Mike MacDonald: The Unlikeliest Bench Press King

[stef]

by Marty Gallagher

“The unlikeliest of all bench press world record holders was, is, and likely forever shall be, Mike MacDonald. Mike started setting world records when he was skinny as a basketball point guard on an Indiana high school team. The then 179 pound string-bean of a man bench pressed 484 pounds in the 181 pound class for his first world record. Mike eventually pushed his 181 pound class WR up to 522 pounds – with 15.5 inch arms. MacDonald was the first man to set world record bench presses in four different weight classes.”

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[wakk0]

I've seen the cambered bar, but I have never used it. Anyone use it with any regularity?

[Mark Rippetoe]

I had one here, tore up everybody's shoulders. Like "deficit deadlifts" for a joint that already has lots of problems. Got rid of it.

[wakk0]

I had one here, tore up everybody's shoulders. Like "deficit deadlifts" for a joint that already has lots of problems. Got rid of it.

How does the cambered bar tear up the shoulders? I tried answering this question by re-reading the shoulder section of SS, and reading up on the AC joint, the glenohumeral joint, and the various ligaments and muscles in that area on Wikipedia. Does the steep angle of the tuberosities with the coracoid process, at the bottom of the movement, tear the glenohumeral ligaments since the scapula is locked in place by the bench? In my head I'm relating this to butchering a chicken when you crank back on the thigh to pop the bone out of the socket, and allow you to cut it out.

[Les Hahn]

Our gym has one, but I never tried it since I was afraid my shoulders would assplode.

Interestingly, I was talking with a guy I train with on the weekend (Jan Van de Weghe). Jan said that he competed against Mike MacDonald in a Minnesota meet. He did lose to Mike, but he noted that he really didn't look like a bean pole. It was true that his arms weren't huge and he wasn't "jacked", but he said you could see a real thickness to his pecs. The problem is that in street clothes he would probably just look like a normal guy, but he did have some pretty thick musculature where it counted.