Ted Arcidi 1985 705lb 320kg benchpress

[koeff]

I thought this was done at the 1985 Gus Retwitch Hawaii World Records meet and not raw.

Wether im wrong or right, Ted is one of the best benchers of all time obviously back there with Riku Kiri, James Henderson, ..

[MrOnceinside]

When I finally quit powerlifting I weighed 218lbs @ 5'11". I benched 425. I was so stoked and nothing in the world felt better. Oh yeah, and I did it in a old cotton t-shirt. My raw squat was 550lbs, and my deadlift was done without belts, or suits or crap at 610lbs. So That is the reality of it all. So add todays gear to all that and I would have been unstoppable, but I would have felt fake.

[strongsick286]

yea i done all the gear work before but im all about raw now only way i train now

[JoePastore1973]

Yes lifitng isn't what it used to be. All these ridiculous numbers lol. I have seen bench shirts where the person couldn't even get the bar to touch his chest unless he had 225lbs or more in his hands. Benching your own body weight is considered a good accomplishment. 100 lbs over your weight is great. Twice your weight is exceptional. He is a video of me benching 140lb dumb bells for 11 reps.

[ownagexx3]

If you are a REAL man.. You press the benchpress RAW!!!!

VIKING POWER !!! 

[bloodpool]

Someone should remind him that his coke is supposed to go in his nose, not on his back

[DrOCkABlEs]

i think he could've got 715

[TheTrueFortress]

No pause. But huge weight. Today's "records" (equipped) are a joke. Dudes pressing over 700 pounds weighing, like, 165. Yeah, right. Guys totalling 2700 weighing under 220. Just retarded. At least those in the know, KNOW. But the gear just distorts the general population's perception of what is strong, currently. Some cat hoists 405 raw and drug-free and dumbasses say, "So? That's crappy. This guy here benches 2500 pounds, man!"

Pathetic.

[MrOnceinside]

@TheTrueFortress its soo true the 165lb bench raw record and shirt record are held by the same guy i think. his raw is like 488 his shirted is like 700! how stupid! i had one of the first shirts, there were no double stiching, no double panels the sleaves didnt go down to your elbows and they were just 100% polyester. at most you could expect 20-30 pound kicks out of them. i pitched mine shortly after i got it and opted for a better bench routine.

[kenfo0]

@TheTrueFortress I think you are just jealous. I am drug free and lifted over 8,000 lbs with a crane. Yeah, that's right...NO steroids!

[krakistophales]

@TheTrueFortress The problem is, most people who say that are either: Gearwhores, or people who've never benched more than 175-225 and don't know what kind of effort is required even to reach a 315 raw, drug-free bench. Even for a guy that's 220, 242, or 275.

[TheTrueFortress]

@krakistophales

You said it, man. I am drug-free and lift raw, and for my meet this October I hope to hit an ultra-tight 425 (with a very distinct pause). It ain't easy ... especially when you're a three-lift powerlifter and not a "specialist". I weigh 290 and am proud that all my lifts are proportionate.

These guys today who press a couple of hundred pounds more than they deadlift = embarrassing. If this doesn't say it all, I don't know what could.

[krakistophales]

@TheTrueFortress It all comes down to the fact that the general population has no concept of what heavy weight feels like. They see you hoisting 4 plates in a deadlift for reps and they think "that's heavy, but whatever" when they have no clue that if every nerve in your body isn't firing at full power at just the right time, that weight's going nowhere.

Just hit 305 x 2 @ 270 a while ago on the bench, and it took much hard work to get there. Hopefully I'll be at 315-335 in the coming weeks.

[TheTrueFortress]

@krakistophales

Nice work on the bench, brother. Keep at it. I am sure you'll'' meet ... and then exceed ... dreams. Gotta "punch the clock", right? All the best to you ...

Rob 

[krakistophales]

@TheTrueFortress Best of luck to you as well at your meet.

