How Long Should A 2 Plate Bench Take?

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#shorts

[MellonVegan]

I mean, I started with literally just the bar. Taking someone from just the bar to 100 kg in a year sounds ridiculously optimistic.

[Jason-wcfh]

Too many variables here to put a timeframe on this lift. Size? Age? genetics? health? Strength from other athletics prior to starting lifting? Are we training as a bench press specialist to improve this lift in particular? Or we doing an even amount of lifts across all muscles groups with OHP, deadlift, and squats still going up as well? I believe 6 months is achievable on a 16-24 year old average sized guy who is likely focusing more specifically on that lift... But again, what's the starting point from day 1? Some guys can't bench triple digits their first time lifting and I've seen others put up 200 lbs first time... So if a guy takes almost 6 months to improve his bench by 25 lbs, that's a far cry from the guy that might be a bit over 6 months who added 125 lbs to his bench.

[mikesmancave]

I was utter trash on bench. I've been training for almost 4 years and I only recently hit 125kg bench. My squat and deadlift were already 250 and 235.

[phongpham]

Trained 1.5 years now, started with 65lbs for 5 reps, 26 year old. I could now bench 185-195lbs for single @7-8 RPE. If I decided to peak I guess I could hit 225lbs but I see no point in doing it. First year I tried balls to the wall for almost all workout, no RPE at all and numbers stagnant. Now with a coach and focus on hitting my daily volume and rpe, my numbers go up every week and I don't feel like shit every 2-3 weeks anymore. Also, each workout is "easier" (still heavy but manageable)

[Enfiee]

Here’s how my first year went and what numbers I hit on SBD at the end of it. Could be insightful I guess if you’re on your way to your first plates as a newbie.

I went to the gym for the first time in 2020 and fucked around for a month before I realised it was fun to hit PR’s. Put up a goal of hitting 2/3/4 plates within a year since people on the internet said that’s possible. Why not aim high, challenge accepted! In Squat/Bench/Deadlift (SBD) terms that means 140/100/180kg.

After 12 months I maxed out all three lifts in the same day as planned and hit 180/95/210. Failed the bench goal, destroyed my squat and deadlift goals. Part of it is for sure genetic, but I also probably got lucky that my lower body programming was really on point, while my upper body training must have been subpar. Still not sure exactly how though, frequency was high on bench with an average of 3 times a week. My best guess is specificity was a bit to high for my upper body to grow optimally. Legs got strong from simply a lot of squatting and deadlifting. But I think more “bodybuilding” with some more dumbbells, cable flys and tricep pushdowns would have yielded a stronger result on bench.

That’s after 12 months of going to the gym, 11 months of those were serious training with good diet/good sleep and at least decent programming. Self taught with the help of Juggernaut and Empire Barbell. They have amazing info on programming for powerlifting, especially if you decide to go with a classic block periodisation style that I did.

I also want to add that my circumstances were pretty damn close to optimal. That means I had a sedentary job, good diet, good sleep, low stress from other factors in general. During the workouts I tracked every single set in an app and even rated the each set with an RPE (overkill, but it did help me get good at judging my effort level, it’s a habit now so still do it). Then I took the data from the app and added it to a spreadsheet on my PC where I could get an overview of my training and also plan the next coming weeks in terms of intensity and volume. Auto regulated the big lifts by using a lot of top sets followed by percentage back off sets based on the strength of the top set that day. So as you can see, I didn’t “wing” my workouts depending on what I felt like that day.

One last thing that I think helped massively compared to the average new gym goer was that I used to do long distance running at a rather high level as a youth and junior (5000m=16:12. 10000m=34:02). So I had a solid training background of knowing how to push my body to the limit, so not working hard enough in the gym or missing workouts because of laziness wasn’t an issue in my case.

Long post, but back when I was brand new I loved reading stuff like this so I knew what progress more regular people would get that aren’t famous with a following on social media. Important to remember that most of the stuff we see on here are the elite of the elite in terms of genetics and work ethic.

[ourtube]

I was 115 pounds 5’10 the first time I touched a barbell. I had long arms and no muscle. Took me a long time to work up to 135. I plateaued at 175-185 for about a year due to shoulder problems caused by a badly winged scapula. Glad to say I’m finally back on track to hitting 2 plates. Might get there in 6 months or less.

[steves]

Three plates on deadlift took me a few months. Two plates on bench took me almost one and a half year of dedicated training towards that goal. Started off with chronic injuries in my left elbow and right wrist though, that didn't allow me to even bench 40 kg before so I'm pretty happy with that achievement even though it's nothing to brag about relatively speaking. The injuries still linger there in the background but they don't bother me as much anymore now that there is some muscle power to counteract them.

