Pat Robertson's Improbable Leg Press

Televangelist Pat Robertson allegedly leg pressed 2,000 pounds

Have you ever tried to leg press before? I sure have and it's not easy. The most I've ever been able to push up with both of my legs, even as strong as they are from my daily cardio workouts, is about 350 pounds.

So you can imagine my surprise when I read this Associated Press story about religious broadcaster Pat Robertson who claims he was able to leg press a supernatural weight of 2,000 pounds in 2003. Here's a close-up of the picture of Robertson doing the leg press (although the date stamp on the picture shows it was taken in 1994).

Let me give you a little background about my connection to Pat Robertson. I attended and graduated from the graduate school he founded called Regent University in the early 1990's. While Robertson has been known to say some pretty outrageous things over the years, most of us students and former students are respectful and grateful to Robertson for having the desire to see higher education with a Christian focus become a reality. I will forever be indebted to Robertson for the education I received while attending Regent University.

With that said, though, can I tell you how I really feel about this whole leg press fiasco? Pat, I hate to break it to you, my friend, but you must be full of something besides the Holy Spirit if you think anybody is buying your claim that you leg pressed a ton of weight. A ton! TWO-THOUSAND POUNDS! That's what a car weighs and you're saying you leg pressed it?!

My wife Christine, ever the optimist, said it is possible to have adrenaline running through your body so hard you can have superhuman strength just like those stories you hear of mothers lifting cars to save their child. Okay, but Robertson wasn't in an emergency situation like that with this leg press. He was merely posing for the camera with a big smile on his face at the age of 73 just days before having prostate cancer surgery.

But Robertson swears his leg press is the "God's honest truth" and he's sticking by his story and he claims that he regularly leg presses 1,200 pounds to keep his "bad knees" strong as he approaches the age of 80.

Stop lying to people, Pat! STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT! The most weight ever leg-pressed by a football player at Florida State University is 1,335 pounds and these guys are in tip-top athletic shape in their late teens/early 20's. What makes Pat Robertson think anyone will believe him and why would he be doing this (other than the obvious attention he gets from making such outlandish statements in the press like this to stroke his own ego!)?

The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) web site explains how Robertson trained to achieve this leg press. Click here to read about it.

"I did it one time, one rep, but I had built up to it for about three years," Robertson told the AP. "When the professionals do it, they take the brake off and let the weight come all the way down on them. And if you don't have a lot of help, you've got a Volkswagen sitting on your hips. I didn't do that."

Even still, the urban legend that Pat Robertson lifted a ton of weight with his legs lives on. Could it have anything to do with the "age-defying protein shake" he peddles as "Pat's Diet Shake?"



"We're selling [Pat's Diet Shake] like crazy," Robertson exclaimed to the AP. "There are thousands of people who want to get it. They think the shake had something to do with my ability to lift weights, and I don't think it did."

But you certainly don't mind the free press and advertising for your Slim-Fast wanna-be shake, though, do you Pat?

Sometimes I wish God would send Pat Robertson a lesson in humility about his arrogant pride. I love the man for obeying the will of God to build a college to teach Christian values to the leaders of tomorrow. But I wish he'd learn to tone down the incredulous rhetoric that he has now become infamous for. Pat, are you listening? STOP THE BABBLING! Okay?!