[TheTrueFortress]

@krakistophales

Thank you very much, friend. Hails!

[m5p944]

@krakistophales finaly some smart statement. I fully agree with you.

[muzimuzi]

@TheTrueFortress if you were refering to joe mazza's 700 bench press at 165 just know he also benched around 480 RAW and eventho it wasnt totally legit. he still benching over 200 raw at 165 but i agree on the rest

[Sanderdrever]

The greatest Bench presser ever!!!

[nocando1234]

It's RAW and NATURAL or NOTHING at ALL.

[cypionate011]

he was useing an early bench shirt.he's best without was 666lbs,so he got about 40lbs out of the old shirt,now they get 300lbs from shirts.

[silencer303]

I think with all the shirts it makes powerlifting boring.

Look at this, the spotter only lifts the bar off the rack thats all. No slowly lower or anything.

If you watch powerlifting its boring this though it cool.

[MrOnceinside]

@silencer303 the shirts make it nearly impossible to lower the weight in the first place and have it land in the groove. not only the shirst but the rules are so loose now.

[danteras23]

How much without juice?

[Skyoneer2007]

if they had triple thick bench shirts back in the 80's ted would have got'n 1000 + pounds

[breezeman199]

Bench shirt?

[deddles]

was there a pause. didnt look like it..

[fukgloryzz]

Impressive and the guy was a beast. A little help I guess from an early form of bench shirt but not like the fucked up "spring loaded" bench shirts of today. Raw is the only way to go. However, what do you think would be the largest natural totally drug free raw bench press for the world in pounds??

[Ludichris8531]

We'll never know who was totally drug free, but the largest drug TESTED raw bench was 711 pounds in 1997 by James Henderson in the IPF with a body weight of 390 pounds.

[Apjooz]

I guess some monster could get close to 500 but I think no way more than that.

[dgh28135]

guys even if he had an early bench shirt on its over 700 f'n lbs. thats pretty impressive!

[MikeDunn]

I feel this is the way it should be. Raw.

[Ludichris8531]

This isn't raw, this was with a blast shirt on.

[MrAdil2013]

and he still has the raw record. Although i reckon out of those 3, henderson would have been my bet to achieve the most all out judging by his excess size and complete power.

[MrAdil2013]

This wasn't as smooth and slow as mendelsons 715 but amazing non the less. I think at the time there was no competition for him and 705 was a milestone which he achieved. He did do a 725 but it was disallowed. The smoothest and most powerful 700 plus i have seen was by henderson. You see neither arcidi nor henderson had any real competitio so when they got thier respective records there was no hurry to lift more. Mendelson had the greatest perspective since he broke it last by 2 pounds.....

[Ludichris8531]

Yes but this is with a blast shirt on and can't be compared. Henderson's 711 was a great bench, but he was wearing elbow sleeves and it wouldn't be considered raw by today's rules.

[DrOCkABlEs]

by the looks of it, it looks like ted could've got 715. that 705 looked a little easy for him

[nightvisionmonocular]

I think raw is the most pure form of strength because it takes the arguments out of the equation. There is a reason that the record for bench is 715 and has been for quite some time. Unless someone broke that record, I believe Scott Mendleson still holds it.

[SerbiansareTrash]

@nightvisionmonocular agreed 100%

let's say we have two guys who bench ... 500 raw for example

why can one guy bench 600 with gear and one 650 with gear? FUCK GEAR

RAW4EVER

[Skyoneer2007]

@nightvisionmonocular yep ans I do belive ryan kennelly is going to break it shortly

[Eningmea62]

@nightvisionmonocular The drug tested record by the IPF is James Henderson back in the 90, he also took the weight by himself , probably the strongest bencher ever

[T74G]

@Eningmea62

he was sick...brutal strong!!!

