Author Topic: Lou Ferrigno - did he bench 560lbs in his prime?  (Read 63229 times)

Fortress

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Re: did lou ferrigno bench 560lbs in his prime?
« Reply #125 on: July 20, 2011, 11:57:51 AM »
q-a..........no, juiced to the gills
q-b.......no bench shirt, elbow, wrist wraps
q-c.........maybe he didn't, but I believe we are talking if he was strong enough to do so
q-d.......didn't know that

Thanks for the honest answers, dude.

He might have had the capacity at one time to do so, but without specific training over a period of several months, he would have been crushed like a bug under 560.

OTHstrong

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Re: did lou ferrigno bench 560lbs in his prime?
« Reply #126 on: July 20, 2011, 12:04:24 PM »
I will never bench 500lbs in my life bro  :o
Bench is something you either have or you don't...not trying to brag but a year off the gym,no juice, eating doughnuts everyday, can easily crack 315 in my second chest workout, but some people can't bench even weighing 300 lb with a big chest.

Stavios

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Re: did lou ferrigno bench 560lbs in his prime?
« Reply #127 on: July 20, 2011, 12:06:27 PM »
Bench is something you either have or you don't...not trying to brag but a year off the gym,no juice, eating doughnuts everyday, can easily crack 315 in my second chest workout, but some people can't bench even weighing 300 lb with a big chest.

yeah that's true. Some people a good at bench, other at deads..

myself, I am good at tanning. I can have a great tan

;D

OTHstrong

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Re: did lou ferrigno bench 560lbs in his prime?
« Reply #128 on: July 20, 2011, 12:07:56 PM »
yeah that's true. Some people a good at bench, other at deads..

myself, I am good at tanning. I can have a great tan

;D
lol ;D

Nails

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Re: did lou ferrigno bench 560lbs in his prime?
« Reply #129 on: July 20, 2011, 12:11:37 PM »
yeah that's true. Some people a good at bench, other at deads..

myself, I am good at tanning. I can have a great tan

;D

So true, i can Deadlift 450 easy, but 185lb on the bench feels heavy as shit, but i also had major ligament reconstruction on my wrist too

Overload

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Re: did lou ferrigno bench 560lbs in his prime?
« Reply #130 on: July 20, 2011, 01:49:00 PM »
Bench is something you either have or you don't...not trying to brag but a year off the gym,no juice, eating doughnuts everyday, can easily crack 315 in my second chest workout, but some people can't bench even weighing 300 lb with a big chest.

This is true.

Some people are just good at certian movements.

Mine was always the deadlift. I used to bench a shitload of weight, but today after taking a few years off training, my bench is shit. My deadlift on the other hand, has still remained somewhat decent. I hadn't deadlifted in over 2 years and did reps with 315 like it was a warmup a few weeks after i was back into training.


8)

BILL ANVIL

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Re: did lou ferrigno bench 560lbs in his prime?
« Reply #131 on: July 20, 2011, 05:54:38 PM »
What does chest thickness have to do with ultimate bench-press prowess, especially when we're talking about poundages in excess of 450 pounds? Most huge pressers are mostly triceps/shoulder effort. Anyone who knows anything about bench pressing for huge numbers knows it's best to minimize pectoral work so as to both prevent tears and to fully engage the triceps/shoulder/back effect.

Agreed. Chest thickness has nothing to do with it, it has more to do with chest girth and overall upper body mass and power as a whole.

OTHstrong

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Re: did lou ferrigno bench 560lbs in his prime?
« Reply #132 on: July 20, 2011, 05:58:07 PM »
Agreed. Chest thickness has nothing to do with it, it has more to do with chest girth and overall upper body mass and power as a whole.
I would also add joints tendons and ligaments

BILL ANVIL

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Re: did lou ferrigno bench 560lbs in his prime?
« Reply #133 on: July 20, 2011, 06:04:26 PM »
I would also add joints tendons and ligaments

Absolutely. Thats one of the more important things for strength, so genetics and time in the gym surely contribute to that. I always had a hell of a time on the bench just because my wrists are so small and I feel the weight in my elbows before I do my chest.

