlifting.
The first approach to implement progressive overload is to raise heavier weights over time. The simplest manner to do that is utilizing double development—a technique for rising your weights solely when you hit the highest of your rep vary for a sure variety of units (typically one).
As an illustration, in case your bench press exercise requires 4-to-6 reps of the bench press and also you get 6 reps for a set, add 10 kilos to your subsequent set. When you handle 3 or fewer reps with the brand new weight, scale back the load by 5 kilos to make sure you keep within the 4-to-6 rep vary.
Comply with this sample of making an attempt so as to add reps or weight in each exercise.
Prioritize the Bench Press
You carry out finest on the workouts you do earliest in your exercises while you’re bodily and mentally recent. Thus, if you wish to enhance your bench press numbers, begin your chest, push, or upper-body exercises with the bench press.
To get stronger on the bench press, you additionally need to apply it typically.
So, if you wish to enhance your bench press however presently solely bench as soon as weekly, begin benching twice per week. Likewise, when you presently bench twice weekly, improve your frequency to 3 occasions weekly.
Check Your One-Rep Max Each 12 Weeks
A bench press one-rep max is the utmost quantity of weight you may press for a single repetition via a full vary of movement with correct approach.
To check your bench press one-rep max, you regularly improve the load on the bar over a number of units till you attain the heaviest load you may raise for a single rep with correct kind.
Monitoring your bench press one-rep max is helpful as a result of it provides you a transparent, goal measure of how your power is altering over time. With the assistance of a one-rep max calculator, it will probably additionally make sure you’re utilizing appropriately heavy weights in your coaching.
READ MORE: The Finest One-Rep Max Calculator for Any Train
Sometimes testing your one-max is an effective way to trace your progress. Testing it too typically, nevertheless, can go away you worn out and improve damage danger, each of which might negatively affect your common coaching.
Thus, a very good rule of thumb is to check your bench press one-rep max each 12 weeks.
This cadence provides you sufficient time to make significant progress earlier than reassessing, helps you keep away from burnout, and reduces the danger of damage from doing too many max-effort makes an attempt.
READ MORE: What Is a One-Rep Max and How Do You Discover Yours?
Past Benching 225: How Many Reps of 225 to Bench 315?
No actual variety of reps at 225 ensures you’ll have the ability to bench press 315 kilos. Nevertheless, as a basic rule, when you can bench 225 for 7-to-8 reps with good kind, you may in all probability do a minimum of one rep at 315.
FAQ #1: Is benching 2 plates good?
It relies upon. For instance, when you’re a 170-pound man who’s simply began lifting weights, a bench press of 225 kilos could be wonderful. If, nevertheless, you weigh 240 kilos and also you’ve been lifting for 5 years or extra, a 225 bench could be fairly underwhelming.
FAQ #2: How many ladies can bench 225?
Benching 225 kilos is a uncommon feat for a lady, because it requires loads of higher physique power and muscle mass. Whereas some elite feminine powerlifters and athletes can obtain this, it’s far past what most ladies can bench press, even with years of devoted coaching.
FAQ #3: How a lot is a 225 bench on the Smith machine?
When you can bench 225 kilos with a barbell, you’ll doubtless have the ability to raise 10-to-20% extra on a Smith machine—round 250-to-270 kilos.
You’ll be able to raise extra as a result of the machine helps you steadiness and management the load, so the small, stabilizer muscle mass all through your physique don’t need to work as laborious, which makes the train barely simpler than the free-weight model.
READ MORE: Ought to You Bench Press with a Smith Machine or a Barbell?
Scientific References +
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- Bartolomei, Sandro, et al. “A Comparability between Male and Feminine Athletes in Relative Power and Energy Performances.” Journal of Purposeful Morphology and Kinesiology, vol. 6, no. 1, 9 Feb. 2021, p. 17, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7930971/, https://doi.org/10.3390/jfmk6010017.
- HA, Moritani T;deVries. “Neural Components versus Hypertrophy within the Time Course of Muscle Power Achieve.” American Journal of Bodily Drugs, vol. 58, no. 3, 2024, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/453338. Accessed 4 Mar. 2025.
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- Trezise, J., et al. “Anatomical and Neuromuscular Variables Strongly Predict Most Knee Extension Torque in Wholesome Males.” European Journal of Utilized Physiology, vol. 116, no. 6, 13 Apr. 2016, pp. 1159–1177, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-016-3352-8. Accessed 20 Aug. 2020.
- Romano, Nuno, et al. “Results of Resistance Train Order on the Variety of Repetitions Carried out to Failure and Perceived Exertion in Untrained Younger Males.” Journal of Human Kinetics, vol. 39, no. 1, 1 Dec. 2013, pp. 177–183, https://doi.org/10.2478/hukin-2013-0080. Accessed 29 Could 2020.
- Simão, Roberto, et al. “Affect of Train Order on Most Power and Muscle Thickness in Untrained Males.” Journal of Sports activities Science & Drugs, vol. 9, no. 1, 2010, pp. 1–7, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24149379/.
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