[TheTrueFortress]

@nightvisionmonocular

Dead on, dude. Scot's 715 stil stands as the greatest press of all time. I'd like to see all these 1,000-plus guys take a stab at a 700-plus, minus the ridiculous equipment that makes touching 600 to your chest impossible. Regardless what anyone says, raw is always the gold standard. No guess work, as was said.

[Lfdjake91]

Ted Arcidi had a brief career as a pro wrestler.

[tattoofrenzy]

this goes out to all the computer assholes that think the know anything about powerlifting,lifting weights or for that lifting there dicks. PICK UP A BOOK,READ AS MUCH AS YOU CAN BEFORE MAKING A UNINTELLIGENT AND UNINFORMED COMMENTS. Talking stupid shit about lifting supremacy of hard training powerlifters. SHIRTS HELP LIFTERS TRAIN HEAVY PREVENT INJURIES. ELITE WILL ALWAYS BE ELITE .STEROIDS ,SHIRTS, WRAPS , SO FUCKIN' WHAT REMEMBER IF YOU CRY ABOUT YOU ARE NOT ELITE. PLAY HOP-SCOTCH.

[snuddergluff]

i wore a shirt once it's just cheating, and another reason powerlifting will not be an olympic sport.. i had to pull the weight down to my chest, what does that say? shirts dont save you from injury at all, but i do agree with your elite statement

[rantanen1]

You had to pull the weight down to your chest cos you propably used a very though shirt and you benched very little.

QUITE not the same as having 1075 comin down on ur chest now is it?

[Mikeyburger3]

RAW IS TRUE! a true powerlifter lifts raw.... is this a raw bench?!

[Ludichris8531]

This is not a raw bench, he has an early bench shirt on. he lifted 669.5 raw in competition at his best.

[Eningmea62]

No this is not RAW, Arcidi competed with a shirt(back in 1985 bench shirt were new) he was wearing a double chest panel poly made by Franz . Gus Rastwitch Ran Budweiser [unofficial] Budweiser World record breaker meet. it was televised by ABC and was PL greatest event every summer, until 1989the meet was removed from TV after that ABC and Budweiser Discovered that the 100lb. plates that were used weighted the only 90lb. to guaranty" success. the actual weight was around 650lb.(Do the Math)

[aaronrus]

@Eningmea62 dood, why do you have to make shit up. seriously.. come on..dont be an idiot

[powerlifter330]

and you see alot more big number being but up instead of a couple ever couple years what do you think??

[powerlifter330]

i dont really get why ppl dont like bench shirts that much it keeps powerlifting interesting cause if you didnt have them then you would have 1 guy every 30 or more years that would get close to the raw record then if he didnt get injured and did break the record that would be it for a long time at least with a bench shirt at anytime someone can come along and even if they dont have the best genetics can bench big weight and break record cause he learned the technics to do it

[SuckerLickMyBattery]

Because they make the sport look like a joke, because the athlete is doing the acctual lifiting. WHat more reason do you want? Most people don't mind basic injury preventing gear, so long as it is standardized. But come on, we want people to break records by being able to lift more, not by putting on a more ridiculous "shirt" that does most of the work for them.

[powerlifter330]

yea i agree that they should at least have a standard bench shirt that everone wheres so if you do beat the record you know you have the best technic and/or strength for the shirt

[Noahedwinbeach2]

I dont even agree with basic gear. I mean honestly I have never injured myself on a max lift attempt on the bench. Benching raw imo prevents this unless you take steroids which increases the chances the muscle will tear.

[Ludichris8531]

But if it were a standard shirt, then records wouldn't be broken very often.  That's why they've been broken so much, people keep advancing the gear

[snuddergluff]

i remember the first bench sirts and they are nothing like the ones i've seen used to date at all but even back then i thought it was stupid for the sport it was bad enough with the super suits and knee wraps that were developed to increase the squat.. really the deadlift still remains the true strength feat in powerlifting.. I know exactly from raw lifts and gear lifts how much the average lifter is able to get out of thier gear.

