is lucky is he presses 200 pounds

 Rex Jameson bikes and swims regularly, and plays tennis and skis when time allows.

startclickprintexclude>But the 5-foot-11, 180-pound software engineer is lucky if he presses 200 pounds -- that is, until he steps into an "exoskeleton" of aluminum and electronics that multiplies his strength and endurance as many as 20 times.

1 Does the sentence mean the guy rarely lifts 200 pounds of weight in the gym or never?

2 Also, why is the word 'press' commonly used in the context of gym? Is it associated with a certain type of workout machine?

Thanks!

New2grammar

 1 Does the sentence mean the guy rarely lifts 200 pounds of weight in the gym or never?

1. using exercise machines

2. lifting a bar bell   -   standing with your feet on the floor and bending over to lift a bar bell which is on the floor

3. pressing a bar bell   -    lying on your back on a bench, with the bar bell suspended on a rack above your chest.  You then clear the bar bell from the rack and push it straight up until your arms are fully extended above you

That's all I know, which ain't much.  I've never done any of this.

Optilang is correct about "he's lucky if he", and as you say, "rarely", and as he says "with great difficulty."  Both apply.  The expression has general application to all sorts of endeavors.  "He's lucky if he clears $100 a week with his hotdog stand."

  - A.

Edit.  It may be that my #2 is called "pressing" if you're able to lift it above your head, arms fully extended.  I really don't know.

Thanks Opti, Avangi and CJ. I like this idiom a lot.

Thanks Clive for the additional insight. I'm going to borrow your sentence for my next post