Mark Eaton lifting weights

[70sFan]

http://office.biggerfasterstronger.com/uploads2/83_Nov_MarkEaton.pdf

We have a lot of completely unreliable reports on how much X player benched or squatted, but in this case we can see a steady improvement throughout the giant Mark Eaton's first season in the league.

I don't know if anyone is interested reading the full article, so I will post here the numbers:

Squat: 145 -> 265
Box Squat: 145 -> 415
Bench: 125 -> 245
Towel Bench: 125 -> 260
Clean: 125 -> 215
Standing Long Jump: Improved from 7-5 to 8-7
Body fat: 18.5% -> 12%
Vertical Jump: 11 feet 8 inches!

All in one year from October 1982 to October 1983.

[Jaivl]

Yaaaaay, I can squat and clean more than him Suck it, Mark! NBA, here I come!

[70sFan]

Yaaaaay, I can squat and clean more than him Suck it, Mark! NBA, here I come!

Yeah, not super impressive numbers in absolute sense. I can squat around that range and I don't even lift consistently.

That said, a squat or clean for 7'4 giant who started training with weights at the age of 25 is tough. Given the length of his arms, I'd say that the bench press is quite impressive.

It would be fun to know how much he improved after rookie season.

[frica]

Please let those numbers be kg...

A 245 pound bench in a year for such a big man (285 pounds) is not great progress.
265 pound squat downright pathetic, but maybe he had some horrible mobility issues.

[70sFan]

Please let those numbers be kg...

A 245 pound bench in a year for such a big man (285 pounds) is not great progress.
265 pound squat downright pathetic, but maybe he had some horrible mobility issues.

I also wish metric system was used across the world, but unfortunately it isn't...

Anyway, 245 lbs for a guy who had probably 8 feet wingspan is quite an achievement, especially given that he was a young basketball player, not a powerlifter. Squat is even harder for someone 7'4.

[Mavrelous]

Something is way off with the squat number, probabely 365.

[frica]

Please let those numbers be kg...

A 245 pound bench in a year for such a big man (285 pounds) is not great progress.
265 pound squat downright pathetic, but maybe he had some horrible mobility issues.

I also wish metric system was used across the world, but unfortunately it isn't...

Anyway, 245 lbs for a guy who had probably 8 feet wingspan is quite an achievement, especially given that he was a young basketball player, not a powerlifter. Squat is even harder for someone 7'4.

I think you're overstimating the negative effect his wingspan has on the bench. It's actually not a very strong predictor in powerlifting, only chest thickness is.
It's not like he was sub 200 pound Manute Bolt or young Kevin Durant. He was 285 lbs.

But like Khalil said, the squat number is just off.
Either 365, or my other guess about mobility issues.

[70sFan]

Please let those numbers be kg...

A 245 pound bench in a year for such a big man (285 pounds) is not great progress.
265 pound squat downright pathetic, but maybe he had some horrible mobility issues.

I also wish metric system was used across the world, but unfortunately it isn't...

Anyway, 245 lbs for a guy who had probably 8 feet wingspan is quite an achievement, especially given that he was a young basketball player, not a powerlifter. Squat is even harder for someone 7'4.

I think you're overstimating the negative effect his wingspan has on the bench. It's actually not a very strong predictor in powerlifting, only chest thickness is.
It's not like he was sub 200 pound Manute Bolt or young Kevin Durant. He was 285 lbs.

But like Khalil said, the squat number is just off.
Either 365, or my other guess about mobility issues.

Long wingspqn certainly doesn't help at benchpress and giants like Eaton are usually significantly weaker p4p than normal sized men.

265 lbs isn't that low for someone who doesn't train heavily with weights and has far from perfect physique to do it.

[Bad Gatorade]

Yaaaaay, I can squat and clean more than him Suck it, Mark! NBA, here I come!

Not only can I do that, I can bench more than him too!

Hope you enjoy being the Bowie to my Olajuwon!

(or the Durant to my Oden)

Yeah, not super impressive numbers in absolute sense. I can squat around that range and I don't even lift consistently.

(or the Jordan to my Olajuwon)

[henshao]

When someone is this size, you have consider how much of their own body mass is involved in every rep. Either way, really makes your eyes pop at someone like Wilt Chamberlain. We really lost something great when that little Jewish guy David killed him with a sling

[Texas Chuck]

I feel confident Eaton's functional strength was greater than the poster mocking him itt. So who cares what his raw lifting totals are. Lots of weight room superheroes can't translate that in competition.

