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Women Who Benchpress 225 lbs or More

Jan 29, 2023 - permalink

Hi everyone,

I just watched a video of a not-particularly-large teenager (Jessica Desatnick 5’4”, 135 lbs) benchpress 225 lbs. I don’t have the stats at my fingertips, but this lift has got to put her in the top 1% of strength of people her age, male or female.

I was also thinking - this level of strength must be a very new development among young women. Does anyone here know of a woman at that age being so strong 15 or 20 years ago?

That is, is there any woman who is now in her mid-to-late 30s or early 40s who was able to benchpress at least 225 lbs when she was 19 or 20 years old?

Jan 29, 2023 - permalink

There’s a video on Olivia Scott’s instagram where she benches 275. And her back is flat on the bench. She’s crazy strong.

Jan 29, 2023 - permalink

Little Fern Assard did a max bench press of 190. This suggests she might have built up to 225 had she wanted to.

Jan 29, 2023 - edited Jan 29, 2023 - permalink

Gonna avoid the more obvious ones like Natasha Aughey, Amazonka, etc. Some of the younger more surprising ones I found are:

Alex Gazan- Hit 225 as a high schooler, nowadays 240ish. And she’s a crossfitter not even a powerlifter.

Katie Salerni- Can do multiple reps 225

Michelle Lin- Hit over 225 in competition

Jordyn Lee Ross- 185 for reps, not sure about 225 but she’s around that ballpark

Megan George- 135 for over 20 reps

Erin Maloney- Hit 225 on Instagram a few months ago

Might add videos later

EDIT almost forgot the most insane one

Makenna Medgyesy- 275 pounds as a 19 year old in competition raw!!! Also just posted a 281 lb. PR on her insta

Jan 30, 2023 - permalink

Marilyn Yee just recently posted on her IG hitting her PB of 225 for 3 reps

Jan 30, 2023 - permalink

Hunter Henderson

Jan 30, 2023 - permalink

German powerliftwer Denise Herber today posted her new pb at 128kg/282 lb, and a set of 5 reps at 242,5 lb. Check her Ig profile, she a perfect mix of strenght and bueauty

Jan 30, 2023 - permalink

There’s a video on Olivia Scott’s instagram where she benches 275. And her back is flat on the bench. She’s crazy strong.

Thanks for this - I've noticed her pictures on the site, mainly because her phenomenal "before and after", but I had no idea she was that strong.

Jan 30, 2023 - permalink

Little Fern Assard did a max bench press of 190. This suggests she might have built up to 225 had she wanted to.

I remember Fern! She's actually a really interesting example - I recall her having more of a fitness/figure look, and I never would have thought her bench came close to that.

Jan 30, 2023 - permalink

I remember Fern! She's actually a really interesting example - I recall her having more of a fitness/figure look, and I never would have thought her bench came close to that.

Yes, it completely blew me away, too. She's very strong for her size. And the shape of the right biceps is off the charts, too!

Jan 30, 2023 - permalink

Yelena Espinoza 248 lbs at 122 lbs body weight

Jan 30, 2023 - permalink

Gonna avoid the more obvious ones like Natasha Aughey, Amazonka, etc. Some of the younger more surprising ones I found are:

Alex Gazan- Hit 225 as a high schooler, nowadays 240ish. And she’s a crossfitter not even a powerlifter.

Katie Salerni- Can do multiple reps 225

Michelle Lin- Hit over 225 in competition

Jordyn Lee Ross- 185 for reps, not sure about 225 but she’s around that ballpark

Megan George- 135 for over 20 reps

Erin Maloney- Hit 225 on Instagram a few months ago

Might add videos later

EDIT almost forgot the most insane one

Makenna Medgyesy- 275 pounds as a 19 year old in competition raw!!! Also just posted a 281 lb. PR on her insta

This is such a great list - thanks for posting it. This is also an example of what I was getting at in my original comment - ten years ago, I bet it would have been difficult to come up with even five top female bodybuilders who'd be able to hit a 225 benchpress for a one rep max, and you've just easy rattled off nine who can do it (and some who can do it for multiple reps!).

