Okay, here’s the deal: Julius Maddox might be a supernatural being walking amongst us common folk.
For context, back in November of 2019, he crushed a new all-time world record bench press of 337.5kg (744.1lb). Turns out, that was not even all that heavy by Julius Maddox’s standards. Check out his new gym personal record, which might as well just be forever synonymous with the unofficial world record at this point, of 342kg (755lb) that he shared on his Instagram page:
It did not even look remotely difficult for the raw bench press specialist.
Just in case you want to compare this new gym PR to his world record lift, here it is:
We know that Maddox’s long term goal is an extraordinary 363kg (800lb) bench because he has said as much:
“Road to 800lb Bench Press.”
So let’s talk numbers: the time between Maddox’s 337.5kg (744.1lb) all time world record bench and new current gym PR 342kg (755lb) bench was exactly two months. If Maddox were to continue to add weight at this pace, he could theoretically attempt a mythic 363kg (800lb) bench by October of this year. That may seem like a pipe dream, but every time Maddox adds weight to his bench, he is traversing territory never explored by humankind.
Think adding that kind of weight at that rate is impossible? Maddox has a response for you in his 342kg (755lb) post, where he writes:
“IT ALWAYS SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE UNTIL IT’S DONE.”
If Maddox added weight at even half this rate, he could still attempt a 363kg (800lb) bench in July 2021. Back when Maddox benched 312kg (688lb) in October of 2017, he said “trust the process.” And he is continuing to do that by defining the next short term goal of a 349kg (770lb) bench.
We may not be certain how long the “road to 800lb bench press” is, but we are definitely along for the ride.
Feature image from Julius Maddox instagram: @irregular_strength
