Julius Maddox, the current all-time world record holder in the raw bench press, is still preparing for his attempt to make history on June 27 when he hopes to become the first man to press 800 pounds (363 kg). Even with the pandemic crisis that has taken hold on most of the world, the Kentucky native has still been able to train for his big day and based on his most recent feat, everything appears to be full steam ahead.
The latest stop on his road to 800 was on May 19 when Maddox made a post on Instagram which shows him performing 705 pounds (320 kg) for a set of 4 reps. The video has “700 pounds” but his caption about the post shows 705. Maddox confirmed to BarBend that it was actually 705 on the bar. He also said that he didn’t know himself that it was actually 705 on the bar. He was under the impression that he was doing 700 pounds. So he even surprised himself.
He performs all four reps with pauses that were around one second each. One of his three spotters appeared to assist on the last rep early but he still completed the final rep.
Maddox’s confidence leading up to his big event had to have grown significantly after his latest feat. This is evidenced by his statement within the caption.
“What was once my ceiling is now my floor! @fosjosh”
If Maddox is successful on his history-making attempt, it will be the third time that he had broken his own record since he took it over back when the new mark was 740 pounds (335 kg). He moved it up to 744 pounds in November at the Rob Hall Classic. In March, he made a 26 pound jump when he successfully lifted 770 pounds (349.2 kg) at the Arnold Sports Festival. Completing the 800 pound attempt would require an improvement of 30 pounds in a little less than four months.
The 800 pound attempt will take place in Michigan on June 27th and is to be streamed live on CoreSports, which is the same group that broadcasted Hafthor Bjornsson’s historic 501 kg (1,104 pound) deadlift earlier this month.
