Free Weight Bench Press Muscular Fitness Normative Data for Adults Aged 20-29 Years

Abstract

The only available norms for the bench press muscular fitness tests for the general population are the norms developed by the Cooper Institute. These norms were developed using the Universal Gym DVR bench press equipment, which makes these values not directly applicable to free weight bench press. PURPOSE: The free weight bench press test is one of the most convenient tests used to evaluate muscular fitness and the effectiveness of resistance training programs for a variety of sports. However, its use and interpretation as an evaluative measurement for health-related physical fitness tests are limited because there are few published reference values derived for the general population. Therefore, the aims of the present study were to generate normative values for free weight bench press 1 repetition maximal (RM) and 4 sets of 65% of 1RM training volume (total repetitions × resistance) for 20- to 29-year-olds for men and women. METHODS: We recruited healthy 606 subjects for this study. 351 males (mean±SD, age=23 ± 2 yr, height= 177±7cm, body mass=83±16kg) and 255 females (age=23±3 yr, height=167±6cm, body mass=67±11.3kg) aged 20 to 29 years from different universities comprised the subject pool. Data collected from the bench press test included absolute (1RM) and relative (the ratio of 1RM to body weight) strength, and the total repetitions and absolute and relative total volumes of the 1st set and 4 sets of 65% of 1 RM bench press test with 30 second rest periods between sets. Percentile norms and descriptive statistics were generated. RESULTS: Table 1 reports the %tile rank values for the bench press exercise for men and women. CONCLUSIONS: Our results provide, for the first time, reference standards for the general population aged 20 to 29 years sex-and age-specific free weight bench press 1RM and training volumes of the 4 sets of 65% of bench press test with 30 second rest periods between sets.Table 1: %tile rank for bench press muscular fitness for men and women