Actuaries Who Can Bench Press

[Anonymous]

Any actuaries out there who lift weights?

If yes, what is your maximum bench press?

Mine is 235 pounds.

[Crystal Dragon.]

2 cases of pencils and a calculator!

[Maine-iac]

IASA - Property and Casualty Insurance Accounting (Seventh Edition)

[ne11er]

"Do you know where the weight room is?...I'll check it out."

Hmmm...if I actually go to the weight room, I can barely do the bench press bar - what is that? 40 pounds?

Other than that...the bottle of mountain dew sitting on my desk.

[Nanae7]

I work out and stuff. But I'm a girl, so I don't try to see how much I can bench press because I don't want to end up looking like a guy. My strength is my legs. I can probably leg press more than a good bit of guys can.

[Ammie]

I wonder how much my suitcase weighs? :razz:

[Magilla]

I suffered a trap strain when I tried to clean and jerk my HP 12C...

I'm impressed that you can bench press 235 lbs. Are you trying to compensate for something perhaps?

:lol:

[Troy McClure]

On 2002-01-14 13:51, Ammie wrote:
I wonder how much my suitcase weighs? :razz:


Rumour is: A lot more than on the way home than it did on the way to Chicago.

[Ammie]

:lol:

[aNoNo]

280 pounds legal bench lift in a contest

Yo - Greyspring - good job on coordinating the complaints on the C5 Preliminary Answer Key for Multiple Choice. I squeaked by with a 6 - and picked up 4 more correct multiple choice questions on the Final Answer Key.



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: aNoNo on 2002-01-14 14:15 ]</font>

[Anonymous]

aNoNo-

I am glad the SOA came around to our way of thinking on those questions.

What bench press competition did you enter? Was it for actuaries only? LOL

[Actuary321]

I don't workout but was at a party last month at my brother's rich friend's house and they had an exercise room with weight machines. My nephew wanted to see if he could out lift me on the incline bench. I topped out at 265 lbs. he didn't make 200. Freebar, the last time I lifted that was was 20 years ago in HS and I topped out at 225.

On 2002-01-14 13:55, Magilla wrote:
I'm impressed that you can bench press 235 lbs. Are you trying to compensate for something perhaps?

:lol:


Yes, my inability to pass actuarial exams. :smile:

[Dr T Non-Fan]

My upper body is pretty poor, and I accept the "No Pain, No Gain" mantra. I don't want to be sore every other day for the purpose of increasing my single-bench-press amount.
Benching one's own weight is the the standard, right. I'm working on that, starting with losing weight.

[Oh Yeah]

Here are some standard womens and mens levels.

http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/strengthtests.html

Hope the link works.

[Dr T Non-Fan]

OK, I think a faster way to a score of "good" would be to become female.

This is a great link, OY. I shall favoritize it forthwith.
And the best part is, since I'm not an athlete, I don't have to take any of the advice!

[Ranger]

I can bench 310.
I'm a forty year old FSA.
Take care of your body, you only get one, and it only gets harder to stay in shape the older you get.

[burton leon reynolds]

On 2002-01-14 17:14, Ranger wrote:
I can bench 310.
I'm a forty year old FSA.
Take care of your body, you only get one, and it only gets harder to stay in shape the older you get.


That is good stuff.

I have not maxed out in a while, but I could do 280, 5 times before a shoulder injury three months ago. Right now I would be lucky to push 250 if my life depended on it.
__________________________
God will not give you anymore than you can handle at one time...unless of course you die from it.

[Grits N Gravy]

I'd be lucky to get 200 nowadays, but I managed 250 when I was 15. I just don't have the desire to get to the gym regularly anymore (at least not 5 days a week like back then).

[Ranger]

I know it can be discouraging to see your max go down. But the good news is you're still working out and exercising.
I truly feel sorry for the poor fools who joke about their only exercise is lifting pencils and suitcases. Regular exercise, whether it be cardio, strength training, or hopefully a mix of both, is a requirement for good physical and mental health. It shouldn't be joked about, instead it should be a regular part of your life. Spend some time working out your body, and see how it helps you on exams.

[The Drunken Actuary]

I work out a few times a week. I try to do a mix of cardio and resistance training. Anyway, I think my max bench press for 1 rep is 185. Which I guess is ok since I weigh less than that. I do want to get to 200 though. Any advice? Maybe dumbells?

[Me]

According to that link provided, I was closer to excellent than to very good on bench press. That is, before a recent medical condition. Maybe I'll be back to that by the end of the year.

I don't really do lower body much.

[Patience]

At the gym I go to you can't find a traditional bench and free weights. There is a Smith machine where the bar rides a track.

I assume this would be easier.

When I lift (twice a week, 3 days cardio, 2 days playing with kids and working around the house)

I go light, 75-80% of what I would normally rep, and slow, 14 sec rep, controlled both up & down. Keep working until muscle exhaustion and then hold a little bit for isometric at the end. 1 set per machine.

I actually never thought of loading up the machine for 1 rep just to see what I could do.

As for the sit up in the link, I didn't realize anyone did a full up to their knees sit anymore. Is there any benefit beyond just a short crunch? alot less strain on my back & neck

lastly, does anyone else use the phrase "press up", I always heard "push up" is there a difference? I also assume the last line is a typo, they are talking about the women press ups not sit ups.

[Grits N Gravy]

On 2002-01-14 15:17, Oh Yeah wrote:
Here are some standard womens and mens levels.

http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/strengthtests.html

Hope the link works.