I know Lou was skinny to begin with, and maybe alot of his size was drugs but you cant deny the fact that he must of been scary huge in person back in the day. Whenever I saw him on that TV sitcom, he walked into the room and beside normal people he look humongous, like a damn giant. The bigger men like that have an easier time handling the bigger weight of course.

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Re: did lou ferrigno bench 560lbs in his prime?
« Reply #134 on: July 20, 2011, 06:23:58 PM »
They didn't have bench shirts back then.

MB

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Re: did lou ferrigno bench 560lbs in his prime?
« Reply #135 on: July 21, 2011, 07:54:19 AM »
Bench is something you either have or you don't...not trying to brag but a year off the gym,no juice, eating doughnuts everyday, can easily crack 315 in my second chest workout, but some people can't bench even weighing 300 lb with a big chest.

The bench doesn't seem like it's a true test of strength.  The NFL combine should be using an exercise like clean and press to gage strength instead of bench press. 

OTHstrong

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Re: did lou ferrigno bench 560lbs in his prime?
« Reply #136 on: July 21, 2011, 09:26:55 AM »
The bench doesn't seem like it's a true test of strength.  The NFL combine should be using an exercise like clean and press to gage strength instead of bench press. 
True strength?.....Deadlifts is the only true strength in my opinion. I have met lots with strong bench and weak everything else. Every single person I have met with a strong deadlift is strong in any lift.Deadlifts also recruit muscle from everywhere in the body and its an exercise you can put every once of power into it....I have seen stars after moving some heavy weight with deads.. sounds cheesy but true,lol

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Re: did lou ferrigno bench 560lbs in his prime?
« Reply #137 on: July 23, 2011, 01:29:31 AM »

kevcat

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Re: did lou ferrigno bench 560lbs in his prime?
« Reply #138 on: July 24, 2011, 03:10:54 PM »
Yeh the strongman shit he did was still pretty good.I see some people saying its shit compared to what they do now, but overhead pressing 200+ in the shape of a barrel or bending rods is strength no matter when ti was done.
Agree about the you either have it or you dont.My chest is one of my better bodyparts but my bench weight is piss poor.I rarely bother with it anymore cos i seem to get shoulder pain anyway.Whereas my back exercises im pretty strong on.

Ursus

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Re: did lou ferrigno bench 560lbs in his prime?
« Reply #139 on: July 24, 2011, 04:17:05 PM »
I am reasonably strong but I do have to work on the bench. if i miss it or mess it up a couple of workouts it feels way way harder.

I am gonna give training a real good hard run the next 6-8 weeks see if I can add 10lbs or so to my bench!

BILL ANVIL

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Re: did lou ferrigno bench 560lbs in his prime?
« Reply #140 on: July 24, 2011, 07:12:27 PM »
I am reasonably strong but I do have to work on the bench. if i miss it or mess it up a couple of workouts it feels way way harder.

I am gonna give training a real good hard run the next 6-8 weeks see if I can add 10lbs or so to my bench!

Same here, if I miss a chest workout I wont hit my max the next time. I really need to keep on it if I wanna maintain a 315lb+ bench. Its almost not even worth the effort.
Deadlift is totally opposite, I can take a month off from them and pull 405 for 8 with a hangover and little food. Little effort there.

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Re: Lou Ferrigno - did he bench 560lbs in his prime?
« Reply #141 on: July 25, 2011, 12:04:36 PM »
I think chest thickness in general is a good indicator of strength.

When have you ever seen a guy witha  thick chest who was not strong (405+)

BILL ANVIL

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Re: Lou Ferrigno - did he bench 560lbs in his prime?
« Reply #142 on: July 25, 2011, 05:21:55 PM »
I think chest thickness in general is a good indicator of strength.