[snuddergluff]

no it keeps it more un-interesting adn only interesting to those who are really into gear lifters... 1,000 lb benches thats rediculous.. used to be if a guy could bench 600lbs he was probably squatting 900+, and deadlifting around the 800's. so these fake little 5' 5" tall 300 lb dudes in cheatshirts are not strong at all byt those standards.. they would have to squat 3,000 and deadlift 2,500 and we all know that is not happening soo how much does the shirt help?

[cyberkai99]

It all depends on the shirt. Ryan Kennelly can super shirt bench press 1075, squat 975 in a suit, and deadlift 800 at his best (which he never does anymore). But it's all about what type of gear you use and which lifts you train the hardest. I'm a RAW lifter and I bench more than I squat. So what you said was broad. Also keep in mind that the three guys that bench press 1000+ pounds are 6' tall or taller.

[jfunkfinger69]

no pause,no lift,end of story

[RogerThat5891]

this was back in 1985.. that was a lot of weight back than, and still is now... give credit where credit is due, just because it wasn't competition legit, doesn't mean it wasn't a worthy lift by any means...

[jfunkfinger69]

i am not saying he isnt strong,i am saying its a no lift in a competition.

[mm34rider]

oh boo whooo get over it.

[jfunkfinger69]

grow up

[radiohead8844]

nice lift, lame pause

[URAGR8M8]

I hope everyone bitching about the shirt realises that Ted had a 669.9lb RAW bench in comp in 1984. That's the 5th heaviest in competition RAW bench in history.

[Ludichris8531]

This is true. he got a little less than 30 pounds out of his blast shirt, but 30 pounds is still 30 pounds. THIS is not a raw lift, but he had performed 669.9 raw and that's tremendous too. It would be nice if there was video of that lift.

[mugen45]

Pretty sure older shirts did not help as much as newer shirts did, but they still helped non the less

[BarrelLifter]

Anyone who says the shirt doesn't help up the poundage is either delusional or a liar.

Period!

[peacemaker2110]

I don't see what the huge deal is with shirt and without shirt. I've met some big benchers who could bench raw what they could do in a shirt. One guy i met was 20 years old and benched 615 raw and 628 in a shirt in particular. And some guys who added on alot to their bench because it helps blast them off the bottom and that the bottom is their weakpoint. The shirt DOES NOT do the pressing and thats something people just need to understand.

[Ludichris8531]

Actually shirts 20 years ago were unbelievably different. Hell, shirts 10 years ago were very different than they are today. The one ted is wearing could give a lifter 15-30 pounds boost. The ones people wear today can give someone a 40% boost on their raw max if they've trained in their shirt well enough. That's why the raw record is still 715 and the shirt record is now 1075.

[mflora72]

what does the shirt do exactly to help?

[harrisbrownable]

It keeps the arms held out straight in the zombie position, and provides increasing resistance from lockout to the bottom position at the chest. The lifter has to pull the weight into them, and the shirt acts as a spring. Thats why shirted benchers explode easily from the botom and often struggle with lockout.

Think of the affect of a band bench press.

[snizshizzle]

Was that raw?  God damn.

[HateBreed430]

So talking with him makes you an expert, very interesting. Ludichris8531 already explained it, but I guess I have to again. BACK THEN, they had things called blast shirts, they are nothing like shirts nowadays. Theyll add maybe 20 pounds to your bench. And olympic lifters dont use "this crap" because theyre main focus is things like clean n' jerk.

[themetalgod21]

no,i got info from the horses mouth.have you benched a grand???i doubt it!!!!you were endorsing lifting with a shirt and gene is one of the best shirted lifters.he said he used the shirt for protection not added pounds.so i discount all shirted lifts.man was not meant to lift in shirts.the reason o lifters don;t use gear like pl is 1.their lifts are multi linear 2.could you see a o lifter trying to lift with a shirt he couldn;t clean the weight.plus olympic rules forbid it.

