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Months removed from an unfortunate tear of his left triceps tendon in May 2022, Daniel Ryjov is back to doing what he best — notching impressive feats of upper-body strength.
On Oct. 10, 2022, Ryjov uploaded an Instagram video of himself completing a 143-kilogram (315-pound) bench press for an astonishing 55 reps during a training session. While unconfirmed, Ryjov implies the feat might be a potential reps World Record for the weight on his loaded barbell. The athlete performed softer lockouts of the majority of reps and wore a lifting belt, wrist wraps, and elbow wraps, which might have been a continued precaution for his injury.
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Ryjov’s incredible comeback from his triceps injury aside, his jaw-dropping bench press AMRAP (As Many Reps As Possible) display might be even more impressive when put into proper juxtaposed context.
For example, the National Football League (NFL) Scouting Combine record for the bench press is 51 reps from Justin Ernest. However, the weight for that record is 102 kilograms (225 pounds). Ryjov not only logged four more reps than Ernest, he did it with 40.8 kilograms (90 pounds) more on his barbell. Similarly, professional strongmen Brian Shaw and Robert Oberst tried their hands at the NFL Combine record for 225 pounds in July 2020. Shaw captured 44 reps, while Oberst had 42. Similarly, Ryjov has bested both of the elite athletes’ figures while pressing more weight.
This isn’t the first recent instance where Ryjov showed his upper-body strength and power were returning.
One week prior to this recent record, in early October 2022, the athlete scored 100 reps of a 225-pound bench press for a self-proclaimed World Record. (Note: It is unclear whose World Record he passed, though Larry Wheels did bench press 225 pounds for 70 reps in 2018).
In addition, he became the first known person to complete at least 100 reps of a 225-pound bench press. This stunning display followed Ryjov logging 90 reps with 225 pounds in mid-August 2022, where it seemed he was still focusing primarily on recovery from his injury rather than pushing himself to the limit.
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Judging by his social media and the accomplishments he shares, it appears Ryjov has been exclusively focusing on augmenting his bench press for a little while. The athlete does have two powerlifting competitions to his name — earning first place at the 2016 Revolution Powerlifting Syndicate (RPS) InsurreXtion V and a first-place performance at the 2017 United States Powerlifting Association (USPA) SMG’s March Mayhem — but has not competed on a sanctioned lifting platform since.
At the time of this writing, Ryjov hasn’t hinted at the next bench-press barrier he’ll try to break through. Though, if he’s returning to a place of total health, Ryjov could indeed be a pioneer with another milestone soon enough.
Featured image: @danielryjov on Instagram