[PARAGON]

Associated Press
Robertson Says He Leg-Pressed 2,000 Pounds
05.26.2006, 04:46 PM


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."