Marty Gallagher
Mike McDonald stood 5-10 and for this world record bench press he weighed 179 pounds. The poundage? 525 pounds. He had 15 inch arms and a 45 inch chest. He lies flat as a pancake with no arch, no special leg position – how is this possible? He went on to set world records in the 198 pound class, 570. Then the 220 pound class, 596. Finally, weighing a chubby 230 and looking like your father’s accountant, he benched pressed 635 pounds with 18 inch arms. David Blaine stuff.
Mike McDonald was a bench press freak of nature. The Minnesota powerlifter, a Vietnam combat veteran, first got noticed when as a skinny 181 pound lifter he broke the world record in the bench press. Mike looked like mildly muscled version of Richie Cunningham from Happy Days, or a high school basketball player. Mike made me a believer when I saw him in bench press action: he blasted 490 pounds to lockout weighing 175. This at the Potomac open in 1979.
The guy didn’t look like he could deadlift 490, much less bench it. This was raw and with a pause. Zero tricks. Mike was low key, no drama, seeming blasé. It was incredible. It seemed impossible. Magical Mike was no one lift specialist, he sandwiched world record benching in between energy-draining squatting and deadlifting. He took second place at the junior national with a 550 squat and 600 pound deadlift in the 198 pound class.
As he added bodyweight, world records fell in whatever of four weight classes he chose to reside in. I happened to stumble across a great article on Neckberg.com where they had resurrected an old Iron Man McDonald training article – the old small format Mabel and Perry Iron Man was known for accuracy. Check out the link for his beginner and advanced training protocols.
During this period of time, Mike was campaigning as a 198 pound lifter and trained the bench press every third day. McDonald would blow off a bench press session if he felt any residual soreness in pecs, delts, tricep or lats from the previous session. He wanted rested, fresh muscles for every bench press session. At the time of this workout, he was capable of 550 for a paused single weighing 198.
Sample Workout
Mike was a big believer in “pre-stretch.” His favorite exercise for increasing his barbell single rep maximum was dumbbell bench presses. Dumbbells allowed him to stretch the pecs and shoulders at the start of each rep. Dumbbells are naturally unstable, a wonderful thing for maximizing muscle fiber stimulation (muscle stabilizers go crazy!) now add to that the fact that, if the bencher relaxes and pauses, the bells will stretch upper and lower pecs and all three deltoid heads. This tactic “maximally disadvantages” the key bench press muscles.
When Mike pushed the poundage used in these pre-stretch dumbbell presses upward, his regular bench press improved. Problems arose when he wanted use dumbbells heavier than 150-pounds: the sheer length and cumbersome nature of the gigantic dumbbells made getting the stretch impossible and made getting them into place and disposing of them dangerous and problematic.
Mike created a cambered barbell. He wanted the dumbbell stretch without the dumbbells. The cambered bar allowed and enabled pec and shoulder pre-stretch. For mortals using less than 100 pound dumbbells, no need for cambered bars. Use dumbbells the way Mike McDonald used them before he got too strong. Make light weights heavy, use dumbbells to bench and invoke McDonald’s pre-stretch tactic.
Go from stretched and paused at the bottom of each rep to a full and a complete lockout that concludes every rep. Get good at Mike’s press-stretch dumbbell bench pressing and your barbell benching automatically increases. Mike McDonald’s training protocols were as unique and iconic as he was.
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A couple of my personal training clients are working to increase their strength in basic moves like benchpress, squat, and deadlift. I have directed them to your website for what I feel is the best expert information that I think is available to him. I learned a lot during the couple of years I trained with you back in the 1980s, but I can’t come close to giving my clients the level of knowledge that is available your website. Thanks for keeping at it.
Thank you Monty for the comment! This is Stacy, Marty’s wife. We really appreciate it!
I lifted with Mike, and yes he was a freak of nature. However, he did have a trick in his bag somewhat ahead of his time.