iStockphoto / Jun / xBrandonx
Gym bro doing pull-ups next to 25lb dumbbells used for lateral raise
What exactly is a ‘Gym Bro‘? There are an infinite number of ways to answer that question with any number of criteria that can be used.
Regardless of how you may feel about stereotypes, they often exist for a reason. And the ‘Gym Bro’ stereotype, at its core, is a jacked dude who spends a lot of time in the gym lifting weights and is deeply immersed in both gym culture and health. There are many more layers on top of that but stripped down, a Gym Bro is someone who spends a lot of time at the gym and I say ‘someone’ because ladies can be Gym Bros too.
New Gym Bro Strength Standard Just Dropped
Dr. Mike Israetel is the creator behind Renaissance Periodization (RP Strength). He is a bodybuilder and exercise scientist. And runs one of the most entertaining YouTube channels around.
He recently got together with Jesse James West, another massive creator in the resistance training space with 10.9M subscribers on YouTube, 2.2+ million on Instagram, and 1.5+ million on TikTok, and they created a new Gym Bro Strength Standard to test who is the strongest bro in the gym. And the beauty of this new Gym Bro Strength Standard is that anyone of us can attempt it at home to test our strength against the best.
The new standard consists of just three lifts: Pull-Ups, Closed-Grip Incline Bench, and Lateral Raises. Pull-Ups can be done neutral grip or underhand grip. The standard for this lift is for every rep the chin must reach to the bar. The chin does not have to go over the bar, it just has to reach up to the bar. At the bottom, you must reach a full pause or a ‘momentary dead hang.’ The third rule is ‘no egregious swinging’ like you might find in some hybrid training gyms.
If a rep doesn’t look good a ‘warning’ is said aloud and if it happens again, they don’t count. For this discipline, Jesse hit 17, Jared hit 20, and Dr. Mike hit 19.
The official Ranking System for the Gym Bro Strength Standard is 0-4 reps = Beggar, 5-11 reps = Peasant, 12-19 reps = Warrior, 20-29 reps = King, and 30+ reps is off the charts. Each of those comes with points attached. You get 1 point for Beggar, 2 points for Peasant, 3 points for Warrior, 4 points for King, and 5 points for God Status.
Closed-Grip Incline Bench
Next up is the Closed-Grip Incline Bench at 185-pounds. The standard for this lift is “you have to be as close in with your grip as is just barely possible for you to touch your chest.”
This will obviously be different for everyone as we all have unique body types. There has to be a pause at the bottom. Just a quick pause. And it must include full lockouts.
For the Closed-Grip Incline Bench, Jesse hit 12 reps of 185lbs, Dr. Mike got 27 reps (!!!) of 185lbs, and Jared put up 28 reps.
Lateral Raise: 25lb Dumbbells
Last but not least is Lateral Raise using 25lb dumbbells. Of all the lifts, this is the one I think I could hang with them as I do my lateral raises with 25lbs though I prefer to isolate to one arm at a time.
For this lift, there must be a pause just above parallel. Jesse maxed out at 15 reps, Dr. Mike made it to 33 reps, and Jared busted out 24. Jared is JACKED by the way. I hope we can all appreciate that he is absolutely dominating this Gym Bro Strength Standard.
When it was all said and done, Jared got 4 points for each of the lifts for a total of 12 which puts him at KING Status. Dr. Mike got 3/4/5 for total of 12 points as well, also KING Status. And Jesse got 3x3x3 for a total of 9 which puts him at WARRIOR Status.
Alright fellas, now that you know the official Gym Bro Strength Training test criteria it is time to get out there this weekend and check your status. You will need someone to tell you when your chin hits the bar and when you are pausing. Report back here in the comments with your score!