|
quote from iron labs.com
Over the years I have witnessed some incredible events in the Iron Game. I′ve seen John Grimek pull trains with his bare hands. Paul Anderson squat over 1000 Pounds. Schwartzenegger win the Mr. Olympia seven times and Lee Haney topple that feat with eight.
But on June 17, 1995 I saw the greatest event of them all. On that day, a little man, by the name of Chris Confessore, who barely stands at a height of 5′4" tall and weighed just 236 pounds came out of nowhere and bench pressed 741 pounds! By doing so he not only recorded the heaviest triple bodyweight bench press of all time, but he also broke legendary Super Heavyweight Anthony Clark′s 738 pound bench press record. In all fairness to Anthony, it should be noted that he bench pressed 750 pounds at a recent meet. However, Anthony Clark also weighs more than 100 lbs more than Chris Confessore.
Chris has held world records in five different weight classes. In addition to holding the greatest pound for pound bench press title of all time, Chris also has possession of the second greatest pound for pound heaviest bench press, when in 1993 he bench pressed 662 pounds at a 217 pound bodyweight.
In 1994 Chris gained an additional 20 lbs. and broke World Champion Ken Lain′s World Record in the 242 lb. weight class by easily bench pressing 685 lbs.
Now with Chris′ 741 pound bench press one has to question whether anyone in the 242 pound weight class will ever be able to break his record. The next best lift in that division is almost 100 pounds less! Chris confessore is the greatest bench presser of all time, but can he dead lift or squat? Although he admits he doesn′t squat or dead lift as tenaciously as he used to, he still squatted 810 lbs at the Nationals and dead lifted over 700 lbs. at a 215 pound bodyweight.
What makes Chris an unlikely candidate for his accomplishments is that unlike the big genetic specimens of his sport like Anthony Clark and Ken Lain, Chris is not very big in either height or bone structure. Looking back at the scrawny pictures of his 130 lb. body at the beginning of his career, you would agree that he really had very little promise at all. Some people assume that because of Chris′ short stature, he has very short arms which give him an advantage in not having to push the bar very far when bench pressing. Not true! Relative to his height Chris has very long arms. In fact he takes a 33 inch sleeve.
Despite his anatomical disadvantages, Chris throughout his career has virtually broken a world record every time he has entered a meet. And while legends like Anthony Clark do it with double plus bodyweight bench presses, Chris does it with triple plus bodyweight lifts!
|
