Sports/Events
Muscle Boy Ryan Kennelly Bench Presses Over 1,000 pounds
By Dylan Vox

Dec 4, 2007

Ryan Kennelly

While most normal people use the bench press to help develop some amazing pectoral muscles, world record holder Ryan Kennelly has made a career of hoisting the massive weights above his chest. This week, the 6’2, 347 pound mammoth again reached a staggering statistic as he raised 1,050 pounds into the air.  

Kennelly hit the bench press scene in 2001 when he became one of only a handful of men to surpass the 700-pound mark. Since that time, he has been winning titles and breaking records throughout the power lifting world. In 2004, Kennelly won the World Bench Press and Dead Lifting Championships and easily surpassed his then 800-pound record. 

In an interview with the Reno Gazett e, Kennelly somewhat denied that steroids were responsible for his success.

“I don’t care what anyone says. There is no such thing as a legitimate drug test. For 13 years I’ve worked for this. It’s simple for some idiot to point a finger and say this (steroids) is why he’s this big. It’s a letdown. I’ve worked really hard. I’m a big person."

This week at the American Powerlifting Association's Northwest Open, Kennelly again broke his own record of 1,036 and attempted to go even higher, but was unsuccessful.

Kennelly reveals his secret to weightlifting and building size in his book, The Kennelly Method: Building a Monster Bench Press.