782lb raw bench press

[funk51]

&feature=emb_logo

[joswift]

Gofundme page for torn pec in 3...2...1....

[ThisisOverload]

His wife - https://www.instagram.com/_mrs.irregular/ .

Need Kwon's view on her. Looks like she might have potential.

[Matt]

Matt, what do you think your mediocre bench press is attributed to? Lack of mental strength? Not blasting orals for long enough? I think we'd all agree your numbers are quite underwhelming for a man of your height, weight, and years of lifting.

For my weight? Huh? If I trained and ate like an Olympic level athlete, I suspect I'd be able to bounce bench press 360- to 370-lb MAYBE [drug-free]

^ At around 175-lb and lean.

On steroids, yeah...sure, THEN it would be more likely...but all my best recorded lifts were drug-free. Supplements, I never felt helped me much with strength. With body weight increase or stamina [pre-workout supplements], but with strength, not really. Nothing very noticeable indistinguishable from water/fat weight. Supplements seem to be very temporary enhancing agents, IMO. At least steroids, while temporary, are real muscle.

We had a bench press competition in town in 2012 for 225-lb for reps, and Ontario's Strongest Man himself of that very year got 30 reps. That is the Northwestern Ontario record...so I don't know what you mean about my bench being weak for my weight.

As I said, I feel I could MAYBE hit 360-ish, or a wee bit more at just under 180, with a bounce, drug-free. Maybe. I'm realistic.

My max bench with 315-lb for reps at the same time of this video was 315x8. Around the same time, Dave Palumbo had a "Bros vs. Pros" for RX Muscle, and Andy Haman hit 315x20. One of the top bench pressers at the time [two-syllable Italian last name...Soto? Spotto?] hit 315x43, and Palumbo said "That must be some kind of record."

tl;dr:

Providing that I stay in "Dad Shape" or go for the "Health Look", I don't think I can bench press too much more than I have. I don't doubt 350-355-360 is in range...but without bringing my body weight up or using gear, I don't see myself getting past that [i.e., that is my genetic drug-free limit at that weight]. If I brought my weight up, I think I could be a legit 385-lb+ bencher.

[chaos]

He did make that look easy.

I wonder, if you took that guy, who could probably squat the same, and have him do 100 or even 50 body weight squats, would he struggle? I think he would.

I wonder if you took that guy that could do 100 or even 50 reps of bodyweight squats, if he would struggle to squat or bench or deadlift 728lbs.

[Humble Narcissist]

I wonder if you took that guy that could do 100 or even 50 reps of bodyweight squats, if he would struggle to squat or bench or deadlift 728lbs.

Yes, two totally different skill sets.

[keanu]

I had no idea Matt was close to this strong. Ridiculous strength if those plates are legit. Each year the football players at my local Canadian university have a contest. 1 week it is max bench. The next week 225 for reps. There are years where Matt's bench for reps beats the entire team. The top guys usually get around what Matt does, but they have 100 pounds on him. Minimum 40 lbs on him. I have never seen anyone with Matt's weight and dimensions do more than 225 for 6-8 reps or so.

[Matt]

I had no idea Matt was close to this strong. Ridiculous strength if those plates are legit. Each year the football players at my local Canadian university have a contest. 1 week it is max bench. The next week 225 for reps. There are years where Matt's bench for reps beats the entire team. The top guys usually get around what Matt does, but they have 100 pounds on him. Minimum 40 lbs on him. I have never seen anyone with Matt's weight and dimensions do more than 225 for 6-8 reps or so.

Thanks keanu...I was asked if I think I should be benching more given I have 20 years of experience in the gym, and have used steroids [dabbled in them...but only for aesthetics...my top lifts have all been drug-free], and given my weight/dimensions.

And, again, my answer is:

No. I don't think so.

I feel that I genetically CANNOT bench much more, given my body weight [THAT is what is constraining me, and I want to be in the 170's for health, because I have three kids]. Yes, given my time lifting, my bench may not be impressive, but I was both drug- and supplement-free in my heaviest lifts, and in the range of 170-lb to 190-lb for all of my best lifts. I think I was 182-lb when I hit a 345-lb bounced bench.

We had an official 225-lb for reps bench press contest in 2012, and the winner was Ontario's Strongest Man from that same year, Luke Skaarup, who hit 225x30 for the Northwestern Ontario regional record.

I got greedy in that video in your post...trying to go for a 26th rep, but couldn't lock it out.

Regarding steroid accusations...I think my hairline speaks for JUST how little I've dabbled in gear.  Shoot...I've done only three real cycles with injectables in 2004-2005-2006, and maybe another 3-4x 3-week LOW dose oral cycles - all for looks, never while training to be stronger for a strength contest on them.

Regarding potential fake plates - that's a legit form of fraud to rule out, and I respect you for questioning it [and take it as a compliment]. Heck, Eddie Hall called into question Hafthor Bjornsson's 501kg deadlift, because the plates weren't weighed by an approved group that officially verifies plate weights for records. But during COVID, things couldn't be perfect. And I think that was just Eddie grasping at straws.

As for me...trying to watch the video from a neutral eye...that looks to me like a guy bench pressing 225-lb. I can't remember how many times I can bench press 135-lb [45-60, I think...on the lower end of that range, IIRC], and I power them up faster than that.

Of course *I know* the plates are real there...but you brought up a legit reality, when it comes to using fake weights. Luckily in my case, I have enough videos of me from contests where I hit similar lifts, where I think people should believe that 225-lb is real.

Long post, but I just wanted to say: THANK YOU, keanu, for that amazing compliment. I have had the worst past few years of my life, and I'm only now just starting to feel better, and finally feel happy again. And that was a HUGE compliment and boost to my self-esteem at a time where I've been feeling just awful all through this COVID insanity, and even for a couple of years prior to that. I just went through a series of bad events with people, and a part of my soul died. So thank you for saying something so nice to me. I appreciate it very much, and it really made my day to read it. We have a few really good guys on here, and you are definitely one of them, keanu.