According to this one, Yao barely held off the challenge by the Rockets conditioning coach Falsone. The bet was Yao'll pass as long as he can do the weights Falsone can. Falsone is only 1.75m and 73kg(160lb), about half of the weight of Yao. In the end it ended when Falsone couldn't find dumb bells heavier than 32.5lbs and Yao was already in big trouble lifting them. http://sports.sohu.com/20040716/n221031856.shtml (Chinese)
looks like Falsone is trying get get yao to shock his pecs by doing dumbell chest presses. doesn't say how many reps or what the rest is in between... but 32.5 lbs don't sound right. i saw the pictures this article refers too... falsone looks like he's got at least 50s or 60s up there. Yao was doing some 30s or so, but in one pic he looked to be doing some 45. i'm going by the average gym dumbells. i guess these could be fancy chinese ones that are big but don't weigh as much. in any case... good idea.
here i've got some evidence: those are 45s at least, if not 50-55. still not great... since that's what i start with, but it's not too bad... especially since you don't want to over do it and mess up your shooting touch like Jordan and the 1992 Olympics. Also... the longer your arms are, the less you can bench.
hearing this actually kinda sucks... Yao u better be hittin those weights... i don't care about you gettin bigger, I just want ya to get stronger and quicker.
loook at how Yao's head is hanging off the bench. I don't think thats proper form, probably why he can't do much dumbell bench. With dumbell benches, a lot of it is in learning how to balance the weight...and not heaving head support definately screws up the balance. what a bad trainer this falsone guy is.
hey don't believe everything you hear. couldn't find dumbells more than 32.5lb? look in the picture on the rack of dumbells and see those on the floor? 60 lbs at least. those in yao's hands are definitely 50+.
Honestly I don't care if Yao gets much, or any, stronger than he was last season. He was big enough last season to be dominant had his attitude been in that vein. I think he needs to develop a killer instinct more than killer pectorials...and the latter ain't gonna help the former much.
Although Yao weighs more than Falzone, Falzone should be able to lift more weights based on his height, especially on the bench press. The longer your arms are the further you have to move the weights; the shorter your arms, the less distance you have to move the weights. Just because Yao doubles his weight, it doesn't mean that Yao should be stronger than Falzone. Just thought that this should be clarified before people start freaking out.
Oh yeah, I bet Yao could easily top this guy doing leg presses, his calves look like trunks. My friend is the same way, small arms but incredibly huge legs, tree trunks if you will.
Yeah that's what I was thinking. 32.5 kg which is what, about 70lbs. Sounds a bit more realistic to me.
i thought so too... but it reads "pounds" in the article. i just think the reporter has never lifted weights in her life before so made an error.
i´m 5'6 and i lift more weight than yao in this picture. so? am i superman? i dont think so =/ yes, yao needs to get stronger we wanna see him dominating a game, and it would boost his stamina, but i think he is stronger than last year. man, yao would be THA man if he was stronger and wasn´t so passive on D (he should attempt blocking more shots goddamit!) and afraid of dunking
Sounds like guys having some fun in the weight room. Falsone would never expect Yao to be as strong as he is with weights. If Yao was as strong as Falsone he'd be a horrible basketball player. For him to get as strong as Falsone he would have to lift heavy weights every day, not play basketball ever again, and keep lifting every day for a couple of years. Falsone has been lifting weights all his life, he weighs about 160lbs and by the looks of him I'm guessing he can max out over 300lbs. For a 160lb guy, thats strong as a bull. Coming out of highschool I was weighing 170 and maxing out at 300lbs on the bench press and was so tight and pumped I quit playing recreational basketball and could barely surf anymore. For awhile it was cool but I didn't like it anymore and started running long distances and lost a lot of muscle and got some natural motion back in my limbs and body. My point is, we don't want Yao to ever to get like that, and he'll never be as strong as Anthony Falsone, that dudes a bull, if Yao was going at it hard in the weight room like Falsone - he'd stiffen up, his shot would be lik Ben Wallace's, and he'd start to suck at basketball.
Falzone: "you can't run, you can't bench press, so what are you going to say?" "I already gave my best, and thus I have no regrets at all." Yao answered. "That's the best attitude yet." Falzone praised him, as Yao further tried to explain his mediocrity, "you know, I have no professional training of bench pressing..."
