“How a few years for a 225 bench?”
It’s a query most guys ask in some unspecified time in the future within the coaching journey.
Many assume it’s inevitable—keep on with the gymnasium for a number of months and shortly sufficient you’ll be “benching two plates.”
In actuality, that’s not the way it normally goes.
In accordance with a few of the most skilled coaches on the earth, the quickest you’ll be able to realistically hit 225 is a few yr. However for a lot of, it takes far longer—as much as three years or extra—relying on components like measurement, intercourse, and coaching expertise.
And even then, there’s a catch: You must practice critically. If you happen to simply undergo the motions, you may by no means get there.
For ladies, a 225 bench is even rarer. Exterior of elite-level powerlifting, it’s just about unparalleled.
So, how lengthy will it actually take to bench 225 for you? And what are you able to do to get there quicker? 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 practice critically. For ladies, 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), greater folks, and males have a bonus.
- Inexperienced persons progress rapidly at first and have a greater shot at reaching 225 in the event that they practice correctly from the beginning than those that’ve already been coaching for a number of years.
- To bench 225 as rapidly as attainable, practice with heavy weights, prioritize progressive overload, and bench a minimum of twice every week.
- Consuming sufficient energy and protein helps you get stronger, whereas reducing makes progress slower.
- To bench 315, you’ll seemingly have to press 225 for 7-to-8 reps first.
How Lengthy Does it Take to Bench 225?
It’s onerous to say how lengthy it takes to bench 225, because it will depend on components like your age, intercourse, and measurement. That mentioned, we are able to use the “energy requirements” set by skilled coaches to provide us a tough concept.
Powerlifting coach Tim Henriques believes most males who comply with a structured energy program can attain a “respectable” degree of energy—which incorporates becoming a member of “Membership 225”—inside 6-to-12 months:
Whereas I’ve coached tens of 1000’s of individuals, I don’t profess to have the identical depth of expertise as Henriques. Nonetheless, I believe his timeline is a little bit optimistic. Mark Rippetoe’s requirements, alternatively, appear extra lifelike.
He estimates most males can hit a 225 bench inside 1-to-3 years of great energy 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 people who do usually have distinctive genetics and years of devoted coaching. In my expertise, this holds true.
Taking all this into consideration, a good rule of thumb is that almost all males who practice critically ought to be capable to bench 225 inside 3 years. For ladies, it’s merely not a practical purpose for the overwhelming majority.
That mentioned, loads of components 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.
Measurement
Your measurement performs a serious position in how rapidly you’ll be able to bench press 225 kilos. Usually talking, greater folks get there quicker 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 with regards to vary of movement. In case you have a big torso, the bar doesn’t should 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 usually have a better time bench urgent 225 kilos than ladies as a result of they normally have extra muscle, particularly within the higher physique.
As an example, a 2021 examine printed within the Journal of Practical Morphology and Kinesiology discovered that skilled male weightlifters had been virtually 60% stronger on the bench press than their feminine counterparts, primarily as a result of they’d extra muscle within the chest and higher again.
Coaching Expertise
Coaching expertise is one other key consider how lengthy it takes to bench 225 kilos. If you happen to’re new to weightlifting, you’re in luck—newcomers normally acquire energy rapidly, principally as a result of your mind learns to make use of your muscle tissues extra effectively if you begin lifting weights.
That makes closing the hole to 225 simpler within the early levels, particularly in case your coaching focuses on boosting bench press energy (extra on the specifics quickly).
If you happen to’ve been coaching for a number of years and nonetheless haven’t benched 225, you’ll have to work more durable to achieve your purpose. 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 achieve muscle and energy.
Coaching Program
The kind of program you comply with enormously influences how rapidly you’ll be able to bench 225 kilos.
For instance, a routine focussed on lifting heavy weights for low reps and getting progressively stronger over time will allow you to bench 225 quicker 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 instances per week will seemingly allow you to attain 225 quicker than one which solely contains it as soon as every week.
Anatomy
Your anatomy influences how lengthy it takes to bench 225 in two fundamental methods:
- Arm Size: Having shorter arms makes the bench press simpler as a result of it shortens the gap you must 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 tissues 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 they’d the identical quantity of muscle mass.
Age
Many individuals suppose in case you don’t hit a 225 bench in your mid-20s, you by no means will. However knowledge from powerlifting suggests in any other case—most individuals’s energy peaks between the ages of 25 and 40.
Meaning there’s a big window of alternative to achieve a 225 bench.
If you happen to’re older than this, your strongest days are seemingly behind you, however that doesn’t imply a two-plate bench is unachievable. Offered you practice and recuperate intelligently, you’ll be able to nonetheless construct the energy to bench 225—it simply might take a little bit longer than it could have if you had been youthful.
Food plan
Consuming in a “calorie deficit” (consuming fewer energy than you burn) makes gaining energy tougher for a few causes:
- You are inclined to have much less power when “reducing,” which makes it more durable to push your self in your exercises.