[70sFan]

I feel confident Eaton's functional strength was greater than the poster mocking him itt. So who cares what his raw lifting totals are. Lots of weight room superheroes can't translate that in competition.

Strength in basketball is very specific, even Shaq probably wasn't much of a lifter. Basketball players aren't very strong in general.

[165bows]

I feel confident Eaton's functional strength was greater than the poster mocking him itt. So who cares what his raw lifting totals are. Lots of weight room superheroes can't translate that in competition.

Idk who the hell thinks it's not harder barbell lifting as a very tall athlete. Imagine squatting with that physique lol.

https://78.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lfkce0grwh1qznj8ho1_500.jpg

[frica]

I feel confident Eaton's functional strength was greater than the poster mocking him itt. So who cares what his raw lifting totals are. Lots of weight room superheroes can't translate that in competition.

Not mocking him. He probably wasn't even on a full program anyway.
Just strength (moving a barbell) standards in sports are incredibly... low.

The Springboks (an elite rugby team) require their lock (very physical position in Rugby) to have a 1.6x bw squat before they switch training priorities.
That's not a lot.

Just the way things are.

[henshao]

Just from a physics perspective.

1) longer limb = longer stroke on a given rep (more actual work required for the same weight)
2) longer limb = less leverage for a given muscle mass (more effort is required for the same force)
3) longer limb has more "parasitic weight" (the limb itself is heavier during the rep)

a 265lb bench press at 7'4 is pretty impressive tbh

[Mavrelous]

I also wish metric system was used across the world, but unfortunately it isn't...

Anyway, 245 lbs for a guy who had probably 8 feet wingspan is quite an achievement, especially given that he was a young basketball player, not a powerlifter. Squat is even harder for someone 7'4.

I think you're overstimating the negative effect his wingspan has on the bench. It's actually not a very strong predictor in powerlifting, only chest thickness is.
It's not like he was sub 200 pound Manute Bolt or young Kevin Durant. He was 285 lbs.

But like Khalil said, the squat number is just off.
Either 365, or my other guess about mobility issues.

Long wingspqn certainly doesn't help at benchpress and giants like Eaton are usually significantly weaker p4p than normal sized men.

265 lbs isn't that low for someone who doesn't train heavily with weights and has far from perfect physique to do it.

If you clen 215 and bench 245 you squat north of 350 easily, he trained for a year and was a strong dude, that number is probabely a typo.
EDIT: his box squat is 415, yeah, it's 365.

[Cavsfansince84]

Worth noting I think that it usually takes taller people longer to grow into their bodies strength wise. Eaton at 30-35 was likely far stronger. We all knew lots of kids in high school I would guess who could lift heavy weights but never grew taller than about 5-7 to 5-8.

[70sFan]

I think you're overstimating the negative effect his wingspan has on the bench. It's actually not a very strong predictor in powerlifting, only chest thickness is.
It's not like he was sub 200 pound Manute Bolt or young Kevin Durant. He was 285 lbs.

But like Khalil said, the squat number is just off.
Either 365, or my other guess about mobility issues.

Long wingspqn certainly doesn't help at benchpress and giants like Eaton are usually significantly weaker p4p than normal sized men.

265 lbs isn't that low for someone who doesn't train heavily with weights and has far from perfect physique to do it.

If you clen 215 and bench 245 you squat north of 350 easily, he trained for a year and was a strong dude, that number is probabely a typo.

Have you ever trained with 7'4 giant? We don't know how his body reacted to certain lifts.

[Modulate]

I mean, based on those numbers, it looks like he made a pretty big jump in one year. It's definitely surprising that a dude that big was so weak from the start though. Even if he were totally untrained, I would've assumed he could've done heavier lifts.

Makes me wonder what kind of weight he was pushing when he was older and bigger.

[Mavrelous]

I mean, based on those numbers, it looks like he made a pretty big jump in one year. It's definitely surprising that a dude that big was so weak from the start though. Even if he were totally untrained, I would've assumed he could've done heavier lifts.

Makes me wonder what kind of weight he was pushing when he was older and bigger.

The numbers are standard for a novice who started lifting and took it seriously, but there is one thing that's extremely impressive about this jump, he did it while dropping BF% from 18.5% to 12%, this means he was on a very strict cut, it IS very rare to produce these gains on such a cut.