[ingvaldk]

I had a bodybuilder correct my form about 6 months into my journey and am very grateful for it. I just hit two plates today and I'm 9 months in. Personally I don't see myself doing anything more than 265 before the year's over

[devindepass]

I was 14 and couldn't bench the bar when I started benching I feel like I got an exception🤣

[davifurtado]

One thing I learned in this life is to never take numbers on the internet too serious. I remember talking with a guy about squat numbers and I told him I could squat around 95kg after almost a year of training, then he told me that's very weak and he could squat more than 120kg with the same time of training; I said ok, I'm probably weak af, then I found out he was squatting parallel and I was squatting ATG. I was literally squatting 40cm more than him every single rep. And it's not like he is wrong in doing so, it's just that you can't compare, there are too many variables, every kg of weight I add to the bar is way more sensible in my lift than in his

Same goes for deadlifts, in my gym there are no 9 inches plates, so I'm deadlifting from a deficit, how on earth am I going to compare to those numbers?

Also, why are we only looking at bench, squat and deadlift? What about dips, pullups and OHP? Measuring your strenght from SBD is just too narrow, maybe your strongest muscle is your lats and you are all worried that you can't 2 plates bench meanwhile you can do twice as many pullups as that guy who can bench 2 plates

Just too many variables, don't get over your head if you can't bench 100kg after a year of training

[xlazydie]

i feel like this isn't really achievable for most people even with proper training. i was barely able to hit those numbers and i think i got pretty good genetics. 90kg with visible abs, so like 12-15% BF, slightly over 1.5 years of actual lifting (SBDs instead of cardio/isolation machines for a few months when i started fitness). i barely hit the 2/3/4 within a year of acutal lifting and id like to think my training has been pretty on point. watched alot of youtube to learn. and most of the people i followed ended up being pretty good information wise. sika strength, greg doucette, u, and a few others but i didn't end up following any1 who really turned out to be a complete sham.

my leverages looks pretty average. i've trained in a commercial gym with quite a few faces i've recognized my entire time there (so they've been there atleast almost 2 years now) and most of which looks like they're following a decent program and i dont see any of them progressed to the 2/3/4 goal.

imo its possible as a natural lifter but u'd have to b up there in genetics along with proper training. u can't use the average person on the football team as the average person; which iirc not many were even able to hit that at my HS way back in the senior year

think of the average. now ~ half of the people are below that

[Waruto]

2 plate bench was easier than i thought when I used the workout program from this youtube channel. I've modified it since then because I can no longer commit 6 days to the gym but if you go to this youtube channel and watch the video on Matt's program, I think 2 plates will come easier than you'd think. The key to bench press is really just volume and frequency. I used to do 5x5 stronglift and there would be some weeks where I'd only bench once a week and that got me no where.

[kyleholguin]

i started benching at like 40 pounds for 5 reps (i have a very weak chest), and i just recently hit 135 for 1 rep after about a solid 6 or so months of training only bench. i don't know how good or bad this is, but i'm still working on it

[footballover]

As someone who's not reached the 4321 standard just yet myself after a year of consistent lifting, I can attest to what Matt says here. I now know very well the mistakes I made, be it not eating enough, not starting light enough, adding too much weight each workout, not understanding the program's progression philospophy, hopping to a different program too often because I stalled too soon because of the aforementioned, etc.
I've now moved to 5/3/1 BBB I'm on my second cycle, I'm making slow and steady progress and reading books rather than reddit...

[mayssm]

Sounds like asking "How long does it take to walk to work?" "Um...where do you work? How tall are you? What is the weather? What kind of shoes do you have? What is your cardio? Are there hills? What about traffic and sidewalks?" Kind of a ridiculous question to ask.

[muziworldwide]

This is why short dudes get swole fast. He doesn’t have to push that bar up high at all. Less than a foot.

[itsmebd]

We all have different strengths and weaknesses. I have very long arms and my bench max is 92.5kg after a year of training. I never deadlifted but the first time I ever did I could do 125kg for 5 reps untrained (which i think is pretty good)

[maia]

Took me 9 months to TNG 225 at 160 BW and no coaching. It’s not that tricky if you’re not a bean pole and are in the gym 5 days a week. It requires a lot of effort but not a lot of time. If you’re huge coming into it like you’re 200+ lbs already it’ll be much faster than that.

[notatroll]

I started benching 4-6 times / week . Then my Bench jumped from 80kg to 140kg in a year .

[CheersDits]

20 years later and I’m still working on it 😆