a lot of basketball players seem to have chiseled, muscular arms, but I find it really surprising that a lot of them don't bench a lot. Al Horford weighs 240+ and repped 135 20 times, which was the best at the NBA combine. i am 18 and weigh 170 and rep 135 20 times quite easily. i don't quite understand. Is it much harder for 6'8, 6'9 people to bench press than for let's say a 6 footer?
2007-06-26 18:23:58 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Sports ➔ Basketball
yeah but basketball is a contact sport just like football
2007-06-26 18:30:51 · update #1
7 foot tall US Naval Academy graduate David Robinson was pretty buff.
2007-06-26 19:31:08 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 9⤊ 0⤋
because they have long arms they have a long way to go compared to other people the bench press is for shorter arms.
Not that i am trying to be a smart mouth or anything but ripped doesnt mean strong im 5'10 and 160 i have a six pack but im not very ripped but i can lift 240 on the bench press yeah i can rep out 20 on 135 with no problem but back to the question it is about the physics it is a lot harder to lift 135 i dont know about 26 inches rather than 20
2007-06-28 08:17:40 · answer #2 · answered by powermanjosh 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is all a matter of physics.
On my high school team the shortest scrawniest guy could bench press 300 pounds like it was nothing as he was about 5' 4" tall. No one else on the team could come close except for the 25ish small college All American high school basketball coach who because of maturity and playing football could lift more.
I don't believe too much in weights as they will throw your shot off if you lift before you shoot.
I do believe in pushups and pullups and situps, the natural stuff as I would rather spend another 30 minutes out on the court shooting than 30 minutes in the weight room.
Yes, a 6' 8" or 6' 9" guy has very, very long arms and as I said it is the law of physics with long arms, you will not be able to lift as much as say if you were 6' 0" tall or 5' 4" tall all of equal age and relatively equal athletic ability.
You will never see a USMC officer who has gone through basic officer training at Quantico much over 6' feet tall as all of the USMC officer training is upper body stuff which tall guys cannot do.
Now enlisted USMC training, although heavy on upper body stuff does not come close to the USMC officer training, so I have seen 6' 8" tall USMC "gunnies", but you will never see a tall USMC officer who had to go through officer training at Quantico because tall guys with long arms just don't have the upper body strength.
That is not to say that they can't develop it with several years of training.
In summary, the shorter the arms are for an athletic person, the more weight that can be lifted.
2007-06-26 18:47:17 · answer #3 · answered by Score 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because the big men in basketball needs to have quickness and more explosiveness then most other sports. I think that you have your numbers crossed up as well in the terms of what they can bench press. It was 185 pounds not 135. So you're 50 pounds off and the NFL only does 40 pound more at 225. Also, I'm pretty sure like most athletes in different sports there's different muscles that are worked.
2007-06-26 23:49:15 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The answers above are correct. Basketball is *not* a contact sport like football -- contact is common, but 99% of it (not counting fouls) happens in the low post. The NBA is very picky about contact along the perimeter.
Most of the great players this year aren't destined to bang around in the low post, so they don't need (and shouldn't have) huge arms and chests. Instead, they need to find the balance between sufficiently muscular and relatively compact. Big muscular guys can force in layups and dunks, but most of them can't swish jump shots.
2007-06-26 18:51:50 · answer #5 · answered by Mike G 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's body type. Long levers versus pushing large mass. Anyway, bench press is just on test. Others that probably tell a coach more includes maximum # push ups, squats, vertical jump, abdominal strength, endurance tests.
2007-06-26 23:19:52 · answer #6 · answered by todsbod66 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No basketball is not a contact sport like football....its more of an endurance sport with a lot of skill level to it.
2007-06-29 06:40:16 · answer #7 · answered by Hi 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because in Basketball arm muscles can affect your shooting.
2007-06-26 18:46:06 · answer #8 · answered by cuhris84 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
cuz they dont need to they are black so they have hops, and if they can shoot they dont need to workout they can just stand at one place and shoot, this isnt football where u have to work out cuz u get tackled
2007-06-26 18:27:02 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
yeah I guess your right I don't know
2007-06-26 18:32:59 · answer #10 · answered by Isaac 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