Eric Spoto was born on October 22, 1976 on Long Island, New York. He started lifting weights at the age of 11 and learned about training through books and magazines. He was never afraid of hard work. A typical session often consisted of 35 working sets and at least 15 of those were bench press. At age 15 he benched 143 kg / 315 lbs and at 17 he benched 193 kg / 425 lbs at a high school meet.
Eric was not pursuing bench press or powerlifting at the time. It was simply training for him. Instead his interest in armwrestling grew and he competed in it for many years throughout his twenties. He still did a few bench press meets. His real interest in the lift was sparked after seeing Mark Bell and Stan Efferding on YouTube at Super Training Gym. He decided to travel there.
At his first session he warmed up and hit 3 reps with 265 kg / 585 lbs followed by 2 reps with 288 kg / 635 lbs. His reps and technique were done “his way”. There were two controversial elements in his bench press training. One was his execution and the other was his rep ranges. When it came to execution he stopped the bar one to two inches before touching the chest. What is now known as the Spoto press was back then simply called an “air pause”.
Today the Spoto press is widely recognized as an effective bench press variation. Back then the internet mostly claimed he was cheating. Ironically the same people often lifted their hips or failed to lock out their own reps, even though neither of those techniques is recognized as good bench press form.
Eric never lifted his hips but he rarely locked out his reps. He called them 3/4 reps and it was his most common style. When he did lock out it was usually with heavier weights and fewer reps, but not always.
Some may think not touching the chest is cheating, but lifters who have trained that way know that it builds tremendous bottom end strength and you almost never fail at the chest. The tension required to control the weight rep after rep is extremely specific and valuable even for heavy singles. However not locking out means you do not train the triceps and elbow joint specifically for the final part of the lift. This became obvious later in his first world record attempt.
The second unusual part of his training was high reps. He often performed sets with more than 10 or 20 reps and sometimes far more than that. Many of those sets were done with Spoto style reps or 3/4 lockouts. Here is a list of some of his personal bests:
102 kg / 225 lbs: 80 reps (3/4)
143 kg / 315 lbs: 60 reps (3/4), 45 full reps
184 kg / 405 lbs: 40 reps (3/4)
225 kg / 495 lbs: 22 reps (3/4)
250 kg / 550 lbs: never attempted
265 kg / 585 lbs: 10 reps (3/4)
272 kg / 600 lbs: 6 full reps
288 kg / 635 lbs: 5 full reps
295 kg / 650 lbs: 4 full reps
306 kg / 675 lbs: 3 full reps
327 kg / 722 lbs: 1 rep
95 kg / 210 lbs dumbbells: 17 reps
After the 2010 Super Training Gym video Eric quickly became a hot topic. People wondered if he could bench 318 kg / 700 lbs or even better break Scot Mendelson’s world record. Shortly after this he started uploading his own YouTube videos. Clips of Eric bench pressing or doing bench related work spread quickly and his name grew in both bench press and powerlifting circles.
In 2012 he competed at King of the Bench 9 and made his mark by pressing 318 kg / 700 lbs. He became the third person ever to do so officially in competition. The conversation then shifted from if he would beat Scot Mendelson’s 324 kg / 715 lbs to when he would do it.
About a month later in November 2012 at Super Training Gym’s Backyard Meet of the Century Eric showed up to take a shot at 325 kg / 716 lbs. His warm ups were explosive with 288 kg / 635 lbs and 306 kg / 675 lbs flying up. Many believed he would not only hit 325 kg / 716 lbs but also exceed it. On his first attempt the bar rose about two thirds of the way before falling unexpectedly. For the second attempt he put on the belt he had forgotten. It was better but still not enough. On his third attempt he exploded off the chest, locking out one arm and getting the other to about 80 percent before stalling.
After that disappointment Eric trained harder and more intentionally for his next record attempt.
The next meet was in May 2013 again at Mark Bell’s gym. Eric trained with the same general structure but adjusted his technique. He finished heavy sets by fully locking out and holding the top to build the strength he lacked. He also used board presses, hitting 3 reps with 333 kg / 735 lbs to strengthen his top end.
On May 19, 2013 the record attempt took place at Super Training Gym. This time Eric approached the meet more professionally. His warm ups were controlled with 288 kg / 635 lbs instead of a rushed 306 kg / 675 lbs. His opener was 300 kg / 661 lbs instead of 325 kg / 716 lbs. This allowed him to build controlled momentum up to the record weight.
After easily hitting 300 kg / 661 lbs they jumped to 325 kg / 716 lbs. The lift flew up but was red lighted because he pressed before the command. Everyone could see the strength was there. Being excited and inexperienced with a long pause made the lift too fast. For his third attempt they increased to 327 kg / 722 lbs to set a clear new world record. Eric hit the lift and secured the all time world record he had been chasing.
After the record Eric continued to show impressive training performances in the gym. Many videos followed. Unfortunately he never returned to the platform. Years of heavy training had damaged his rotator cuffs. He had shoulder surgery and two years later he eased back into training. Not the same weights as before but still doing reps with 227 kg / 500 lbs. The dream of a comeback lasted for a while.
Now more than ten years after the record we know Eric will not chase new records. He has returned a bit to armwrestling and still possesses incredible strength and muscle mass. His competitive bench press career was short, only six months and three meets. Despite that he made a lasting impact on strength culture and especially the bench press in a way few others have. It was the right person in the right place at the right time doing the right things.
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