You will not see many athletes in the powerlifting community who have had to overcome obstacles like bench pressing. A Kentuckian pal set two world records in 2019 that included a 744-pound raw bench pressing. But to do so, he had to overcome many obstacles and shred many addictions. This is an inspiring story of Julius Maddox.
Inspiring Story of Julius Maddox
While setting the world record of bench pressing with 744 pounds, he did not use any support gear other than the wrist wrap. But to get his name in the record books, he had to free himself from the chains of depression and addictions. He was a drug addict whose stuff was opioids, enzoids, and things like that.
“I wasn’t just your average user. I would take it to the extreme,” Maddox says.
“I lived the lifestyle of taking prescription pills and actually on the other side of it, too. Trafficking drugs and pills. So it’s been a long journey to get to where I’m at today.”
For Maddox, lifting weights wasn’t just a distraction from the drugs and depression. It was a matter of life and death for him. One lucky day, following a recovery plan session, Maddox, who has been powerlifting only for a little over seven years put his energy to the test in a dungeon-like basement gym with nothing but dirt for a floor. He and his gym partners put all the weight they could on the bar, and he pressed it for two.
“We added the weight up afterward, and it ended up being 525 pounds,” Maddox says. “The guys were like, ‘You realize that nobody is doing this type of weight like this.’ So it got me fixated on C.T. Fletcher and things like that. And I started watching those things, and I’m like, ‘I think I can get there.’”
Now, Maddox takes his endorphin rush by lifting heavyweights. When he’s not setting world records, he is helping youngsters in his community, supporting them veer away from taking drugs as he did in his younger days and teaching the importance of physical fitness.
“If I can change one person or inspire one person to live a different life, then I’m fulfilling my purpose,” he says.
As for the future, Maddox is all st to break his own record, yet again.
“I want to do something that no man in the history of the world has done,” he says. “I will be the first man on earth to ever bench-press 800 pounds raw.” He has the chance, and this time nothing is going to stop him. “I got a second chance at life, so I’m not going to waste it this time,” Maddox says. “I’m going to take full advantage.”