Something else I love about the women on this list (especially Makenna) is that they embrace their strength fully - there's no downplaying of the accomplishment, no semi-apology like "look at this weird thing I did" - just the open pursuit of a bigger, stronger body, and the proud display of a goal achieved.

Progress like this is really thrilling to me!

Jan 30, 2023 - permalink

Marilyn Yee just recently posted on her IG hitting her PB of 225 for 3 reps

Marilyn's new to me, and that is a seriously impressive lift. Great find - thanks!

Jan 30, 2023 - permalink

Hunter Henderson

Hunter I know all about - I'd say she's someone whose achievements are redefining and expanding people's views of what's possible for women in the weight room. Thanks for the fantastic reminder.

Jan 30, 2023 - permalink

German powerliftwer Denise Herber today posted her new pb at 128kg/282 lb, and a set of 5 reps at 242,5 lb. Check her Ig profile, she a perfect mix of strenght and bueauty

I had never heard of Denise until I saw your post. Your description is right on - she's amazing, and a new favorite of mine for sure. 242.5 for 5 is crazily strong for a woman, and it's frankly pretty decent for a man who lifts regularly.

I'll definitely be following her powerlifting career with interest - it doesn't look like she's close to finished, and I can't wait to see what heights she reaches.

Jan 30, 2023 - permalink

Yelena Espinoza 248 lbs at 122 lbs body weight

Awesome - she's another one who's new to me, and that is a remarkable lift for a woman who weighs so little.

fp909
Jan 30, 2023 - permalink

Audrey Miller is another one with that consistently posts clean singles at 225.

It's really fascinating to watch the women. I know there's a lot of smaller guys pushing a lot of weight, but the joke in the visual difference between a 80kg male lifter and 80kg female lifter is funny. But a lot of these women are pushing 225+ at 135 or less. Their ratios are much more impressive than your average pretty strong guy.

I've seen a few women pulling 3x bodyweight, 2x bodweight or more squat, and 2x bodyweight bench. For me that would require another 100lbs on my deadlift, another 10-15 on my squat, and over 100 on my bench press.

ALthough she doesn't have a bench at 225 yet, Ashley Wilson just set some records with a 407.9 squiat, 192.9 bench, and 507.1 deadlift at 147lbs. I know she's taking training way more seriously than I am (i have no plans to compete at my age lmao and I'm not old) but aside from her bench her deadlift and squat are the same-ish but I have about 65lbs on her.

fp909
Jan 30, 2023 - permalink

Ok here are some links in a scroll thru on TikTok of who is benching 225 or 100kg, depending on their location:

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRs9Qjn1/

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRs9AD3x/

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRs9UC9C/

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRs9Byw8/

Didn’t have to go very far to find those

[deleted]
Jan 30, 2023 - permalink

There was a video I just saw of Colette Guimond crushing a watermelon with her legs, she must have an ungodly amount of strength. She did it standing up without even holding the watermelon in place, just closing her legs around it and smushing it completely in half with no resistence whatsoever.

Jan 30, 2023 - permalink
Jan 31, 2023 - permalink

I'm fascinated by the 225-lb milestone because I think that’s where the role reversal in strength becomes complete.

I read somewhere that a “beginner” male weightlifter can bench 135 lbs for a 1 rep max, while a beginner female can do a 1 RM of 80 lbs (a little less than 60% of her male counterpart).

135 is 60% of 225. The women mentioned in this thread are not just stronger than the average man, they’re so much stronger that, in a sense, in terms of relative power, they transform most men into women.

That so many women have been able to build this level strength is something very new, and I’m really interested to see where things go from here.

Feb 05, 2023 - permalink

Makenna Medgyesy- 275 pounds as a 19 year old in competition raw!!! Also just posted a 281 lb. PR on her insta

Yeah, let's remove this one from consideration. Big numbers, but with that ridiculous arch she does to her back, she moves the weight maybe 3 inches. I doubt she can bench 225 with her back flat on the bench.

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