Scot Mendelson (born February 21, 1969) is an American powerlifter and armwrestler 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 ...

. During his career he set 64 world records predominantly in bench pressing and was the raw (unassisted) world record holder in the 308-pound weight class with from 2002 to 2020 and the equipped world record holder in the 275-pound class with from 2009 to 2021. He also held the all-time world record in the raw bench press, regardless of weight class with for 8 years. He's the only man in the world to hold both raw and equipped (multi-ply) world records, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest bench pressers of all-time.

Early life

Mendelson is

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

, and grew up in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

.Menches You Don’t Want to Mess With at jewishjournal.com
/ref> His maternal grandfather Morris Reif, known as the "Bronxville Bomber" was Rocky Marciano's stable mate and scored 75 knockouts in 115 fights. In his youth Mendelson loved sports and played

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

and

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

. Starting strength training when he reached his teens, he moved into the sport of

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

and

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

, where he first recognized his rapid growth in strength.Muscle-Munch Interview with Scot - 2012
/ref> Then he moved into bodybuilding. With his pure strength showing even more through his bodybuilding training, Mendelson decided to become a powerlifter.Scot Mendelson biography at musclepowershop.com
/ref>

Powerlifting career

Mendelson started as a raw benchpresser and in 2000, benched raw at APF California State & LALC Invitational. He then moved into equipped division in multi-ply category and benched during the same year in APF Los Angeles Lifting Club competition. During 2001 APF Senior Nationals, Mendelson benched in multi-ply and in the same year at WPC World Championships in South Africa bettered it to . By the end of 2002, he took his equipped PR to . In 2002 APF Northern California Open Championships in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, Mendelson bench pressed raw becoming the second person in history after James Henderson to bench press 700 lb raw. It was also the all-time world record for the 308 lb (heavyweight) class.

Raw world record

In 2003 APF West Coast Push-Pull championships @ Starks Gym The Live Free or Die Family in San Carlos, Mendelson broke Henderson's five-year old all-time raw bench press world record regardless of weight classes with with only his 2nd lift. In 2003 APF Senior Nationals, he took his equipped PR to and then to during Bench America I competition. However in 2004 Mendelson got disqualified thrice in a row at WPO World Record Bench Bash, Senior Nationals and Iowa State & WPO Qualifier. In 2005 Atlantis New England Bench Press competition, in front of Ed Coan as the head judge, Mendelson broke his own all-time raw bench press world record with .All-time RAW Powerlifting world records compiled and updated by PowerliftingWatch.com
/ref>
/ref> The record remained unbeaten for another 8 years until Eric Spoto benched in 2013.

Equipped world record

At 2005 APF Nationals, Mendelson benched in multi-ply, becoming only the third man in history after Tim Isaac and Gene Rychlak to achieve this feat. In 2006 Iron Man Bodybuilding contest's Fit Expo in Pasadena, Mendelson broke Rychlak's all-time equipped bench press world record with with only his 1st lift. Eventhough the record didn't last long with the arrival of 'unlimited' equipment category with the rise of the likes of Ryan Kennelly, Will Barotti, Tiny Meeker, Bill Gillespie and Jimmy Kolb, Mendelson improved his multi-ply PR to by 2008 WPC World Championships in West Palm Beach.Scot Mendelson Powerlifting statistics (incomplete) posted at en.allpowerlifting.com
/ref> Mendelson's lifetime PR came in 2009 APF Holiday Festival of Strength in Camarillo, where he benched in multi-plyAll-time Powerlifting world records compiled and updated by PowerliftingWatch.com
/ref>"Champion weightlifter presses the issue of cannabis and sports" by CULTURE
which stood as the all-time multi-ply world record in the 275-pound weight class until Jimmy Kolb in 2020 as well as the all-time multi-ply world record in Masters (40+) category irrespective of weight class until Tiny Meeker in 2013.

Injuries and accidents

In 2004, Mendelson was involved in a devastating car accident, that sent him to intensive care for three weeks with a fractured skull, broken ribs, broken leg and a right foot held on only by the skin. After a dozen surgeries, his right ankle was finally removed and he was left with one leg about 2 ½ inches shorter than the other. He was also left with an addiction to Vicodin. The ankle injury was also the main reason why he was unable to compete in the other powerlifting disciplines the squat and the deadlift. In 2013 Mendelson notoriously tore his pec while attempting a raw bench press of . After another car accident in 2015 that made Mendelson unable to continue as a top level powerlifter, he started armwrestling in 2016 and has placed high in national level championship and attended the zloty tour 2018.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXFrftmieug http://www.zlotytur.com/tour.php?id=25&photo=yes

Legacy

Mendelson is a three-times National and five-times World Bench press champion and his career 64 world records in powerlifting is only seconded to Ed Coan. He is the only bench presser in the world to hold both the raw and equipped (multi-ply) world records, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest bench pressers of all-time.

Personal records

''done in official Powerlifting meets''ALL TIME HISTORICAL MEN AND WOMEN’S POWERLIFTING WORLD RECORDS
* Raw

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 ...

– @SHW class (2005) ''(Former All-time World Record)'' :→ Raw Bench press – @308 lb class (2002) ''(Former World Record)'' * Equipped

(multi-ply) – @275 lb class (2009) :→ Equipped Bench press (multi-ply) – @SHW class (2006) ''(Former All-time World Record)'' ''done during training according to Scot himself'' * Equipped Bench press (unlimited) – Video: Scot Mendelson - World's Strongest Bench Press Powerlifter
/ref> * Raw Bench Press – for 8 repetitions * Squat – ''(not to parallel depth)'' *

Deadlift The deadlift is a strength training exercise in which a weight-loaded barbell is lifted off the ground to the level of the hips, with the torso perpendicular to the floor, before being placed back on the ground. It is one of the three powerlifting ...

–

Personal life

Mendelson is divorced (2008) to his ex-wife, Maricelle, herself a world champion Powerlifter, Kung Fu practitioner and a martial arts champion."Maricelle Garcia Mendelson: World's strongest Pinay" at asianjournal.com
They have three children, two girls and a boy. Mendelson runs his own 6,000-sq. ft. private personal training gym in Sherman Oaks called "Fitness Individualized Training" (F.I.T.), which teaches strength training and combat sports. Being a supporter for the legalization of cannabis for medical purposes since his first car accident, he opened up his own medical marijuana dispensary "Mendica", together with his friend Eric Roberts in 2009, which goes under the tagline 'one-stop shop for rehab, rebuilding, relaxation and natural pain medication'.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mendelson, Scot Living people Jewish American sportspeople American powerlifters 1969 births 21st-century American Jews