The greatest bench press in Louisville history

CardinalSports.com's series continues as we add a few new SuperHuman athletes to Louisville's list. Our research dug up some fascinating numbers to answer the question: Which athlete had the bigest bench press in Louisville history?

THE BENCH PRESS

The bench press is a widely known for its macho man (and woman) status. One of the most common measuring tools for strength - based athletes is the question: "How much do you bench?"

The answer - often inflated by 15-20 percent at local gyms everywhere - is a measure of an athlete's strength.

People want to push themselves to achieve the highest bench numbers they possibly can, which could ultimately lead to injury if not done properly.

As UofL strength coach Zach Farel said, "The bench press: it's a multi-joint upper body strength exercise, effecting the chest, shoulders, and triceps."

Louisville has had superior strength coaching for years. With the combination of some freakishly strong athletes and the watchful eye of UofL coaches, there have been shocking bench press marks recorded on campus.

However, the "shocking" aspect does not only apply to large numbers, as you will see.

THE NEW SYSTEM

UofL Olympic strength coaches Teena Murray and Eric Hammer brought upon a revised system the past few years to accurately measure one's strength output. Suppose you have a 310-pound shot thrower going up against 165-pound tennis player for the bench press record? Of course the thrower is going to bench more than the tennis player, but Murray and Hammer have installed their system to level the playing field.

The bench press record at UofL's Marshall Center is based on percent of bodyweight (Relative Bench).

"It's so you can compare apples to apples, versus trying to compare apples to oranges, when you're comparing a thrower to a tennis player," Hammer said. "You're comparing apples to apples now by putting a percent of body weight up there [on the record board]. Now it gets everybody more competitive. Now the thrower just can't rely on a big number if he wants to get his name up there, he has to bring it."

RELATIVE BENCH FOR MEN

Lets meet some of these "Hulks."

UofL baseball's Sutton Whiting will be a redshirt freshman this upcoming season. Whiting holds the body percentage bench press record for all sports except football at Louisville.

You all are expecting some monster of a human-being right? Wrong. Whiting is listed at 5-feet-7 and weighs just 164 pounds. But this freak athlete was able to bench press 275-pounds. That is a whopping 167% of his body weight.

"For Whiting to come in as a freshmen and set this record is pretty amazing," Hammer said. "He is obviously strong enough, we just need to keep him healthy."

Whiting will have his debut on the field this spring.

Ask any football player from the Orange Bowl team who they would pick as a strongest pound-for-pound player on the team, and all of them would pick linebacker Lamar Myles. At 5-foot-11, 215-pounds, Myles maxed out his bench press at 465-485 pounds depending on who you ask.

Myles, a high school weightlifting champion in Florida, spent some time with the Jacksonville Jaguars before playing other professional football.

FEMALE RELATIVE BENCH

Kassie Stanfill, a Louisville softball player from 2006-09, holds the body percentage bench press record for all UofL female athletes. Stanfill benched 176-pounds while only weighing in at 147-pounds.

That benchmark represents 119% of her body weight. Stanfill was named to the third team All-Big East Conference as a junior, and was named to the All-Tournament team after leading the Cardinals at the plate with a .667 batting average.

"Kassie was tough as nails," UofL softball strength coach Teena Murray said. "She was a coaches dream."

Bench press marks based on body percentage numbers are probably some of the most impressive statistics because it measures the strength of an athlete "pound for pound."

THE BIG NUMBER

On the other hand, absolute strength is no stranger to Louisville Athletics. Absolute strength is measured as simply as this: whoever can lift the most weight. Period. Prepare yourself for some scary numbers.

According to the 1994 Cardinal football media guide, offensive lineman Scott McAllister holds the absolute benchmark record at 480-pounds.

Interestingly enough McAllister, who played from 1987-90, technically holds the relative benchmark. In his senior season when the record was set, McAllister weighed in at 268-pounds making his bench mark 179% of his body weight.

But McAllister may not have the record. Current men's basketball strength coach and former football strength coach Ray Ganong, offensive lineman Dave Debold (1990-93) is the strongest athlete he has ever seen go through Louisville.

"He was a 500 pound bench presser," said Ganong.

There have been other reports of 500-pound bench presses at Louisville as well. Linebacker Robert McCune was reported to have a 535-pound maximum bench press by USA Today.

The three-year National Guard member, played at Louisville from 2000-04. McCune told the Baltimore Sun in 2008 that he maxed out at 550 pounds.

The current Louisville football Strength and Conditioning staff doesn't typically measure max bench press numbers. They are much more concerned about benching for reps.

One mark that is definitely verified is current track and field sophomore thrower Brad Vivace's 473-pound bench press earlier this year. According to Hammer, who is also the Track & Field strength coach, Vivace's press would mark the highest bench press recorded, outside of football.

A NEW CONTENDER

The bench press mark that might be the most impressive of all belongs to Louisville's freshman defensive lineman DeAngelo Brown.

Every future NFL player is tested on how many times they can lift 225-pounds. The NFL record belongs to Eastern Kentucky's Justin Ernest who, in 1999, pushed 225-pounds of his chest 51 times at the NFL Combine.

Brown, who is in the infant stages of his football career, repped out 225-pounds an extraordinary 37 times.

For comparison: Southern Cal offensive tackle Matt Kalil, who was selected fourth overall in the 2012 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings, completed 30 reps at 225-pounds at the NFL Combine.

Former Louisville center Eric Wood posted 30 reps of the 225-pound bench press during the NFL Combine in 2009. Former Louisville guard Jason Spitz posted 25 reps in 2006.

That means Brown, as a freshman at Louisville, put up the bench seven more times any of the three of those starting NFL linemen. There shouldn't be many strength concerns when it comes to Brown and his future as a Cardinal.

Senior center Mario Benavides could put up 40 reps of the 225-bench press before he had shoulder surgery. His current record is being chased by Brown and sophomore lineman John Miller, who are both in the high 30s.

WHAT ABOUT THE LADIES?

Senior Khadija Abdullah holds the absolute bench press mark on the female side at UofL. In the 2010-11 season Abdullah earned second team All-American outdoor honors for the shot put as well as being an honorable mention indoor All-American for the same event.

Abdullah's benchmark was recorded at 264 pounds. A number a large amount of male athletes on Louisville's campus could only dream of.

SUPER-HUMAN TEAM GROWING

With the addition of Whiting, Stanfill, Myles, Debold, Vivace, Brown and Abdullah our University of Louisville SuperHuman team is beginning to take form. However, with all that upper body strength, there must be some form of equalizer for the legs. And for that, we'll introduce the squat next.

BIGGEST BENCH PRESS EVER?