AFL players max bench

[loki04]

Bout 5 years ago these numbers were being bandied about.

Q.Lynch 176kg
F.Gherig 172kg
J.Brown 162kg*
N.Buckley 154kg

From pies 2009 pre season:

D.Swan 140kg
N.Brown 130kg

* Browns was 160+ cant remember exactly what though i think it was 162.

 

[Kong]

the world record is 1000pds plus...

Well there you go.

 

[Kong]

How is being able to lift 180-200kg whilst lying on a flat bench going to help you in a game?

Players are training to improve their strength in the upper body, primarily in the chest, shoulders and triceps; all of which are crucial to pushing an opponent out of a contest. A no-brainer, I would've thought.

The above comment always makes me laugh.

 

[RoosterGuy]

Players are training to improve their strength in the upper body, primarily in the chest, shoulders and triceps; all of which are crucial to pushing an opponent out of a contest. A no-brainer, I would've thought.

The above comment always makes me laugh.

What comment? Do you really think that you generate most of your power in pushing someone away whilst standing from just your chest, shoulders and arms, and how hard you can push someone is based on how heavy you can lift? Players are training to improve their explosive power not their strength especially in the situation you mentioned. An AFL player never has to produce just a singular maximal effort whilst playing, so why would they train for it? They need to be able to produce a much more rapid and higher power output than what is generated in a maximal bench press lift. Yes strength is important but if you cant contract the muscle quickly, well your strength is much less effective... a no brainer, I would've thought...

Your poor understand of sport specific and functional training makes me laugh.

 

[cptkirk]

ablett has the perfect squatting body

i'm not so sure that they hammer home th heavy squats in the afl though, a lot nervous system fatigue they don't need not to mention the spinal compression

 

[Lakey91]

Perhaps, but they only have a small window to break their PB; players often lose a bit of bulk during the season as the focus switches to recovery between games.

Excellent point. Through October, November, Decemeber and even into january most players would probably be going to the gym 3-4 times a week (particularly the young ones), but come christmas, its all about the running, which will see most players use a bit.

Ive got a mate who's right up there in drafting calculations, and in the off seasons he will get up to close to 90kgs, but then tone it back to mid 80s once the season gets into the swing of things.

 

[loki04]

What?!

You're kidding, aren't you? Most bodybuilders can lift around 180kg; I imagine a big 300lb powerlifter can lift a hell of a lot more.

My step father was an Australian Power lifting champion 110kg - 125kg div now retired, only came 18th in the world. Which is nb considering he is 6'2 (the best lifters are short due to having less distance to travel most are between 5'2- 5'10) doesn't have a coach (like Russians, Kiwi's, Hungarians, japan ie the rest of the world where the sport is a pro sport) and was only able to train for 2 days a week due to work.

here is his results in the 2001 IPF world mens open for those wanting an idea of what the worlds best lift in each div.

http://www.powerlifting-ipf.com/fileadmin/data/results/worlds/wormen01.htm

My step dads results:

18.Marini/Greg/62 114.7 (body weight) Australia 302.5 (Squat) 187.5 (bench) 290.0 (Deadlift) 780.0 (Overall) ... 453.57

He generally peaked to early for comps by a bout a week seen him lift 315 kg squat, 300 dead lift and 195 bench. All this at 40!

Being able to lift this would not help an AFL player in the slightest, got to have the right balance.

 

[PINNACLE HEALTH]

What?!

You're kidding, aren't you? Most bodybuilders can lift around 180kg; I imagine a big 300lb powerlifter can lift a hell of a lot more.

I never said body builders i said your average gym goer and moast body builders benching around 180 are juiced up and training chest alot more seriously than an AFL player yet their not much stronger.
In actual fact i know several experienced body builders that cycle on and off with the gear and they struggle to bench 150.

Also powerlifters when competing wear bench shirts which can help you lift 30% 0r more.

 

[J_Moore]

So basically all AFL players are on steroids.

 

[Fire Storm]

The Bench Press is the most over-rated lift for sports use.....ever. The Overhead Press is so much more valuable.

As Bill Starr said,"I'd rather have a 250lb Overhead Presser on my football team. He'll beat the 400lb Bench Presser everytime".

I'll guess he would know considereing how many atheletes and Pro footballers he's trained.

My brother asked a Storm player once about Bench Pressing. He said they focus a lot more on the Power Clean and Press. Pretty obvious.


A litte test. Go up to a wall standing straight in front. Go and push it with one hand. Hard. With your other, feel your pecs, tri's and delts.

Stand 90 degress and do it again. Feel which muscles are being used.


I've just done it. And doesnt matter the angle I used, not ONCE did my pecs come into play. My tricpes and delts sure did though.

The more standing exercises you do the better I reckon. And the Overhead Press is one of the best, if not the best for your upper body. Hit it hard and heavey a couple of times a week at least and you'll see impressive results in upper body strength.

Not ultra strict, but impressive nonetheless :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7erVblY7aiU&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlVOfqAgPaE&feature=related

 

[Kong]

I never said body builders i said your average gym goer and moast body builders benching around 180 are juiced up and training chest alot more seriously than an AFL player yet their not much stronger.

In actual fact i know several experienced body builders that cycle on and off with the gear and they struggle to bench 150.

You wrote "Professional power lifters dont [sic] bench as much or much more than some footy players and their [sic] on everything under the sun so you make your own mind up."

