Ryan Shawn Kennelly (born March 23, 1974) is an American
powerlifter
Powerlifting is a competitive strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athlete attempting a maximal weight singl ...
who specializes in the
bench press
The bench press or chest press is a weight training exercise where a person presses a weight upwards while lying horizontally on a weight training bench. The bench press is a Compound movements, compound movement, with the primary muscles involved ...
. He held the World Powerlifting Organization (WPO) record and held the all-time world record in the Equipped (geared)
bench press
The bench press or chest press is a weight training exercise where a person presses a weight upwards while lying horizontally on a weight training bench. The bench press is a Compound movements, compound movement, with the primary muscles involved ...
with a lift of 1075.0 lbs (487.6 kg) from November 2008 until April 2013. This world record is classified as an equipped world record, meaning the lift is performed with the aid of a
bench shirt
A bench shirt is a stiff supportive shirt, used to improve performance in the bench press, most often in powerlifting competitions. Bench shirts are usually made of polyester, denim, or canvas
Canvas is an extremely durable Plain weave, p ...
. He bench pressed an unequipped 650.0 lbs (294.8 kg) in competition.
Early life
Kennelly, a native of
Tri-Cities, Washington
The Tri-Cities are three closely linked cities (Kennewick, Washington, Kennewick, Pasco, Washington, Pasco, and Richland, Washington, Richland) at the confluence of the Yakima River, Yakima, Snake River, Snake, and Columbia Rivers in the U.S. s ...
, grew up in a weightlifting family—his father was a competitive powerlifter. Kennelly is a 1992 graduate of Kamiakin High School in Kennewick. He didn't start weight training until he was 18 years old, and he didn't get serious about powerlifting until five years later, when an ongoing best-bench contest at his local gym inspired him to bench press more than 400 pounds to take top honors. Kennelly is , making him one of the tallest bench press specialists in active competition.
Powerlifting career
Kennelly broke the equipped bench press
world record
A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...
for the first time on July 28, 2007 by pressing 1036 lbs (470 kg) at the big Ukraine Bench for Cash meet - surpassing the previous world record of
Gene Rychlak by 26 pounds. A few months later on December 1, he pressed 1050 lbs (477.27 kg) for another world record.
In 2008, he broke his own record again three times:
On April 12, 2008, Kennelly set the bench press record with a lift of 1070 lbs (485.3 kg) during the American Powerlifting Association Open Iron War held in Kennewick, Washington.
On July 13, 2008, Kennelly successfully bench pressed 1074.8 lbs (487.5 kg) during the United Powerlifting Association Bench Bash For Cash in
Dubuque, Iowa
Dubuque (, ) is a city in Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 59,667 at the 2020 United States census. The city lies along the Mississippi River at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a region ...
.
Finally, on November 8, 2008, Kennelly broke the bench pressed record again with 1075.0 lbs (487.6 kg) at the Pride Strength Wars held in
Kennewick, Washington
Kennewick () is a city in Benton County, Washington, Benton County in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It is located along the southwest bank of the Columbia River, just southeast of the confluence of the Columbia and Yakima ...
for the current WPO equipped bench press world record.
On September 5, 2013, Kennelly was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for importing anabolic steroids from India.
Official competition records
* Raw bench press – 650.0 lbs (294.8 kg) ''(raw with only wrist wraps and a belt)'' (done on October 18, 2010, UPA)
* Equipped bench press – 1075.0 lbs (487.6 kg) (done on November 8, 2008, WPO)
See also
*
Progression of the bench press world record
*
Scot Mendelson
*
Gene Rychlak
References
External links
Benchmonster fan site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennelly, Ryan
Living people
1975 births
People from Tri-Cities, Washington
American powerlifters
World record holders in weightlifting