So at some point in the training game someone threw out the idea that a 300 pound bench, 400 pound squat and 500 pound deadlift would get most people fairly close to their genetic maximum in terms of muscle mass. And while I can’t say who came up with this initially, I do know that Stuart McRobert of Hardgainer magazine certainly popularized it.
But whenever these values are thrown around, a number of questions tend to come up. The first is that in powerlifting competition, it’s not uncommon to see people squat more than they deadlift. Or, well, it was at one point. Which I’ll come back to. Of course everybody knows someone at their gym who benches more than they squat or deadlift but that’s a separate issue. There are also a couple of dumb strawman argument ideas that show up.
What’s going on? Let’s find out.
Defining the Specifics
So the idea here is that if the general trainee is able to get their bench press to 300 lbs, their squat to 400 lbs and their deadlift to 500 lbs, that will likely take them close to or to their genetic potential for muscle mass.… Keep Reading