Bench press calculators are becoming an interesting tool in weight lifting. Several bench press calculators are now available online that will allow a person to calculate what their maximum bench press might be. I have to use the word "might" here, because the bench press calculator is really only guessing at a number, and while there may be logic behind the equation, its not close to being a perfect science. Still, the use of a bench press calculator can be a fun way to figure out what your maximum bench press might turn out to be if you put in the work to improve your daily repetitions on the bench press.
The way that these bench press calculators work is that they take your weight and the number of repetitions that you can do in one sitting, and work with those numbers to create a raw number. This new raw number is then called the maximum bench press, or more clearly, the most weight that you could then life in a single repetition on the bench press. On paper it is an interesting concept, where someone can lift weights to their hearts content, and then go to the bench press calculator to see what their max rep might be if they really wanted to try the heaviest weight that they could lift. Put into practice though, the results may vary from person to person.
As an example of how one of the bench press calculators works, let's take a look at the Muscle and Strength bench press max calculator on their web-site. First you enter the weight and then the number of reps you can do at that weight to get your raw number. For instance, if a person uses a weight of 250 pounds, and can do 5 reps, their max bench is calculated to be 291.75 pounds. That translates to that lifter being able to bench just over 291 pound if they were just doing one rep. If a person uses 200 pounds of weight and can do 10 reps, then it translates to a max bench of 266 pounds in one rep. So as you can see, it is an interesting tool, but it isn't one of those calculators that you would necessarily hang your hat on as being fact.
Just because a person can only do 10 reps on 200 pounds doesn't mean they can't lift more than 300 pounds, and likewise just because they can do 200, it does not mean that they could do more than 225 pounds in one lift. When it comes to bench press calculators there is always going to be a variance when it comes to lifting, and that is an important item to keep in mind if you want to give the bench press calculators a try. Keeping in mind that they give you a ballpark figure, they could prove to be quite useful, but don't just assume that you can lift that much weight just because the calculator says you can. Slowly increase your weight in a safe manner, and then the bench press calculator will serve you better.
Sources:
Muscle and Strength bench press calculator
Bench-Press Net bench press calculator
references:
weight bench
Weight Benches