Two of the stars of “The Strongest Men in History,” Brian Shaw and Robert Oberst, have collaborated in a different test of strength than those that were featured on The History Channel. A new video on the Shaw Strength channel shows the two strongman stars performing the pro football combine 225 pound bench press for reps test.
For anyone not familiar with this test, the athlete is to perform reps with 225 pounds (102 kg) for as many consecutive reps as possible without failing. Once the athlete can no longer complete a rep without the bar dropping, the set is over. This test is designed to determine the athlete’s muscular endurance and to find out how long he can maintain his power before reaching failure.
Shaw and Oberst performed this test as a part of a larger training session in Shaw’s home gym in Colorado. Before they began, Oberst noted that they both had already benched heavy the previous day. There is another video that Shaw released that showed the two maxing out on a Smith Machine at Planet Fitness. Oberst also shared that he was training in a higher altitude than he is used to. That combined with his traveling would make this a greater challenge for him than Shaw who trains in this environment regularly.
After a complicated game of “rock, paper, scissors”, the four-time World’s Strongest Man went first and completed 44 reps before failing on the 45th. Next up was Oberst who completed 42 reps before racking the weight. Shaw acknowledged the situation Oberst was facing but he still declared himself the winner of this contest.
While the two men performed a very high amount of reps, neither man was able to break the NFL Combine record for most reps performed successfully. In 1999, Justin Ernest of Eastern Kentucky University completed 51 reps, which is still the standing record. While he still holds the record, the defensive tackle failed to make it on a pro roster. At the time Ernest set the record, he was 6 feet 2 inches tall. For perspective, Oberst and Shaw are 6’7” and 6’8”, respectively.
Shaw has been spending a lot of time training on the bench press in recent months and has worked up to lifting 530 pounds (240.3 kg) for a double. While he’s starting to pivot towards training for the 2020 World’s Strongest Man contest, he had said he would still continue to work on this lift to see how much he can improve.
Featured Image: Instagram/shawstrength
