The people at Big Tex Gym in Austin, Texas this past weekend were able to witness something that has never been done before and something that has happened twice in the past 60 days. Back in September, Julius Maddox broke the all-time world bench press record when he completed a 335 kg (739.6 pound) lift. On November 16, Maddox raised the bar again (literally and figuratively) by breaking his own record and completing a press of 337 kg (744.1 pounds).
Maddox participated in the Rob Hall Classic in Austin, and the meet was sanctioned by the World Raw Powerlifting Federation (WRPF). Like his previous meet, Maddox only took part in the bench portion of the meet. He was spotted by his coach, Josh Bryant, as well as the designated spotters provided by the organizers of the event. Unlike his last record, there was no issue racking the weight after the command, so there would be no controversy following this new record.
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It was only his second of three attempts at this particular meet. The most shocking part wasn’t that he completed the lift but rather the speed that the weight went up. He clearly had the ability to do more if he felt he had to. It’s believed that he would’ve attempted at least 750 pounds if he were to go for another attempt because Bryant’s @jailhousestrong Instagram page posted a congratulatory image of Maddox with “750 Barrier Broken 11/16/19” in the photo. The post was made before the meet. However, Maddox passed on the third attempt due to feeling tightness in his pec.
When he spoke to BarBend following his previous record, Maddox had said that he wanted to go for 770 pounds in a future meet. However, he posted the 744 video on the YouTube with a higher number in the description.
“Coached by Josh Bryant with @jailhousestrong the ROAD TO 800 lb bench is on the brink.”
So obviously 770 is now not the milestone but rather a stepping stone for the 6’3” and 440 plus pound bench master. He has been the subject of a lot of attention recently thanks to his power and feats of strength. He garnered a lot of attention after he posted a video of himself benching 700 pounds for a triple which also may be a first.
Maddox first made headlines when he broke the American Raw bench record back in June with a successful attempt of 327 kg (723 pounds). It would be another three months before he completed the first world record breaking lift at Boss of Bosses in September. This most recent mark was set less than two and a half months after that.
Other Lifters Trying to Catch Maddox
Ever since Maddox took ownership of this record, other lifting greats have set their sights on trying to catch him. One of those men was 2017 World’s Strongest Man Eddie Hall, who recently trained with him and posted the video on YouTube.
Another is Larry Williams aka “Larry Wheels”. He attempted 705 pounds himself but was unable to complete the lift. He is set to compete in Revolution Powerlifting’s “InsurreXtion 8” meet on November 24th and will be doing the full meet. He hasn’t stated whether he would go for Maddox’s record at this particular event.
On November 17th, Maddox did an Instagram live video and offered advice for those who were asking him about keys to his success.
“I’m blessed to be in this position. All I can say is if you have a dream or something you want to do, go for it. Life’s too short to have any regrets, man. I’m going for everything I can and so should you.”
When he was asked by BarBend about future meets or what he will be doing next, he replied with only four words.
“Follow my social media.”
Featured Video: Instagram/irregular_strength
