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How Much Can A Silverback Gorilla Bench Press?

Silverback gorillas are one of the strongest creatures on the planet, so it would make sense that they can bench press a huge amount of weight.

But how much can they actually bench press?

Read on to find out the answer.

silverback gorilla

How Much Can A Silverback Gorilla Bench Press?

The average male silverback gorilla would be able to bench press 4489 pounds. Whereas the largest silverback gorilla on record would’ve been able to bench press 6149 pounds.

You may be wondering how I got this answer, so let me explain.

Right now, Julius Maddox holds the world record for a bench press at 782 pounds.

For transparency, this was achieved with the help of a bench shirt.

(A bench shirt is shirt of extremely rigid fabric or materials that artificially moves certain muscles into better positioning, allowing for more lifting potential.)

For our silverback gorilla, let’s assume he won’t be using a bench shirt.

Let’s also assume that our silverback gorilla won’t be using PEDs.

(Many of these record holders were never drug tested, so it’s unclear whether they use PEDs.)

Now, at one of the latest weigh-ins Julius weighed a whopping 449.5 pounds, meaning that he was able to bench press 174% of his body weight. Assuming that with training, a silverback gorilla could match the level of physical fitness Julius has, then the average male silverback, which weighs 430 pounds, would be able to bench press 4489 pounds.

(Calculated by 430 * 1.74 * 6. The multiplication of 6 comes from the fact that silverback gorillas have 6x the upper body strength of humans.)

The largest silverback gorilla on record was sadly shot in Cameroon, which weighed 589 pounds. Using the same calculation, he would’ve been able to bench press a whopping 6149 pounds.

That is a serious amount of lifting potential, and a trained powerlifter silverback would definitely come in handy when moving day comes around.

Can A Silverback Gorilla Bench Press More Than Other Gorillas?

Since silverback gorillas are the heaviest species of wild gorilla in the world, it makes sense that they’re capable of bench pressing more than other types of gorillas.

This is assuming that a gorilla’s bench press correlates with their body weight.

What Gorilla Has The Weakest Bench Press?

The lowland gorilla is the smallest species of gorilla, so it’s logical that it would have the weakest bench press out of all types of gorillas.

Why Are Silverback Gorillas So Strong?

Silverback gorillas are strong thanks to their body structure which is built to support a strength-based physique:

  • Silverback gorilla muscles are naturally much bigger than a human’s.
  • Since a silverback gorilla walks on all fours, they’re constantly building their upper body muscles.
  • They have bigger muscles in their arms than in their legs.
  • Their muscles have a high resistance to stress, allowing them to lift much heavier weights

Silverback gorillas need this strength to defend their group of younger males, females, and babies from wandering predators or other males looking to take over a group for themselves.

They also need this strength for climbing trees for food.

Conclusion

In summary:

  • If we assume that the average silverback gorilla has 6x more upper body strength than a human, we can deduce that they can bench press 4489 pounds.
  • Silverback gorillas can bench press more than other types of wild gorillas.
  • Silverbacks need this strength to be able to fend off competitors and to help them navigate and climb trees.

That’s all for a silverback gorilla, but how much can Conor McGregor bench press? Or perhaps you want to learn more about the 15 degree incline bench press?

Hope this helped!

Sources

https://a-z-animals.com/blog/discover-the-worlds-largest-gorilla/

https://seaworld.org/animals/all-about/gorilla/characteristics/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Maddox/