Gene Rychlak Jr
- ludwigpower
- May 31
- 2 min read
Updated: Jun 19
"THE QUEST OF DOING BETTER, I'M NEVER SATISFIED."
Some men are destined to etch their names in the vast record books of powerlifting, and Gene Rychlak Jr was one of those men. Breaching territory that no man had ventured before was something that Gene had conquered on multiple occasions. A pioneer of powerlifting, Gene had a multi-ply total of 2300lbs, with a 1005 squat, 1010 bench press, and 715 deadlift.
Rychlak made history in 2003 by becoming the first man to bench press 900 lbs (MP) at the Senior Nationals. While many would be elated at such a monumental achievement, Gene knew he was destined to once again venture into uncharted territory. And in 2004 he did just that by becoming the first man to bench over 1000 lbs with a 1005 lbs bench press (MP) at the IPA Nationals. To put this into perspective, at 32 years old he left the sport for 6 months due to plateau frustrations but was drawn back into the sport by a veteran lifter/mentor at his gym, and by the age of 36 he had made history twice.
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Scot Mendelson and Gene had a ferocious back-and-forth, with Mendy getting the upper hand at Bench American but Gene coming back to retain the crown at the Arnold Classic. Gene said he wanted the best competition he could find and he surely found it in Scot Mendelson. Alluring fans to the sport of powerlifting and hoisting bone-crushing bench presses was a regular occurrence during this rivalry.
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In 2005 the first-ever powerlifting pay-per-view was cast to fans nationwide where Gene would try to break his record by attempting a 1015 lbs bench press (MP). However, he was unsuccessful and the weight ended up falling on him before the spotters could react. Showing once again how dangerous this sport is and the extreme sacrifice these men make to achieve such feats of remarkable strength.
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Gene was known as a very generous man, and this was reflected in the powerlifting federation he founded, Revolution Syndicate Powerlifting (RPS). PAVA was a nonprofit he worked with to help fight all kinds of abuse, focused on domestic and animal cruelty. He would showcase PAVA at his meets and spread awareness, a testament to the kind of man Gene Rychlak Jr was. RIP 1968-2019
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