Benchpress Survey - Which Set Rocks The Hardest?

[Seanzilla]

Which benchpress set would impress you the most if you saw someone rep this in the gym?

315 Pounds for 40 Reps


405 Pounds for 20 Reps


495 Pounds for 12 Reps


600 Pounds for 3 Reps


675 Pounds for 1 Rep

(All done full range, no help from the spotter and without a bench shirt.)

We're filming a lifter who can do all of the above (and more reps with some of these weights on a good day) but we only have a limited number of weekends to film, and they can't do those sets in one workout, so post up which you think is the most hardcore and be part of the directing!

Rock On,
Seanzilla

[Adam]

600 for 3 would impress me the most.
315 for 40 is just ridiculous though!

[BigRic]

Yah 315 for 40 is absolutely disguisting.

[lilmase1153]

yeah id get bored watching someone bang out 315 for 40 reps id watch the first 20 maybe.. im with adam 600x3 would deff be sometihng worth watching

[bill]

675

[HahnB]

how about all of the above christ.

[Adam]

haha, I guess thats the best answer!

[TheMachine]

I'd pay to see someone rep out 495!

[Ironrelic]

The last 10 of the 40 rep would be impressive; by then I'd say the lactic buildup would make those reps pretty tough & give a h***uva pump. Filmwise, seems the scene would drag on too long. What's the whole point of the scene?

[Seanzilla]

We're working on Ryan "BenchMonster" Kennelly's training dvd right now and we'll be filming up thru the Arnold Classic (and maybe a couple weeks beyond) and it's our goal to be in production by this April. So, since we have to travel for each shoot, we only have so many days to film and though he can do all of the above sets, he can't do them back to back in one workout! LOL

Kennelly hit 315x40 in the Animal Pak Cage last year at the Arnold Classic, but that only got caught in pictures and not on film, grrrrrrrrrrrr.

In training, he's hit 600x6 and 640x3, no bench shirt, so he's got insane capability.

So far in this video, some of the sickest stuff we've captured is back to back to back 315x20, 405x20, 495x6 (we just kept the camera running and he chugged some water while we popped on the next plate) in a rest pause rest pyramid, a 903 shirted competition bench, a 900 shirted 1 board press and a shirted 2 board with 990! Seeing 990 on a benchpress bar was crazee! Also, we've been filming Kennelly's warm-ups leading up to his heavy shirt work (for both instructional and shock value) and he almost always goes up to 600 or so for a single before shirting up which is mad strong too!

Now we're filming some of his preparation for the Mendelson Classic and then the two weeks between that contest and the Arnold Classic and then we'll finish up the taping thru the rest of March while he's still up at the heavy end of his weight gaining and training cycles.

So, getting back to the survey, what would be the most rockin' to see from the thread starting post list?

[Kahnizzle]

Yeah 315 Pounds for 40 Reps is just nasty....something i'm hoping to get to someday

[Adam]

When is the video release date suppose to be?

[Seanzilla]

We're planning on going into production the 1st week of April so they should be available for individual purchase around the end of that month.

[lilmase1153]

nice what else do you plan on having in the video?? just a bunch of exhibitions of differnent lifts? sounds pretty intresting though i love watching some of the superhuman things people can do..

[Seanzilla]

This documentary is titled "The Road to the Arnold" and it's covering Kennelly's 4th journey to the Arnold Classic Benchpress World Championships in his attempt to become the first man in history to win the gold medal twice (he placed 2nd in 2002, 1st in 2003 and 3rd in 2004.) We'll be releasing a movie trailer when the dvd starts distributing that you'll be able to download and/or watch online, cause you'll have to see some of the film to grasp how intense the iron insanity really is.

[Optimum08]

i would have to say the 600x3 just by default...my attention span isn't long enough to watch someone pump out 40 reps...although 40 reps @ 315....no words can describe the insanity of that...i can't even grasp watching someone do 315x40 i don't even think i could get 135x40 haha

[body]

675 pounds.

but all would be good to see.

[Chrispy]

315 Pounds for 40 Reps
600 Pounds for 3 Reps
675 Pounds for 1 Rep

i would choose those 3 if you can fit them in your timeframe.

[chris mason]

I will buy the video.

Kennelly is a monster!

I vote for 495 x 12 or whatever he can get (if more).

Can he get the 675 lbs RAW with a pause? If so, maybe I will go with that.

[snowster900]

600 3

[SW]

315x40. 3 pps going constantly, making you feel weaker and weaker and weaker...........

[Seanzilla]

I will buy the video.

Kennelly is a monster!

I vote for 495 x 12 or whatever he can get (if more).

Can he get the 675 lbs RAW with a pause? If so, maybe I will go with that.

With the lifters who've gotten up to that level of no shirt benching (James Henderson, Scot Mendelson, Ryan Kennelly, Bill Kazmaier, Glenn Chabot, Brian Siders and the mid 600s benchers) the pause is more of a "bar stops moving for a split second" than a powerlifting bench shirt pause (a split second more pause than a touch n go but way more of a pause than a bounce in go.)

BJ Dirk, the 2nd in command on the Kennelly Power Team did see Kennelly bench 650 without a shirt one time and he said that, to be crazee, he let the bar just lay there on his chest, before restarting the lift. Kennelly's hit 640x3 without a shirt so Dirk's story sound right. Since he suffered a pec tear about 2 years ago, I'm glad that he hasn't tried to break the 713 no shirt record as that kind of lifting is a dice roll ever time and the odds are worse when you've already been injured once before. Besides, going up to 675 already puts ya with the top few in history for no shirt benching and the pro competitions these days are all geared.

Not to hijack my own thread, but did you hear that Tibor Mezaros (spelling) joined the ranks of the 900+ deadlifters? There's only like 7 of those guys too in all of history. I got to see the two biggest pulls in history live thanks to my being a reporter but those lifts still seem unfathomable to me.

In his pursuit to PR in competition (he's up to 902 pounds now) Kennelly's been working a lot of 1-3 rep sets and a ton of lockouts but we're get some more no shirt lifts on film in this video (and I'm sure in the next if we get to film that too!) That power building 8-12 rep range is a tough one to get mega heavy while building a max single at the same time. Over on the IronGame site they've got Ben White hitting 505x9 at 275 bodyweight and anything 3 reps and over with 500 pounds is wicked strong in my opinion.

[Adam]

What country is Tibor Mezaros from? I don't remember seeing his name before in any results from big meets.

[Seanzilla]

I believe Tibor Meszaros is from Hungary. He's been lifting big for awhile in the IPF and WPC. He's been at the 800+ level for awhile so it's really cool to see him break one of the greatest barriers in all of strength sports. In May of last year, he pulled 899.5 in the IPF. Tibor is still in his thirties too, so we may see him take a run at the Andy Bolton's 932.6 since he's less than 6 pounds off the mark currently! Bolton might be competing in the Arnold Classic again this year, if he can work the trip over from England, so his record might go up again?

[Seanzilla]

I will buy the video.

Kennelly is a monster!

I vote for 495 x 12 or whatever he can get (if more).

Can he get the 675 lbs RAW with a pause? If so, maybe I will go with that.

Hey Chris, shoot me an email when you've got time. Look forward to talking with ya again bro.

Seanzilla@hardcorepowerlifting.com