Phil Heath-225 Lbs. For 46 Reps

Training Powerlifting
81

After watching the video, his reps looked pretty good. I usually train with full ROM (stop just short of lockout), yet his reps looked as if they were controlled. He didn’t bounce it off of his chest and his reps were probably 3-4" short of lockout. I bet if he locked out and was able to rest at the top, he probably would of been able to do more (hard to say). I’ve never been to a “bench press competition/show” where they see how many reps you can do, but like people have said, his muscles were under constant tension and it would be like squatting from “the hole” to right before lockout. If you try to do continuous squats without standing straight up to rest, it is a hell of a lot harder.

Also, some say his reps were partial, yet it was the bottom part, not the top part. If he went 1/2 way down and then up (like guys do at my gym), that would be a different story.

Props to Phil Heath

82

[quote]HouseOfAtlas wrote:
After watching the video, his reps looked pretty good. I usually train with full ROM (stop just short of lockout), yet his reps looked as if they were controlled. He didn’t bounce it off of his chest and his reps were probably 3-4" short of lockout. I bet if he locked out and was able to rest at the top, he probably would of been able to do more (hard to say). I’ve never been to a “bench press competition/show” where they see how many reps you can do, but like people have said, his muscles were under constant tension and it would be like squatting from “the hole” to right before lockout. If you try to do continuous squats without standing straight up to rest, it is a hell of a lot harder.

Also, some say his reps were partial, yet it was the bottom part, not the top part. If he went 1/2 way down and then up (like guys do at my gym), that would be a different story.

Props to Phil Heath[/quote]

I can’t even believe this post; First, this is not a personal attack but damn if I’m not wondering - DO ANY OF YOU GUYS ACTUALLY LIFT WEIGHTS!!!

Number 1; if dude was 3" shy of lockout - I’m 3" shy of a 12" schlong (I am not);

Number 2; This is a SUBMAXIMAL weight / rep test - bouncing off the chest is NOT an issue;

Number 3; If you actually believe he could get more reps if he locked them out and “rested” at the top - LMFAO - please attempt my little homework assignment.

Number 4; You’re comparing a squat to a bench press?!! Nuff said.

Number 5; since so many of you seem to discount the lock out - my next homework assignment is to pump lock outs in a similiar manner. Come back and report to me how easy they are LOL.

Anyway, my personal opinion on this feat; the man is strong period. The comments were fair and I think intended to just point out that if he locks out each rep he DOES NOT get as many reps as he did. I don’t think anyone intended to imply it wasn’t “contest” perfect, etc. or to otherwise degenerate into a BB v. PL thing.

This always happens on these threads. Someone posts something like that squat rep thing where dude barely broke a 1/4 squat; someone comes along and points out that yes, its a nice strength feat, but he didn’t even hit parallel - heaven forbid someone make such an OBSERVATION…They never implied the dude was weak, etc. They made a FAIR OBSERVATION.

Bottom line; he does those reps full ROM and you can knock off at LEAST 10 reps. Now please - I don’t need some idiot to come along and point out that that is still damn strong - I said it was strong no matter how he performed the reps!

Now you doubters go home tonite and do the homework assignment…lift a damn weight because to come here and even argue that it is harder to do those reps as shown v. full ROM is just unintelligent - and WRONG.

83

[quote]heavythrower wrote:
oh, ok, so it was not a bench press contest. my bad, the title of “bench press contest” fooled me. but hey, i am not a MD. so i guess you are saying it was a chest developement contest? so how do you judge that. the guys get under the weight do a bunch of reps however, and jump up and rate how “SWOOOOOLE” their pecs feel? the one who claims the biggest pump on his chest is the winner? haha! so silly.

[/quote]

That title on the video was added later by someone else and I thought it was an exhibition from what the other guys said. I wasn’t there, but that’s what it sounded like.

84

the feat was impressive if he done full reps maybe hed get high 30s. but still impressive.

people who are sayin its not impressive go u try it both ways. people that are exxagerating go you try it both ways.

now shut the hell up!!! lol

arguing like a bunch of old wemen.

