Well, this question has been bouncing around on the interwebs for quite a bit so it may as well be answered by the site. “How much can a gorilla bench press?” is a question that we can only answer in theory (right now, unless someone has taught a gorilla the motor control to activate the muscles necessary to bench press at the correct time so they don’t harm themselves). It’s been said that gorillas can press up to 10 times their body weight (I don’t believe this weight will be realized when a gorilla actually tests their one rep max though). There are 2 species of gorilla, Eastern Gorilla and Western Gorilla. Below are the subspecies of each gorilla species, the weight of both male and females, and the weight they should be able to press.
*also keep in mind that press doesn’t only refer to bench press. When you research this you’ll only see “A gorilla can press” you never see a specific pressing motion. Just wanted to say that.
We’ll also make several assumptions throughout this article. One of them being that gorillas can lay down on a bench and use their legs to press off the ground efficiently.
Western Gorilla
Western Lowland Gorilla:
Male: Bodyweight can be up to 400 lbs and they should be able to press 4000 lbs
Female: Bodyweight can be up to 180 lbs and they should be able to press 1800 lbs
Cross River Gorilla:
Male: Bodyweight can be up to 440 lbs and they should be able to press 4400 lbs
Female: Bodyweight can be up to 220 lbs and they should be able to press 2200 lbs
Eastern Gorilla Species
Mountain Gorilla:
Male: Bodyweight can be up to 430 lbs and they should be able to press 4300 lbs
Female: Bodyweight can be up to 220 lbs and they should be able to press 4000 lbs
Eastern Lowland Gorilla:
Male: Bodyweight can be up to 350 lbs and they should be able to press 4000 lbs
Female: Bodyweight can be up to 200 lbs and they should be able to press 4000 lbs
Now we know how much they should be able to press, we can break down why they may or may not be able to bench press the above numbers. First we’re going to go over both a human and gorilla’s body proportions and how they help in the lift.
* We also need to understand the muscle groups used in the bench press. It’s really the entire body but the primary muscles used are the triceps brachii, pectoralis, and the front (anterior deltoids).
Not only that but we also use our legs for leg drive (for some. It’s not completely necessary but you do get more power when you use leg drive.)
Body proportions
Just so we’re clear, we’re using proportions for the average human (I was going to include proportions for every ethnic group so things were completely fair but realized I was going to make this article much more complicated than it needed to be.
Human:
Arm Length: 25 inches
Leg Length: 33.62 inches
Torso:
- Men: 17 to 21 inches
- Women: 14 to 18 inches
Eastern Lowland Gorilla:
Arms: Gorillas tend to have arms that are 30 cm longer than the average human males arms.
Legs: There is very little information on gorilla leg length but we know for sure that they are much shorter than their arms.
Muscle control (grey matter central nervous system)
This hasn’t been proven for gorillas (or at all really) but it’s been said that some primates have less control over how much muscle they can use at a time so they can’t perform delicate actions. This was really mentioned in regard to chimpanzees but I wanted to include this in case it has something to do with gorillas.
I do know that most (I have to put most) humans have control over how much muscle (and how they use) they use at a time meaning we can perform delicate actions such as writing with pencils and pens and typing.
Upper body design
Gorillas
When I find the link I’ll make sure to add it but basically an article (and video) I read (and watched) talked about how gorillas upper bodies aren’t designed for bench pressing. The article talked about how gorillas body’s (shoulders and arms) aren’t completely designed to be able to press outwards efficiently. It also went over the chest muscles, the cross sections of said muscles, and how they also aren’t completely designed to press forward.
Humans
Humans, and this is something I got from Athlean-X (a business run by a guy who knows his stuff), have bodies that are designed for forward pressing movements.
Video credits to Athlean-X. He’s going over the dumbbell bench press (while also educating on the pectorals and their function).
Conclusion
Yes, gorillas have been said to be able to bench press 10 times their body weight but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they have the ability to bench press that. There is also very little research (at least online) stating why gorillas can bench 10 times their bodyweight. So, yes, right now a large (average-sized large) male western lowland gorilla can press 4000 lbs but, there are there are other things that come into play and need to be considered.
If you have any information to share then that’s welcomed though. Some of my research has been sited below and throughout the article.
Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_River_gorilla#Habitat
https://home.adelphi.edu/~al21824/Types%20of%20Gorillas.html
https://www.ptonthenet.com/articles/biomechanics-of-the-bench-press-4019
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/body-measurements.htm
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2872302/
https://www.businessinsider.com/body-measurements-of-average-american-man-2013-9
https://seaworld.org/animals/all-about/gorilla/characteristics/
https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/schultz50.htm
https://www.dimensions.guide/element/eastern-lowland-gorilla