[HateBreed430]

No, I have never benched anything clost to it. All im saying was Ted Arcidi was the original king of the bench. And calling him a cheater is just ridiculous. You can keep saying that using a shirt that only adds 20 pounds is cheating, but your just making yourself look bad.

[themetalgod21]

yed arcidi was far from the original king of they bench as i have learned from others such as bruce wilhelm.doug hepburn bench 580 in the mid 50's without steroids,pat casey was the first to due 600 or more in 67.then came big jim williams who benched anywhere up to 675 better then ted's own raw record in 72 just missed 700 that same meet.williams did use elbow raps however.then came the kaz who did 661 absolutly raw in 81 with maybe the most explosive bench ever.kaz is to me as many

[themetalgod21]

Kaz is to me and many others the strongest man who ever lived and don;t think anyone could match kazmaier upper body strength.700was well on the way when he tore his pec at 28. Ted is one of the most ardent opponents of the bench shirt gene told me. gene told me arcidi was the most jealous of the old lifters. arcidi rips people for using bench shirts when he himself used one!!!!!!!!ted regrets using that shirt till this day because it delegitimized his lift.

[HateBreed430]

Hes ripping on guys because their shirts are giving them a 200 pound boost, where his only gave him 20, now your just going totally off topic.

[rantanen1]

actually even more than 200pounds, so yea.

[rantanen1]

well ted did almost 670pound raw lift aswell dumbass.

[mugen46]

Yea shirts didn't do too much back then

[themetalgod21]

gene said that kaz through such a fit at the arnold in 06, ripping the guys for using shirts that he had to be removed.i see kaz's beef.don;t tell me you benched a 1000 pounds when the shirt lifted 400 for you it;s a joke.take the gear off and lets lift clean, well maybe clean no gear but there will always be drugs.

[BigMbot]

Anyone who mocks or calls Ted Arcidi a cheater are douchebags.

[themetalgod21]

he's a cheater take the shirt off kaz is king

[HateBreed430]

Once you get educated on the subject you can talk to me, until then...go away.

[themetalgod21]

very educated on the subject,met gene ryclak at the judas priest concert in camden,he was in the same row with me and we talked for a good 20 minutes about pl.he told me he uses a bench shirt for protection not to lift more weight.so any gains made with the shirt shouldn't count as you were wearing it to protect you and extend your career.he called it the evolution of powerlifting.i say take the shirt off and lift the way it was meant to be.o lifters don't use crap like this

[Ludichris8531]

Gene is full of shit if he told you it's for protection. How protected was he when 1015 pounds fell on his stomach at the olympia in 2005? He broke bones in his back and injured his spleen with that one. Many have reported that Gene has never hit 600 RAW. He only trains for shirted benching using bands and training in his shirt. He has no lower end strength, and thus, he never benches raw because he'd lose to guys much lighter than him.

[themetalgod21]

hey thats what he said.i don;t endorse lifting gear other then a belt.yeah he broke bones and he also had a bad staph infection that almost killed him last year.powerlifting needs to ban all gear and become a real sport again.lifts in gear don;t impress me.the new england record breakers showed how weak these new age lifters are.

[UrizenTheNegator]

This was a raw lift.

[Ludichris8531]

no, it was with a blast shirt on. He benched 667 raw though.

[UrizenTheNegator]

No, it was RAW.

[Ludichris8531]

Absolutely not. Ted Arcidi regretted wearing the blast shirt that day because he had no idea it would mean he wouldn't get credit for the highest raw bench of all time. Only two men in history have benched 700+ RAW. They are Scot Mendelson and James Henderson. If you don't believe me then look it up. The highest RAW bench Ted Arcidi ever performed was officaly 666.9 pounds (302.5 KGs) *2.33X bodyweight of 286.0 pounds Ted Arcidi (US/59) 4/1/84 (Honolulu, Hawaii) (USPF/APF/WPC)

[themetalgod21]

mendelson raw do not include a pause so for me it was a no go as was james henderson who didn;t pause

[Ludichris8531]

where in the world did you get the idea henderson didn't pause? Were you there in 1997? Or did you see the video of him benching 675 on an evangelical church telethon and think it was when he benched 711 raw pounds in the IPF (the IPF is the strictest federation on the planet and often requires 1-2 second pauses with feet flat on the floor). Oh and this bench wasn't raw nor was it paused.