85

You say tomato, I say what’s the fuckin difference. All the internet cowboys that are calling it bullshit, partialreps, whatever, let’s see you do it. Otherwise, shut the fuck up. You all sound like whiny little brats. I couldn’t do that, full or half. So who am I to say anything about what he did. I think most of you all just like to read your words. Oh, and you can bash me all you want, I don’t give a fuck.

86

[quote]heavythrower wrote:
ugh, now i started, i cant stop…

anybody here remember Jeff mcgruder(sp?),
back in the early 90’s he was one of the few people back then before bench shirts got out of control that could bench over 600, i think he was a 242 or 275, i read in PL USA that at an exhibition he did 315 40 something times, holey shit! the guy reporting this (cant remember his name, herb something or other) was famous or infamous about being very critical of poor/lax judging at pl meets, so i assume(perhaps wrongly though i admit) that they were “real” reps, whatever that means at an “exhibition”. [/quote]

I saw mcgruder bench 315 for about 50 reps at Shake’s gym once…I couldn’t veryify the exact count because he was moving the weight pretty fast…most barrel chested guy I’ve ever seen…

I nearly shit my pants watching…one strong fucker…

87

not one of those would have counted in the combine. i saw guys get laughed at on prodays (recruiting) for trying to get away with that when i was coaching.

look for the video of johnny erickson doing 300 for 51 reps, that is amazing. touches the chest and goes to full lock-out. it was in a bodyweight for reps contest at a USPF Oklohoma meet a few years ago. truly frightening.

88

Phil is really a genetic freak. I went to HS w/ him and grew up two blocks away from him. He was dunking w/ his 5’9" and was aways pretty muscular w/o much training. The reps wern’t quit all there but there common place these days. Shit I can only bust 13 full ones out.

89

hey ass clown… from your handle i take it you play rugby. are you a top level pro? no? then are you not allowed to have any fucking opinion about your favorite team unless it is a positive one?

grow the fuck up.

90

[quote]DPH wrote:
heavythrower wrote:
ugh, now i started, i cant stop…

anybody here remember Jeff mcgruder(sp?),
back in the early 90’s he was one of the few people back then before bench shirts got out of control that could bench over 600, i think he was a 242 or 275, i read in PL USA that at an exhibition he did 315 40 something times, holey shit! the guy reporting this (cant remember his name, herb something or other) was famous or infamous about being very critical of poor/lax judging at pl meets, so i assume(perhaps wrongly though i admit) that they were “real” reps, whatever that means at an “exhibition”.

I saw mcgruder bench 315 for about 50 reps at Shake’s gym once…I couldn’t veryify the exact count because he was moving the weight pretty fast…most barrel chested guy I’ve ever seen…

I nearly shit my pants watching…one strong fucker…[/quote]

yeah, now i remember, it was 51 reps he did with 315!! damn. you saw it, did he have a bench shirt on?

91

My body must be messed up, because I did try the bench press and did the 3-4" short of lockout today and tried going at a fast pace and I wasn’t putting up the amount of weight I “supposedly” should of put up according to some.

Oh darn :frowning:

92

[quote]heavythrower wrote:
DPH wrote:
heavythrower wrote:
ugh, now i started, i cant stop…

anybody here remember Jeff mcgruder(sp?),
back in the early 90’s he was one of the few people back then before bench shirts got out of control that could bench over 600, i think he was a 242 or 275, i read in PL USA that at an exhibition he did 315 40 something times, holey shit! the guy reporting this (cant remember his name, herb something or other) was famous or infamous about being very critical of poor/lax judging at pl meets, so i assume(perhaps wrongly though i admit) that they were “real” reps, whatever that means at an “exhibition”.

