Push Press: Bench Press Ratio

Bigger Stronger Leaner Christian Thibaudeau Coaching
1

Hi Christian,

I recently reached a goal in the push press of 105kg at a BW of 85kg. Not impressive by any means, but a big goal for myself. However, my current bench 1RM is a similar weight. My question is:

  1. Is there a suggested ratio for push press to bench press?
  2. Should i drop the push press completely from my program and focus more on horizontal pressing to address this imbalance?

If anyone else has some advice it will be greatly appreciated

Many Thanks

2

[quote]Hull2012 wrote:
Hi Christian,

I recently reached a goal in the push press of 105kg at a BW of 85kg. Not impressive by any means, but a big goal for myself. However, my current bench 1RM is a similar weight. My question is:

  1. Is there a suggested ratio for push press to bench press?
  2. Should i drop the push press completely from my program and focus more on horizontal pressing to address this imbalance?

If anyone else has some advice it will be greatly appreciated

Many Thanks[/quote]

The thing is that the push press is not just about strength, but also about timing. And you are not only using the upper body pressing muscles, but also the legs. And depending on how much your legs participate and how strong they are, your push press could range anywhere between 70 to 110% of your bench press.

So it doesn’t indicate a glaring imbalance.

3

[quote]Hull2012 wrote:

If anyone else has some advice it will be greatly appreciated

[/quote]

Since you asked…

It seems that any “imbalance” works the other way: bench press is way ahead of overhead press or overhead anything. I recall a thread here once where guys were comparing their overhead to bench numbers and my strict overhead press was more than the strict press of guys who could bench way more than I could. I was always a good overhead presser and crappy bench presser, so I tended for focus on the overhead more. I also noticed that if I increased my overhead press, my bench increased without any benching, but the opposite was not the case - benching did nothing for my overhead.

I currently push press around 100-110% of my bench. Could even be more. It is by far my favorite lift - it’s really a total body lift.