[Ludichris8531]

The reason you perceive it to be raw is that he was wearing a blast shirt. This was the very first generation of bench shirt and it doesn't make your arms stick out in front of your body. It only gave lifters between 10-30 pounds back then, but a 10-30 pound boost is still technically not raw. Ted stated in an article that he was angry he even put it on because he thought he could have nailed it without the shirt, but since he had it on, this is not a raw lift.

[UrizenTheNegator]

Okay then....

[yaiknowscrewme]

My cousin knew ted..said he was a doper and drug addict

[museguest]

stupid shirt+half squat+fat powerlifter.

[bigwill00013]

it was raw not shirted

[rukiddingmeman]

Actually it was technically shirted. It was a very early shirt that gave him between 15-30 pounds assistance. I read an article by him where he regrets wearing it because he could have easily hit 705 without it. Arcidi benched raw 670 (666.9 to be exact) on april fools day in 1984. So he's still an amazing raw bencher.

[rukiddingmeman]

No it's with a blast shirt. It is not raw. As I already posted, Arcidi kicked himself for using an early form of the bench shirt for this lift because he thought he could have gotten it without it on. The most he hit raw was 670.

[rukiddingmeman]

Uh, I dunno how to put this in plainer English. It's technically not raw, he had a blast shirt on. Arcidi kicked himself later for wearing it because he thought he could have done 705 even without the shirt on. Arcidi did 670 pounds without the blast shirt in competition. He was an amazing bencher, but this particular lift isn't raw.

[bigwill00013]

ok i belive you???????

[rehwwe]

hahaha lol

[YngwieBeckerRhoads01]

lol.

[ninoforte]

that was many years ago the record now is held by ryan kennelly who benched 1036 with a shirt

[Meni69]

Kennelly just did 1050 on dec 1

the vid is on youtube

yet the raw record is still only 715, so Ted's lifts are impressive from 23 years ago

[plumprandy]

Yea,cus different type drugs.

[YngwieBeckerRhoads01]

Everyone knows that wearing those stupid shirts is why powerlifting has no creditibility. Bill Kazmaier thinks the same.

[DaytonRimGuy]

yeah except the guys benchign 800 shirted still do close to 700 RAW

[URAGR8M8]

Considering that Scot Mendelson has the RAW record with 715 and puts up over 1000 with a shirt, I highly doubt that 800 equipped would translate into 700.

[Ludichris8531]

This is correct. Only two men in history have benched 700+. Shirted benching doesn't translate into anything raw because the lifts stress the muscles in entirely different ways. That's why Gene Rychlak benched 1010 in a shirt but word is that he can't bench 600+ raw.

[Bodaaja]

WTf? Is 705 shirt bench great? That isnt raw lift, 705lbs shirt bench is nothin...

[buyystocks]

HOW much can you do raw?

[Traps59]

According to Wikipedia, he did that in 1982 but then it said that it only stood for eight years. So who broke it on that 8th year?

[snuddergluff]

anthony clark broke it i believe

[URAGR8M8]

Then again, there is NO pause AT ALL in this lift. Probably adds around 40lbs.

[ageofempires]

oh since theres no pause its not impressive then huh.

[URAGR8M8]

No, I didn't mean that. It is incredible - but it becomes hard to determine who the best really is when technique, rules, and judges change so much.

[URAGR8M8]

In 2006 Scot Mendelson did 715 - took 21 years for a 10lb RAW record increase.