profjmb

Both sprinting and bench press depend on strength bursts. I'm wondering what the bench press equivalence of 1000 watts sprinting (for 3 seconds) would be. I know some of you will think it's a meaningless question (it's not, although I am not yet sure how to ask it precisely), so don't tell me that. Just give me your estimate and reasoning.

Throwing an initial guess out there: 200 lbs?

rubiksoval

100 lbs?

I can hit 1400w but can barely crack 120 lbs bench.

unterhausen

you could directly calculate this given the distance in the bench press and the amount of time required. I hit 1500 watts at a slow cadence on my trainer, then my bike fell off. Fortunately the bike was okay. Hard to guess how much force I was producing. More than I can bench press, that's for sure.

rubiksoval

You also use your full body to sprint. I'm about to wrench my handllebars off when I sprint. Bench is a much more isolated movement.

I'd guess that a deadlift or other compound movement would be more closely related to sprinting.

MoAlpha

There is a time term in power (work/time), of course, but most people don't know the speed of their lifts.

Abe_Froman

I think a better way to phrase the question woould be:

'What percentile of sprinters would you fall in if you could produce 1000 watts? And, what is the bench press in pounds for the equivelant percentile lifter.'

Riveting

1,000 watts for 3 seconds = 360 lbs. for 5 reps in 3 seconds (according to my RPE)

To keep it a little simpler, I compared 1,000 watts of sprint to a few seconds of quick leg presses (instead of a bench press), since I've both produced a little over 1,000 watts (captured by my PowerTap G3 hub power meter) a few times, and I've spent time doing heavy (for me) quick leg presses that I perceived to take as much effort as the 1,000 watt sprint, which I'd estimate at about 360 lbs.

Seattle Forrest

That's only half the answer, it's like saying what cadence is 1,000 watts?

Bench press 200 lbs in x seconds = 1 kW. I don't know the math to find x, I'm pretty sure it depends on your arm length.

Isn't this kind of what bar speed trackers are for? Measuring explosiveness?

gregf83 

At 90RPM the peak force required for 1000W is around 270lbs. If you weigh 160lbs you'll need to be pulling up on the bars with at least 110 lbs. Lifting 110lbs with two hands doesn't sound like much. At 100RPM the peak force drops to 245lbs. Not very impressive for anyone lifting.

Someone like Greipel can generate 1800W after 5hrs. Doubt his bench press would be impressive compared to anyone who lifts regularly.

profjmb

Interesting responses so far, except to clarify: I'm not asking what you guys who can ride at 1000+ watts can bench press. (Serious cyclists often neglect their upper bodies on purpose.) I guess Abe Froman has the best interpretation so far, with respect to percentiles.

Rubiksoval may be correct with deadlift vs bench. (However, his 1400 watts but 120 bench stats don't really support the importance of whole body strength for sprinting.) I just have never done deadlift so was interested in bench.

rubiksoval

Are you trying to figure out what you might be able to sprint at based on your bench press?

Sprinting also has some technique to it. Explosive people will generally be able to still be explosive, but working on sprinting will certainly yield improvements. I generally have a 200 watt difference in the winter time not doing much sprinting versus summer time racing, just due to getting the body coordinated and working on cadence and timing.

In any case, it's one of the easiest and more enjoyable things to track with a powermeter, as you can usually drop a max 3-10 second effort on just about any ride.

wphamilton

One watt is 44.25 foot-pounds per minute.

Bench press, you push up for 2 feet, likely something a little less than that.

If you can bench 500 pounds, you'd need to do it 22 times in half a minute to put out 1000 watts. Or one time in under 1.4 seconds would give you 1000 watts for that long.

RShantz

2x body weight

profjmb

That is a precise scientific answer. However, I guess I meant to take into account that legs are stronger than arms (and chest). And so someone doing the same work on bench as they do on sprinting is actually more impressive on the bench. What kind of bench performance is equally impressive to 1000 watts for 3 seconds? Perhaps we are back, again, to percentiles.

Darth Lefty 

Colnago Mixte

I'm not sure you could ever account for all the leverage and stresses going on with the sprinter's bike. He's pushing, he's pulling, he's twisting, he's bouncing, he's stomping on the pedals and then pulling back as his pedal stroke goes around. And probably several other things as well, doing everything he can to pour every ounce of strength into making that bike go fast, then throwing his bike across the finish line at the last second.

There's all kinds of leverage going on with the shape of the frame, and the flexing of the frame and wheels. I don't know how you would transfer all of that to a simple bench press.

In contrast, the weightlifter is laying on his back, pushing straight up on a bar with his arms, and using other muscles to stabilize the bar. But he's mainly pushing upward against gravity, with no leverage or mechanical advantage other than the extension of his arms, and all the muscle groups in the chest, shoulders and back are working together to raise that bar.

Two very different situations, I really don't see any way of comparing them directly, or even finding a way to approximate the amount of power being generated.

69chevy

As is cycling if you return to the starting point.

tyrion

https://www.popsci.com/what-is-horsepower

Talking about 1 horsepower (745.7 watts):

wphamilton

f = ma. Plus Crr times mass. Plus .5 rho times CdA times V squared. Divided by time is watts. Weight of barbell is force, times distance divided by time is watts. Direct comparison.

cthenn

I have no idea what any of you are talking about. Is it alright if I continue to stand here?

(it's a Brian Regan joke)

Colnago Mixte

Not a math guy here (frantically searches for pocket protector, fake buck teeth, and dorky short sleeve shirt) so could you maybe dumb that down a shade?

Are we measuring the amount of energy expended by the respective athletes, or the amount of work actually done?

Because those two figures could be wildly different. And I'm not even sure which one we would want to measure here, but I think the two should be distinguished from one another and kept separate.

datlas 

The only way to win this game is not to play.

Seattle Forrest

We should be talking about squats, because they move more weight over more distance than other exercises.

Because the title said watts, we're mostly only talking about power. Which is the rate at which work gets done.

wphamilton

On the contrary, they are exactly the same thing. Restricting the energy to the bike's mechanical losses and bike + rider kinetic and potential may be slightly different.

Why don't you think of it as simply the power measured by the power meter, and you have essentially an apples to apples comparison with the bench press.

Colnago Mixte

Put a couple power taps on that bar between the weight lifter's hands and the bar, and compare it to the force measured at the hub while a sprinter is putting out 1000 watts, and then compare the two forces? Is that how you would do it? OK, I can buy that.

I guess it all comes down to how you define the word "equivalent".

The comparison above seems a bit over simplified, but I'm not smart enough to argue against it, so I will concede for the moment. Something keeps nagging at me that it's not quite than simple, but I can't quite articulate it.