Interesting website. The procedure seems a bit odd though. If I guessed I could bench press 200lbs (and actually could), I'd do reps at 160, 165, 170, 175, 180, 185, 190, 195 and finally 200. With the 10 min warmup and 5 minutes in between attempt, that would take me almost an hour. Good thing I can't do 300, it would take all day. Also, if someone was planning on checking out their leg press vs. the chart, it might be good to note that it is an excercise that is very sensitive to range of motion. If you only move the weight 6 inches (don't laugh, I see it all the time), you may not want to get too excited if you score way above "excellent".

[Actuary321]

Someone's post referring to my earlier post was deleted. Was that by a Moderator or by the poster?

[Dr T Non-Fan]

TDA, I don't think too many dumbbells will provide advice. But since I qualify:
1. Yes, a different mix of exercises will expand a muscle in different areas, which might increase your 1-rep BP. Work to increase your 1-rep dumbbell BP. Work triceps and shoulders as well. Incline, decline BPs, too.
2. Go under your car (on your back), and try to pick it up. Mostly isometric, and I just want to know if you'd actually do it.

But, I don't consider this quantified feat something to brag about. I'm in a fat-burning stage of my life. (Just planning it, though.)

[The Drunken Actuary]

One sounds like good advice. I;ll have to work up to #2. Anyway, the problem I have with doing bench presses with dumbells is getting the dunmbells into position to do the excercise. So I end up not using as much weight as I would like to and probably not getting the benefit I should.

[Jack]

What's the big deal about the bench press. Every time I bench press on a regular basis I end up hurting my shoulder so I've given in up.

Now I do dips w/ 20lbs between my legs, bicep curls, pushups, tricep thing on the universal (don't know what it's called), seated row, and squat w/ relatively low weight.

I've got a question to you muscle heads. How can I build up my shoulders w/o doing the military press?

[OT]

On 2002-01-14 13:48, Nanae7 wrote:
I work out and stuff. But I'm a girl, so I don't try to see how much I can bench press because I don't want to end up looking like a guy. My strength is my legs. I can probably leg press more than a good bit of guys can.


A friendly FYI ....
Girls acquiring the muscularity of guys takes a whole lot of work. For those women who do acquire a “man’s” level of muscularity, steroids use -- or at least highly controversial growth hormone boosters (Mark McGuire used “Andro”, which is banned by the NBA, NFL, Olympics, NHL, etc., but not in baseball) -- is almost guaranteed. Ever see those fitness competitors. They spend a lot of time lifting weights and all they achieve is mostly muscle tone. My wife, sister and mom have been rigorously lifting weights for years only to acquire some muscle tone. Just look at males – who develop muscularity much faster than females due to different hormones. It takes even them a whole lot of work to acquire muscle. I just mention this because weight-bearing exercise is very good for females especially with the risk of osteoporosis (weight lifting is the best, most effective and efficient weight-bearing exercise for bone density), which is why my wife, sister and mom have taken to weightlifting. But still if there is concern for females getting too muscular, then go high reps, like above 15. Even guys don’t acquire much muscularity when higher reps are used. I heard that with reps above 12 you get a really good blend of cardio and weight-bearing exercise.

FYI: swimming and cycling are not very good weight bearing exercises.

I heard that rotor-cuff exercises are great for bench pressing and avoiding injuries. Anyone know any? Fitnadoodis, just curious how did you hurt your shoulder and what kind of rehab exercises, if any, do you know of?

Great health to you all.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: OT on 2002-01-19 22:22 ]</font>

[Nanae7]

OT,

I do know that it takes a lot more for females to "bulk up". I played college softball and so I have been working out off and on for the past 5 years. I know personally that when I was working out hard for ball that my shoulders would start getting bigger quicker than other things which makes my clothes not fit too well. I do agree with you about muscle tone though. The rest of me tones up and doesn't really bulk up. Currently, I'm doing more reps. Thanks for the info, though.

[Miguel on the Beach]

How much I bench can vary greatly during the course of a year, though I never do 1 rep max presses anymore - they are way too hard hard on your tendons, and aren't necessary to build muscle. I damaged some tendons in my elbows about 6 years ago when I was doing a lot of heavy singles and lifting a lot.

Mainly I do a bodybuilding routine now where during the end of a 4 month lifting phase I will usually be able to take 315 and bench it 5 or 6 times, immediately drop down to 225 and do as many reps as possible, then immediately drop to 135, then finally finish off with some 45 pound dumbells.

After this phase, I will often drop out for a couple of months or so and just work on light cardio stuff - hiking, swimming,...during this time I usually pork out, and my bench falls off to the point where I can only take 200 and bench it maybe 2 or 3 times. Then I start a new phase building back up, adding about 5 to 10 pounds a week.

[Axsuetarian]

Don't do 1RM (1 rep maximums).

I usually reach about 275 for 6 or so...lately, I only work with dumbells though, and work up to about 110's incline.

[Anonymous]

Benching is OK, but squatting gets ya banned. "Curiouser and curiouser" said Pooh.

[E. Blackadder]

I'm still new at this, but by the end of next week, I'll have a million cumulative pounds pressed, pulled,curl'ed (at 12 oz per) and squatted.

It's not much, really, but it sounds like a lot...

[Elisha]

210 when I was 19 (and that was only weighing 145). Now? Uhh...hopefully my current weight.

[Intents]

to build up your shoulders, have a baby and lift it day in and day out