- To achieve energy successfully, your physique wants ample power to restore and construct muscle. Once 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 is best to eat in a method that drives muscle progress and energy acquire (once more, extra on the specifics quickly).
The right way to Bench 225
You want a transparent plan if you wish to bench 225. Right here’s what works greatest:
Enhance Method
Fixing your method is the quickest solution to attain a 225 bench. If you happen to don’t bench appropriately, nothing else on this article will matter.
Right here’s the whole lot you should 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, retaining 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 if you put the whole lot collectively:
READ MORE: The Definitive Information to Correct Bench Press Kind
Prepare for Energy
To bench 225 kilos for the primary time, you should practice particularly for energy. Constructing muscle helps, however energy is very particular—you must 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, practice within the 1-to-3 rep vary with 90-to-95% of your one-rep max to develop the top-end energy wanted to achieve your purpose.
At all times finish these heavier units with a minimum of 1-to-2 reps within the tank. You don’t need to be grinding out all-out max makes an attempt—the thought is to construct maximal energy safely and successfully whereas reinforcing good method.
So, for instance, in case you bench press 3 times weekly, you possibly can bench within the 4-to-6 rep vary on Monday and Wednesday, then within the 1-to-3 rep vary on Friday.
Deal with Progressive Overload
Progressive overload refers back to the course of of creating 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 solution to implement progressive overload is to raise heavier weights over time. The best method 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 example, 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. If you happen to handle 3 or fewer reps with the brand new weight, cut back the burden by 5 kilos to make sure you keep within the 4-to-6 rep vary.
Observe this sample of attempting so as to add reps or weight in each exercise.
Prioritize the Bench Press
You carry out greatest on the workout routines you do earliest in your exercises if 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 should 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, in case you presently bench twice weekly, enhance your frequency to a few instances weekly.
Take a look at Your One-Rep Max Each 12 Weeks
A bench press one-rep max is the utmost quantity of weight you’ll be able to press for a single repetition via a full vary of movement with correct method.
To check your bench press one-rep max, you step by step enhance the burden on the bar over a number of units till you attain the heaviest load you’ll be able to raise for a single rep with correct type.
Monitoring your bench press one-rep max is helpful as a result of it offers you a transparent, goal measure of how your energy is altering over time. With the assistance of a one-rep max calculator, it may well additionally make sure you’re utilizing appropriately heavy weights in your coaching.
READ MORE: The Finest One-Rep Max Calculator for Any Train
Often testing your one-max is an effective way to trace your progress. Testing it too typically, nonetheless, can depart you worn out and enhance damage threat, each of which might negatively impression your common coaching.
Thus, a superb rule of thumb is to check your bench press one-rep max each 12 weeks.
This cadence offers you adequate 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 precise variety of reps at 225 ensures you’ll be capable to bench press 315 kilos. Nonetheless, as a basic rule, in case you can bench 225 for 7-to-8 reps with good type, you’ll be able to in all probability do a minimum of one rep at 315.
FAQ #1: Is benching 2 plates good?
It relies upon. For instance, in case you’re a 170-pound man who’s simply began lifting weights, a bench press of 225 kilos can be glorious. If, nonetheless, you weigh 240 kilos and also you’ve been lifting for 5 years or extra, a 225 bench can be fairly underwhelming.
FAQ #2: How many ladies can bench 225?
Benching 225 kilos is a uncommon feat for a girl, because it requires loads of higher physique energy and muscle mass. Whereas some elite feminine powerlifters and athletes can obtain this, it’s far past what most girls can bench press, even with years of devoted coaching.
FAQ #3: How a lot is a 225 bench on the Smith machine?
If you happen to can bench 225 kilos with a barbell, you’ll seemingly be capable to raise 10-to-20% extra on a Smith machine—round 250-to-270 kilos.
You may raise extra as a result of the machine helps you stability and management the burden, so the small, stabilizer muscle tissues all through your physique don’t should work as onerous, 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 Energy and Energy Performances.” Journal of Practical 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 Elements versus Hypertrophy within the Time Course of Muscle Energy Acquire.” American Journal of Bodily Medication, vol. 58, no. 3, 2024, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/453338. Accessed 4 Mar. 2025.
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- Delp, Scott L, and William F Maloney. Results of Hip Heart Location on the Second-Producing Capability of the Muscle mass. Vol. 26, no. 4-5, 1 Apr. 1993, pp. 485–99, https://doi.org/10.1016/0021-9290(93)90011-3. Accessed 17 Might 2023.
- 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 Might 2020.
- Simão, Roberto, et al. “Affect of Train Order on Most Energy and Muscle Thickness in Untrained Males.” Journal of Sports activities Science & Medication, vol. 9, no. 1, 2010, pp. 1–7, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24149379/.
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