check this out

[SAGAT]

hey dont post much here but i just read something seemingly rediculous, i read on a site that Jean-Claude van Damme at one point benched 166kgs (multiply by 2.2 for pounds), anyone else thinks this is...well...improbable (to say the least)?

 

[HighIntensity]

jean is pretty big and a martial arts guy does not seem out of the realm,

 

[HappyScrappy]

365... hmm, improbable for me... but he is a lot bigger than me

 

[SAGAT]

yeah you guys really think so? it also said he at one point weighed in at 99 kgs NATURALLY, which i consider A LOT at a height of, what is it....5'6 max? i, for one, always perceived him as kind of weak...

 

[frorider6]

He's short, which gives him better leverage for lifting. 366 is not out of the realm of a natural guy's 1 rep max range.

Plus, as an actor, he has lots of time and money to spend on training. Hell, it's his whole life. How much could you bench if that was your job?

 

[SAGAT]

well i guess you got a point there, still...he must be f'n strong huh?

 

[frorider6]

well i guess you got a point there, still...he must be f'n strong huh?

Yes, he is strong. However, I think he should have worked on his acting skills as hard as he worked on his bench press. He's a joke.

 

[Arioch]

Perfectly reasonable. Most drug free powerlifters at his approximate weight will bench double bodyweight, if not far more.

 

[L.A.X]

I've also read that he has or had a $5,000 a week Coke habit

 

[bouncer]

166kgs isn't that big a bench.


Bouncer

 

[HighIntensity]

for you, no

 

[SAGAT]

maybe not...but for me it is. hey arioch, he's a powerlifter? i didn't know that. and frorider; agreed on the acting skills, he IS a joke. although he could kick my ass six ways from sunday.

 

[MrMuscle]

you are talking about my childhood hero here, no dissing allowed. he was prety big back when he did his best movies. kickboxer, Blodsport, double impact, cyborg and so on. so i dont think it is improbable that he benched that amount of weight.

 

[SAGAT]

(btw, you guys on the chat board post FAST. takes three years to get a reply on the training board...)

 

[Arioch]

Well, I would add a few more things. There is a big difference between 99% of the lifts done in the gym and lifts done to competition standard. At bench meets, there are quite a few people who show up claiming, for example, a 405 bench, but cannot 315 by the rules.

To cast a slightly different view on it, at his approximate weight (98 kgs.) my bench was better than his, and is was, is, and will always be my worst lift.