Kenneth “Kenny” Leverich is a multi-time CrossFit Games competitor and all-around freak athlete who has a crazy combination of strength, speed, and gymnastics skill. Basically, he’s one of the best functional fitness athletes we can think of to put on a clinic of showoff moves
So when Thrillist recruited him for a recent viral prank (sponsored by Smith & Forge Hard Cider), well, it drew a crowd. The whole thing is under four minutes, and it’s worth watching in its entirety as Leverich gets disguised as an 84 year old man when he visits the famed Muscle Beach. Costumed snatches, clean & jerks, back flips, pistols, and other antics ensue.
We’ve seen this sort of prank pulled off before with big brands and mainstream sports superstars (think Kyrie Irving schooling streetballers as the faux-aged “Uncle Drew”), but it seems like Leverich actually had the Muscle Beach regulars convinced from start to finish. We especially love the reactions of the shirtless lifter Leverich challenges to a snatch-off. “Shocked” doesn’t come close to describing it.
There’s no guarantee, but we don’t think most of the observers were corporate plants. And we really, really want to think the shock is genuine.
Leverich (or his character, at least) even get a round of applause from onlookers as he departs with some age-old strength wisdom. All you need is a bit of motivation, a consistent training habit, and lots and lots of prune juice.
As for the real Kenny Leverich, we won’t be seeing him at the Games this year, at least not as a competitor; he finished 14th in a stacked California Regional. But he’s still training hard and doing near-superhuman things, as evidenced by some ring gymnastics antics earlier this year.
Video and featured screenshot from Thrillist.
