Pat Robertson Says He Leg-Pressed 2,000 Pounds

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060526/ap_on_re_us/robertson2000

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson
says he has leg-pressed 2,000 pounds. The feat is
recounted on the Christian Broadcasting Network Web site,
in a posting headlined, "How Pat Robertson Leg Pressed
2,000 Pounds." Robertson founded CBN and is host of its
flagship television show, "The 700 Club."

Clay Travis of CBS SportsLine.coms online magazine called
the assertion impossible in a column this week, writing that
the leg-press record for football players at Florida State
University is 665 pounds less. "Where in the world did
Robertson even find a machine that could hold 2,000 pounds
at one time?" Travis asked.

CBN spokeswoman Angell Vasko said Friday that Robertson
was not available for comment because he was "out of
pocket" for the long holiday weekend. Vasko said she has
not seen Robertson leg-press 2,000 pounds but that it's not
"a huge shocker" that he could. "Pat is so healthy," she said.
"This is something he trained for over an extended period of
time. He lives a very healthy, regimented life."

Vasko released photos to The Associated Press she said
showed Robertson leg-pressing 2,000 pounds on Feb. 1,
2003, when Robertson was almost 73. He is now 76. Vasko
said she did not know why the digital date stamp in the
lower right corner of one photo is 1994. She said perhaps
the date was not set properly on the camera. She did not
know who the photographer was.

The photos were taken at the fitness center at The Founders
Inn on the campus of Regent University, which Robertson
also founded. According to the CBN Web site, two men
loaded the leg-press machine with 2,000 pounds "and then
let it down on Mr. Robertson, who pushed it up one rep and
let it go back down again."

Several people witnessed Robertson's leg press, the site
says. The site also provides a link that CBN says shows
Robertson performing 10 repetitions of a 1,000-pound leg
press. Vasko said she did not know whether this was the
only time Robertson has leg-pressed that much weight, but
said, "I doubt it." Nor did she know whether he can
leg-press 2,000 pounds today.

Another posting on the Web site says "One of Pat's secrets
to keeping his energy high and his vitality soaring is his
age-defying protein shake." The site offers a recipe for the
shake, which Robertson developed and filled with
"energy-producing nutrients."

Andy Zucker, a strength-training coach at Old Dominion
University in Norfolk, said leg presses of more than 1,000
pounds represent "a Herculean effort, and 2,000 pounds is
a whole other story. If he was able to lift that much weight,
I take my hat off to him, but the numbers suggest that
people who lift that much weight are few and far between,"
Zucker said. "One would have to see what type of leg press
it was on and under what parameters it was done."