When have you ever seen a guy witha  thick chest who was not strong (405+)

Yeah true, despite what some people say I firmly believe that in order to maintain a big chest you need to do some sort of bench press dumbbell or bar. Im not talking about pec depth or beauty here, im talking pure chest ribcage mass and overall girth. Thats what requires big numbers.

kimo

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Re: Lou Ferrigno - did he bench 560lbs in his prime?
« Reply #143 on: June 07, 2012, 07:07:55 AM »
lou was very strong . dont think otherwise . big boned man too .

gracie bjj

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Re: Lou Ferrigno - did he bench 560lbs in his prime?
« Reply #144 on: June 07, 2012, 07:25:19 AM »
Yeah true, despite what some people say I firmly believe that in order to maintain a big chest you need to do some sort of bench press dumbbell or bar. Im not talking about pec depth or beauty here, im talking pure chest ribcage mass and overall girth. Thats what requires big numbers.

i agree, i think the heavy dumbells are the best
R

Fortress

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Re: Lou Ferrigno - did he bench 560lbs in his prime?
« Reply #145 on: June 07, 2012, 11:19:53 AM »
lou was very strong . dont think otherwise . big boned man too .

Well, sure. When the man was gassed to the tits and got his bodyweight towards 300 ('70s) or OVER 300 (early '90s), yeah, he would have been strong as hell, almost by default.

However, again, there is a WORLD of difference between hitting several reps with, say, 405, and pressing 5-fuckin'-60! Arnold built a massive chest with well under 500 pounds on the bench. The guy was lucky to hit a few good reps with four plates at his biggest and best.

In 2012, the very best bench pressers, raw but juiced heavily, move between 550 and 650, generally. There have been two guys who have officially done over seven ... and one of these, Scot Mendelson (715), hardly paused the bar, as is required for a lift to be truly legal. The press command came from Ed Coan and he says he was scared shitless for Scot so rushed the "press!".

Perhaps if Lou had specialized in the bench press all those years back he could have done upwards of 600 pounds; perhaps more. But he didn't and he never came close.   

orion

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Re: Lou Ferrigno - did he bench 560lbs in his prime?
« Reply #146 on: June 07, 2012, 12:43:23 PM »
I saw Lou at some show when he was still doing the Incredible Hulk.  Someone asked him how much he could bench and I remember he replied 585.  I don't know one way or another.
I remember seeing video of Arnold with 455 on the bar, but Arnold never lifted to see how much he could lift.  I would like to see all those who claim to lift huge poundages try to do Arnolds workout.  He would do a set of bench and then do a back exercise and with less than a minutes rest add more weight and do bench for strict reps of ten  The difference between lifting at an intense tempo like that and doing sets of three with five or ten minutes rest is like comparing pond hockey to an NHL game.  If Arnold wanted to do a workout like that I'm sure he could bench over 500 but he would consider that a wasted workout and he did't waste workouts.
It's not inconceivable tha Lou could bench high numbers.  He had the shoulder strength and that is what is really required for a good bench

Dr Dutch

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Re: Lou Ferrigno - did he bench 560lbs in his prime?
« Reply #147 on: June 07, 2012, 01:00:03 PM »
lou was very strong . dont think otherwise . big boned man too .
Do you have permission to re-open ancient worthless threads, "kimo" ?

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Re: Lou Ferrigno - did he bench 560lbs in his prime?
« Reply #148 on: June 07, 2012, 01:05:21 PM »
Do you have permission to re-open ancient worthless threads, "kimo" ?

That's what I was thinking. This thread is as worthless as starting a debate about who should have won an Olympia 30+ years ago.

"1"

indie-lad

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Re: did lou ferrigno bench 560lbs in his prime?
« Reply #149 on: June 07, 2012, 04:35:44 PM »
He pushed a car over when he got really pissed and Bill Bixby turned green and huge.   Hope this helps.


 :D