805-pound bench press video!

[BodybuildingUniverse]

Just got off the phone with big Scot Mendelson. Video is of him doing 805 in training. Granted, it looks like the guys hands are on the bar but this isnt in a meet and safety must come first with 805. He said he has since doubled it and is getting triples with 700 without a shirt. His plans were to do an 850 at the arnold and he attributed his failure with 806 to a long press call (4 seconds timed on the video)

by the way, this site appears to have some GREAT equipment. Pricey for a home-gymer but top notch.

http://www.1500lb.com/805lbmovie.html

 

[epimetheus]

Looks like the guys spotting him were helping a bit.... As in the one on the left was holding the bar, the one on the right looked like he was lifting a heavy weight- (face and forearms tight)

 

[Rich_S]

Looks like the guys spotting him were helping a bit.... As in the one on the left was holding the bar, the one on the right looked like he was lifting a heavy weight- (face and forearms tight)

All three spotters were pulling hard. What's the point? It's one thing if you have a spotter help you with forced reps at the end of a set, but for doing a 1RM test, what does it prove - just use less weight.

 

[endpoint]

He has done over 700 in competiton......so the guys helping arent helping too much.

 

[Fatty4You]

For a second, i thought the guy benching was me.... then i remembered it was 800 lbs., which is somewhere around a couple hundred hundred pounds more than i lift. That's impressive. Anyone know how long he has been training?

-Fatty

 

[endpoint]

from his website
http://www.scotmendelson.com


"Scot Mendelson ranks as the number one bench pressers of the world. This September he hopes to become top dog with the first official 800-pound push in powerlifting history. And it's well within his capabilities. At this year's Arnold Expo 33-year-old Scot rammed up 755 like it was 225! Two weeks later, he did the same with 766 in Alberta, Canada.
Scot began bench pressing in the early 90s. He stopped once he got married… had to get a career going so he went to NYU and after graduating he began again and won the USPF California State Championships. And didn't start up again until 2000. "I was sitting in a deli with my wife looking at a powerlifting magazine," and I said, "Hey, the California State Championships is this weekend!" My wife asked if I was in shape. "Well, I'm benching about 620 raw. I hadn't kept up with the sport. I thought the top guys would be benching 800 already! So, anyway, I went, won, and dropped 584 onto my chest along the way. That was wonderful." He said.
"I was a wrestler, boxer, and played baseball and football as a kid. But my gift has always been strength and power. At 21 I benched 620 pounds raw (no shirt). I began training with weights at about 15."
" I can squat a thousand pounds, but my gift is the bench press. That's the lift I'm concentrating on...What's impressive is an 800-pound bench, and that's what I'll do September 7 at the WPO Bash For Cash in Daytona, Florida!"

 

[zackdarnell]

It didnt look to me like they were helping much, if any. Sure, they all stayed tight and kept their hands on/close to the bar, but if your spotting someone w/ 805 lbs, thats what you are going to do. Like heavywear said, safety first.