Eric Spoto benches 722 pounds
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/the-turnstile/bench-press-world-record-eric-spoto-benches-722-192156241.html;_ylt=AhiqjpnB95JSSxcJDJvVlRIp2YdG;_ylu=X3oDMTFsMGU2ZjZ2BG1pdANUb2RheSBvbiBZYWhvbwRwa2cDaWQtMzI4NjI4OARwb3MDNgRzZWMDaGNtBHZlcgM4;_ylg=X3oDMTBxMWR1aGFvBGxhbmcDZW4tVVMEdGVzdANOYWNlbGxlX09u;_ylv=3http://You lift, bro? Yeah? You don't lift as much as Eric Spoto, who claims to have set a world record by raw-benching 722 pounds.
This video, taken on Sunday, actually shows the third of Spoto's three lifts, two of which broke the record of 715 pounds. In the initial lift, Spoto benched 661 pounds, following that with 716 pounds and, finally, 722 pounds.
The "raw" in the record comes from the fact that Spoto doesn't wear a bench shirt or any other kind of supportive clothing; he's there in a singlet and leather belt, plus gloves. Bench shirts are insanely taut, made of denim or polyester, and both cushion the lifter as the weight depresses and help the lifter get the weight back in the air. As a result, the current shirted world record stands at 1076.9 pounds, more than half again as much as the raw record.
There's a bit of controversy around Spoto's lift, because no one can have any kind of success on the Internet without somebody else coming along to dump on it. For a raw bench press to count, the bar has to be motionless at the bottom of the lift, and Spoto gets it off his chest in a hurry. You would too, if you could. Could be trolling, could be legitimate questions. We're going with trolling, mainly because we don't want Spoto mad at us.
Spoto's ultimate goal? 730 pounds. No sweat, right? Your lift, bro.