So I brought up bodybuilders, the only professionals in this group (bodybuilders, powerlifters, AFL players) that do not train for strength; rather they make it more difficult for themselves in order to fully work and stimulate the muscles.

If - keeping this in mind - they can comfortably lift more than AFL players, I was stating that I imagined powerlifters (who do not care for 'working the muscle' but rather (safely) throwing as much weights up as possible,) would lift a hell of a lot more. Turns out this is correct.

 

[RoosterGuy]

"How is doing bench press going to help an AFL player?"

Did you actually even read my comment???

How is being able to lift 180-200kg whilst lying on a flat bench going to help you in a game?

Both those comments are quite different from one another.

Im not saying bench press isn't an important exercise, but this discussion is based on why the coaches would not have them training to reach 180-200kg in a 1 RM exercise that has little to no evidence to show maximum bench press correlates to better sports performance.

"all of which are crucial" should've been bolded for you. You could have a tremendous amount of strength through the hips and core, yet if you don't have a strong upper body, you're hardly going to be able to push a defender out of a marking contest, or give a don't argue to an attempted tackler. You need strength in order to have power, do you not.

Yes of course you need strength in order to have power, but you are putting way to much emphasis on the amount of strength you need, and what the coaches priorities would be in improving a players performance.

When you give someone a don't argue is that with one hand or two? It's a one arm exercise, its not a two-armed movement that is dependent on the two arms working together.

Somebody like Daniel Kerr is renowned for his don't argues and feats of amazing strength on the field. A lot of it is through his ability to stick a tackle.

Daniel Kerr does have amazing strength which he mostly generates from his hips and core, just like most other athletes.

Yes, a bench press isn't the only thing required, but he sure as hell didn't get that strong through the upper body by neglecting one of the most important upper-body exercises.

Who said anything about neglecting upper-body exercises? Are we still talking about the purpose of training bench press to improve your 1RM?

I do have a great article somewhere by Mike Boyle talking about bench press and performance but cant seem to find it at the moment. Here is a short interview from another strength coach on bench pressing and they talk about how the bench press is certainly popular for the aesthetic and social reasons but it certainly isnt the be all and end all.
http://www.chicagopowerlifting.com/benchpress.html

Also a great example and response from FireStorm above as well

 

[Kong]

Obviously I misinterpreted your comment for stating that a high "lift" on the Bench Press is almost irrelevant to helping AFL performance.

As I said earlier, I've started a few threads on this and every time some ignorant little weed comes in making jokes, or saying "if only players could lay down and bench other players on the field". Needless to say it irritates me, so I probably saw what I wanted to and jumped the gun.

Apologies.

 

[kaydub]

A quote from Rippetoe's Starting Strength, a should-read for anyone taking strength training seriously in my opinion; discussing 1 reason to use the press for sports training vs. the bench press..

The Press, performed in rather strict fashion (although not so strict as a true Military Press) is the most useful upper-body exercise for sports conditioning. This is primarily because it is not just an upper-body exercise.

Except for powerlifting and swimming, all sports that require die use of upper body strength transmit that strength along a kinetic chain that starts at the ground. Any time an athlete pushes against an opponent, throws an implement, uses a racquet or club on a ball, or transmits force to an object, that force starts at the ground.

The kinetic chain - the parts of the body involved in the transmission of force from the places where it is generated to the places where it is applied - starts at the ground and ends at the bar in the hands when performing a press. The kinetic chain in a bench press, in contrast, begins at the point on the bench where the upper back interfaces with it, and ends at the bar in the hands.

 

[Belnakor]

Also powerlifters when competing wear bench shirts which can help you lift 30% 0r more.

WTF?

btw a guy i know was competing in the australia/asia champs in benchpress, your looking at 220kg+ to be competitive, apparently the difference between even 210 and 220 is absolutely huge. The top guys you are looking at the difference of 2-3 kgs tops.

 

[PINNACLE HEALTH]

WTF?

btw a guy i know was competing in the australia/asia champs in benchpress, your looking at 220kg+ to be competitive, apparently the difference between even 210 and 220 is absolutely huge. The top guys you are looking at the difference of 2-3 kgs tops.

Well,I know a guy who regulary competes and he pushes 200k, with a bench shirt he can push 230.

 

[loki04]

I never said body builders i said your average gym goer and moast body builders benching around 180 are juiced up and training chest alot more seriously than an AFL player yet their not much stronger.
In actual fact i know several experienced body builders that cycle on and off with the gear and they struggle to bench 150.

Also powerlifters when competing wear bench shirts which can help you lift 30% 0r more.

Lol no they don't, I have seen the old man bench 185 with no bench shirt it can help them get 5-10kg more on ave. They still have to have the strength in the 1st place it doesn't lift it for you.

The best lift is the squat it does the whole body.

You are right about the body builders.

 

[blues4flag]

Well,I know a guy who regulary competes and he pushes 200k, with a bench shirt he can push 230.

30kg is nowhere near a 30% increase.

 

[cptkirk]

don't forget you actually have to train in a suit to get the most out of a suit, not just pop one on and off you go...i've read journals where blokes get 100 - 150pds more with a shirt then raw...it's a completely different lift almost

as far as transferring goes, i'd have to agree that shoulder presses would have a better carry over then bench presses but who only does 1 lift for the upper body? no one and most do both of them anyway, they just focus on benches more

it's interesting to note that increasing your shoulder press will increase your bench but not other other way around