I saw mcgruder bench 315 for about 50 reps at Shake’s gym once…I couldn’t veryify the exact count because he was moving the weight pretty fast…most barrel chested guy I’ve ever seen…

I nearly shit my pants watching…one strong fucker…

yeah, now i remember, it was 51 reps he did with 315!! damn. you saw it, did he have a bench shirt on?
[/quote]

no bench shirt on…

this wasn’t an exhibition at a meet, it was just him benching in the gym one day…I was just lucky enough to be there at the same time he was…

I think I had benched 275 for 2 reps and was thinking I was getting pretty strong…haha…then I watched him blow through reps with 315 like there was no tomorrow…I left the gym with my ego completely deflated…lol

93

For every dick-smack that is complaining about his form, saying he didn’t lockout, saying they were half-reps; you’re all little Internet “arm-chair” bitches.

I’d like to see one of you whiners do even a third of his total reps at that weight using the same ROM, you couldn’t fucking do it.

Every time there is some video posted of a great strength or strength-endurance effort, there are a dozen “arm-chair” pansies that complain about the form. Since the form wasn’t “perfect”, these small-minded eunuchs thinks it negates the effort. “It’s simply not impressive to me”, says the “no-dick” boy wonder.

The “arm-chair” critics on this thread are 150 lb ass-pipes.

94

Cool video!

95

[quote]HouseOfAtlas wrote:
My body must be messed up, because I did try the bench press and did the 3-4" short of lockout today and tried going at a fast pace and I wasn’t putting up the amount of weight I “supposedly” should of put up according to some.

Oh darn :frowning:

[/quote]

Yes, apparently, everyone else logging on is some genetic freak that can lift significantly more weight simply because they don’t lock out. Most of the crap in this thread towards that angle is pure bullshit.

96

No one is saying that it isn’t impressive, every one keeps trying to make that debate.

The fact is, saying that is 46 reps is a bit misleading. So, can I just put 225 on the bar and move it 1" and count those as reps? I mean, we have to draw the line somewhere right?

97

[quote]jehovasfitness wrote:
No one is saying that it isn’t impressive, every one keeps trying to make that debate.

The fact is, saying that is 46 reps is a bit misleading. So, can I just put 225 on the bar and move it 1" and count those as reps? I mean, we have to draw the line somewhere right?[/quote]

You can draw the line wherever you wish. If this was some legit contest, I am sure everyone would agree that someone needed to call out where he should extend to. Notice that no one in that video gave a shit. Therefore, for you to give a shit makes very little sense. They were wearing street clothes, not even “workout gear”. Let it go. It will be alright. Breath.

98

[quote]Professor X wrote:
Let it go. It will be alright. Breath.[/quote]

since you say so, I will :smiley:

99

[quote]Professor X wrote:
Yes, apparently, everyone else logging on is some genetic freak that can lift significantly more weight simply because they don’t lock out. Most of the crap in this thread towards that angle is pure bullshit.[/quote]

I agree. I also should say thank you for pointing out to me a while back that partials actually do have their place in building mass.

Secondly, I watched Pumping Iron a week ago and noticed Lou Ferrigno doing partials on the shoulder press. He started in the bottom position and he pushed the bar only a few inches above his head. I wondered why he never went all the way up. I found out later on while reading a book by Dr. Squat (Fred Hatfield) that when doing shoulder presses, once the bar is above the top of your head, the triceps become the main movers. Dr. Squat suggests to do partials when doing shoulder presses to put constant stress on the shoulders.

100

Do any of you know that muscles are strongest in a position of length (bottom of bench), as they shorten(contract) they mechanically get weaker, however the skeletal system design is at the same time moving the insertion closer to the origin and fulcrum point thus providing an increased lever advantage to compensate for the decreased muscular advantage.

Keeping this in mind, why do you think most lifts are missed at somewhere near the midway point of a bench? Most people are strong off their chest, other than those suffering from delusions of grandeur and trying to press well beyond their capabilities. This would result in making sub maximal attempts very easy from chest to midpoint. It is science, moving a given weight over a longer distance requires more energy thus making half reps easier when not controlled with TUT (PERIOD)