Watch Iranian Powerlifter Danial Zamani Bench Press 770 Pounds
No matter your training style, the bench press is likely an essential exercise in your training plan. Everyone from powerlifters to bodybuilders use the exercise to build a stronger chest, arms and shoulders. Since the move is so common, it's not hard for most people to recognize an incredible lift—so take a second to watch pro powerlifter Danial Zamani smash a gargantuan new personal best.
The Iranian powerlifter has shown his prowess on the bench time and time again and is often lauded as the man that could knock fellow lifting royal Julius Maddox off the top spot for a raw bench press world record.
To add fuel to the fire, Zamani posted a video on his Instagram page that showed his heaviest bench press to date—a PR of 350 kilograms (about 771 pounds). You can watch the video below:
The lift is super impressive, but doesn't count in any official context since it was completed during a training session without any official observation. For context, the current world record for a raw barbell bench press is 355kg (782.6 pounds), held by Maddox. In 2020, Maddox shot for a 362kg (800 pounds) lift, but the bar was mis-loaded on his first attempt. After a second attempt at the 800, Maddox sustained an injury and withdrew from a third and final shot at the record.
Ahead of the event, Maddox said "This journey has been long, since the beginning of the coronavirus. I have had the most consecutive training sessions as far as no injuries, everything moving fluidly... My whole thought process over these past two months is, can a person recover from that? Can I actually recover from missing two of the biggest lifts of my life, to going into meet day and putting up an 800-pound bench? I'm in this mindset of when the time comes, I'm going to produce. And I continue to say nothing is going to stop me."
If you're after some pointers on your bench press, current Commonwealth Bench Championships gold medal winner Dan Magee advises that "When you're putting your hands on the bar, a lot of people will put the bar across the bottom of their fingertips right at the top of the palm. And what I try and get people to do is place the bar just above the thumb. That's where I get it to sit because then when you unrack the bar, your palm is loaded." You can read the rest of Magee's bench press tips here.
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