Ironman Classic videos - 850lb bench and 900lb attempt

[Travis Bell]

Felt really strong going into this meet. Left the house at 4am to head to Cincy Sunday morning. Weighed in at 274 and headed off to get some breakfast. I actually had to really work hard to bloat that high up but it worked well.

Warmups went as planned. worked up to 405 raw then took 585, 690 and 770 and was done.

Opened at 815 as planned and it went very smooth. really nothing problematic but it was good to get the opener out of the way. Took 850 on a second and again, smooth, no problems. 15lb PR.

I jumped to 900 because I felt good and wanted to roll the dice. It almost paid off lol but I couldn't quite lock it out. The weight didn't feel super heavy and it came down well enough. Just didn't have the gas.

I left the meet glad I got the PR but feeling a little bit like I left something on the platform. I'll be hitting up a meet in May where I'll try and change that.

850 Bench

Video

900lb attempt

Video

[Ruff Riff]

AWESOME lift, and that 9 bills is there man. Just a matter of time! You will get it, no doubt about it.

[Brian Hopper]

Awesome job Travis!!!

[ScottYard]

Nice lockout Travis. Quality lift. Congrats. Going from 800 to 850 puts you in a very small group of lifters. Push your weigh up to 300 and 900 is a serious possibility for you.

[Travis Bell]

Thanks Scott! It's a good start to this year over last year lol.

Honestly, i'd like to bench 600 raw and 900 equipped at 275. It's been a goal of mine to do that.

plus I'm not sure I could handle walking around at 300 lol. I'm only 5'9" haha.

[naites]

Are you liking the SDP more than the Overkill now? Or was the change just because it wasn't fitting as well due to weight change or something?

[Travis Bell]

Well here's the thing. Rudy is an awesome guy and I'll never say a single negative thing about him or the quality of his work. Everything he sent me was made perfect.

The difficulty I had was with the material. It's very technique specific and does not lend itself to my type of benching. I did hit an 835 in one of his shirts, but after that I was at a point where I could not lock out any more in the same shirt, but anything tighter I couldn't touch in.

The SDP for me is a very easy shirt to learn. I've worn one on and off ever since I benched 700 initially. The stretch of the material is very forgiving with the groove but it gives you a lot of speed off the chest. a year ago I'd have never thought about taking 900 for a ride, but if you look at the video, I actually came fairly close to locking it out yesterday! (it did not feel that way at the time haha)

That red shirt is a size or two, too big for me. I'm switching to a smaller black shirt that I wore once before the meet this weekend. It fits me in the arms a lot more snug and I'm counting on getting closer to 900.

But overall, yes I like the SDP. I don't have to take my opener and think "I hope I can touch this today" or "did I bloat too much..." whatever. I like to keep things simple.

[Invain]

Damn that 900 is not far away.

[vdizenzo]

Well done my friend. Beard power for sure. 900 is around the corner!

[JasonLift]

Congrats on the lifts.

[ScottYard]

Thanks Scott! It's a good start to this year over last year lol.

Honestly, i'd like to bench 600 raw and 900 equipped at 275. It's been a goal of mine to do that.

plus I'm not sure I could handle walking around at 300 lol. I'm only 5'9" haha.

LOL. 300 at 5'9 isnt bad. I speak from experience........... As long as your wife will agree to cut your toenails and you dont mind getting nose bleeds while tieng your shoes its a good thing numbers wise.

[vdizenzo]

I'm 5'8" on really good days and I got up to 328.5. I don't recommend it, but it's doable.

[Travis Bell]

lol in addition to running my gym I work as a logger. I'd be dead in a week hahaha

[Travis Bell]

But that's why it's a challenge to hit those goals at 275. I like a challenge.

I'm sure there are other guys out there who are more than capable of 900 equipped and 600 raw at 275 but it was just something I set my mind on.

[SEOINAGE]

Well done my friend. Beard power for sure. 900 is around the corner!

This.

[MarcusWild]

Congrats on the PR. That 900 was close.

[Joe B]

Wow, great job Travis!

[chris mason]

Strongest I have ever seen you. Good job!

[AlexH]

Inspiring!