Status: Must be False (by reason of being physically impossible)
Pat Robertson claims to be able to
leg press 2000 pounds. If this is true, it would be a world record. Even more improbably, his trainer claims to be able to leg press 2700 pounds.
I don't know when Robertson first posted this bizarre claim on his Christian Broadcasting Network website (it's included in
a sales pitch for his "age-defying protein shake"), but it came to the attention of the blogosphere on May 22 when
Clay Travis wrote about it on CBS Sportsline. Putting Robertson's claim in context, Travis noted that the leg press record is held by Dan Kendra of Florida State University who pressed 1,335 pounds, causing the capillaries in his eyes to burst. Robertson, who's 76 years old, has apparently managed to beat Kendra's record by 665 pounds (without doing any damage to his eyes).
Robertson has posted a video of himself leg pressing 1000 pounds, which seems pretty remarkable (kind of unbelievable, actually), but we have to take his word for it (and the word of his trainer) that he lifted the 2000 pounds. Here's the description of how it supposedly happened:
Pat Robertson worked out at the gym on an incline leg press machine with weights up to 570 pounds. Working with his physician, who was an amazing strength trainer, he worked up to 800 pounds, then 1,000 pounds. Then one day he was able to leg press 1,500 pounds one time. Then over the succeeding months, he trained with multiple reps of 1,200 pounds, 1,300 pounds, and 1,400 pounds. One Saturday morning, his physician said, “I’ll get you bragging rights. Let’s go to 2,000 pounds.” Then he worked up multiple reps of 1,400 pounds, 1,500 pounds, 1,600 pounds, 1,700, pounds, 1,800 pounds and 1,900 pounds. When 2,000 pounds was put on the machine two men got on either side and helped push the load up, and then let it down on Mr. Robertson, who pushed it up one rep and let it go back down again.
I'm simply not willing to believe that a man his age set a leg press world record. In fact, I find it hard to believe that he even lifted 1000 pounds (he's either lifting magic weights, or using a
lifewave patch). As Big Gary wrote to me in an email, if this isn't a hoax, I'll drink his age-defying protein shake.
Comments
Plus his name is an anagram of "Abort Ton Reps", which should end the matter there.
That's brilliant! 😛
He is barely pushing up on the weight and he is locking his knees. He is not even letting the weight descending lower than the clamps. That's utterly lame, anybody could do that.
Plus he is pushing on his knees with his hands the whole time, normaly his hands should grasp the side handles or the seat while doing the exercise.
For performing leg press the proper way he should have bent his knees to lower the weight downward towards his body and then pushing it back up.
Watch this video of Ronnie Coleman 2300 lb leg press, now that's impressing!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSNvEpH2L1o&search=Ronnie+Coleman
...And after all, someone needs to preach to the ...(I was going to say heathens...but they don't really watch him)... old people who believe him?
I don't know if I'm phrasing my question clearly but I was just thinking that we see strongman competitions all the time where big guys pull firetrucks and such horizontally. If you aren't actually lifting a weight straight up then the pounds of force required to move it don't actually equal the weight. Right?
If they're pulling a fire truck...it's rolling on wheels, there is no resistence?? Right?
...He didn't say he meant at once. 😛
It's like the recent Ion drive that a recent space probe (think it was Hyugens) used. The probe weighs a couple tons, and the drive provides thrust equivalent to a peice of paper resting on your hand. Trick being, it adds up in space, so it was whizzing along pretty fast by the end.
I'm not a professionel body buider, in fact i'm a very average guy(5'-9" / 180lbs), and i can easaly lift about 1000lbs on 1 rep.
And what i know for sure, is that the world strongest man competition use to have a machine that simulated a standing leg press(which is even harder, beacause you had to keep your balance and it was very hard on your back) and all the guys where macking over 3000lbs, the best of theme were macking up to 3800lbs.
So if these guys can make up to 3800lbs on standing leg press, anybody can make 2000lbs on seated incline leg press(probaly with a little training).
I know... picky, picky.
For instance, on squat, I do about 250. I was always one of the weaker ones in the gym. But that number represents me sitting down until my legs are parrallel to the ground. If I were to merely lower the weight about 5 inches, I have no doubt that I could squat upwards of 600.
The same applies to the leg press. Only moreso. A competition leg press involves lowering the weight untill your heels almost touch your rear. I don't know how much the rest of the MOH'ers know about weightlifting, but that is infinitely more difficult than lowering it five inches. I have no doubt, that an old man with some training, could leg press that much while only lowering it five inches or less. In fact his personal trainer probably told him not to go any lower, because when doing that kind of lift, more often than not when your 76, the weak link in the chain is not your muscles, it's your knees.
I'm reminded of the fact that every once in a while, a skinny guy, or an old man, or a girl, tells people that "I can benchpress 250!" Usually they aren't actually lying, and honestly believe they can benchpress 250. However, when you go the the gym and they can't do 135, you discover that they can do 250 on the seated chest press machine, on which most actually weight lifters can do all the weights multiple times.
I don't think Mr. Robertson is lying, he's just probably an old man who's not overly familiar with the activity he is participating in.
Ive watched a 59 year old man rep with close to a thousand pounds..so you guys need to chill out, and theres nothing ungoldy about selling a protien shake..get off yer' high horse.
Now THAT is a goofy statement.A leg press is a machine(obviously)and there are many different variations,which make having any kind of record outside of your own gym silly.Ive witnessed two different strongman competitors doing 1000lbs-1200lbs x20 on multiple occasions with FULL range of motion,and no knee wraps on the leg press,as just one part of a full body workout.Im sure that lower repetition leg presses with 1500lbs+ would could be achieved by many on the same leg press.
Mr Robertson's leg press was done with very limited range of motion,and I believe that he used his arms for assistance.I say good for him that he is even working out.I dont see why so many people made a big deal out of it.It isnt like he claimed a massive squat,which is really all most people care about when it comes to record leg movements.
I had to leave a gym recently because I was doing what I call lock out lifts on a Smith Machine with close to six hundred pounds and the guy who runs the place said "that's too much weight for a guy your size and age."
I used to do what I called leg presses up to 1000+ pounds when I was 17 years old and doing cross country running. If I could do it as a 17 year old scrawny female, so can he. The only problem is that, like him, I was almost definitely doing it wrong. The machine I worked with was on a gentle incline and at most I moved the weights up and down about 5-12 inches- nowhere near full leg extension. I called it '1000 pounds' based on the amount of weight which may or may not have been near the amount of actual force I was using.
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/2537988/ronnie_coleman_2300_lb_leg_press/