Joe Mazza Hits World’s Best Bench Press

On June 27 MHP-sponsored powerlifting superstar Joe Mazza gripped the bar over his chest at the IPA Worlds, lowered it to his pecs and promptly pressed a world-record bench press of 685 pounds—in the 165-pound class!

The New Jersey–based strength phenom set the new record on his opening attempt at the IPA-sanctioned event in York, Pennsylvania, pressing a mind-blowing 4.15 times his bodyweight. There are only a handful of men in the world who’ve ever benched four times their weight, and Joe is the lightest lifter ever to do it. Before that 685 bench, Joe previously owned the 165-pound-class record of 675, set last October 18.

“I hit 685 on my opener and was psyched,” Joe says. “But my ultimate goal was to hit 700. I was unsuccessful at my two attempts at 700, but the last one was very close!

“I had some great training leading up to the IPA Worlds,” he continues, “and my supplementation played a big part in my strength increase. For the last year I added the pre- and postworkout combo of MHP’s Dark Rage and Dark Matter to my regular supplement plan of Probolic-SR and T-Bomb II, and the addition has been huge. I keep getting stronger, my bench keeps going up and I have better training intensity, thanks to Dark Rage. Its state-of-the-art EPO blood-boosting technology gives me a great pump. I finish each session with the Dark Matter’s unique postexercise muscle-building nutrition, with its creatine, aminos and carb matrix blends.

“I’m very happy about setting the new IPA mark but am in hard training so that I can go 700-plus in the near future.That’s my goal at my next meet.”