RFK Jr.'s bench press performance isn't as impressive as some might think.

In videos released this weekend, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a man who has controversially compared childhood vaccines to the Holocaust and is also running for president for some reason, is seen lifting weights on a sunny beach. He seems to be lifting 115 pounds. Some of his supporters find this impressive, believing it speaks to both his physical health and his capacity to advocate for public health. Let's examine these claims more closely.

First, let's assess his incline bench presses for what they are, from the perspective of a weightlifting enthusiast (that’s me, by the way). Then, we can discuss why it ultimately doesn't really matter.

What exercise is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. performing?

The individual who believes Bill Gates plans to track us through injectable microchips is performing his lift in a manner typical for bodybuilders, where he doesn't allow the bar to touch his chest and doesn't fully extend his arms at the top. He also has a spotter (the person standing behind him), who assists him in completing the final reps. This technique allows him to get extra reps in when his arms are fatigued. He could reduce the weight to make the lift easier, but getting help from a spotter is a simpler way to achieve the same goal. This is standard practice in weightlifting.

There’s another video where RFK Jr., who claims he’s not anti-vaccine but continuously opposes vaccination, is shown doing push-ups. They’re not particularly well-executed push-ups.

Is lifting 115 pounds on an incline bench press a noteworthy achievement?

Now, is RFK Jr.'s lift actually difficult? I don't usually perform incline bench presses, so in the name of journalism, I elevated my bench using blocks. My incline might not be the same as Kennedy's (since the incline angle can influence how hard or easy a lift feels), but I got as close as I could. I didn’t have the luxury of a sunny beach, nor did I go shirtless, but I did wear jorts for the sake of authenticity.

Kennedy, who claims that Anthony Fauci instructed Chinese scientists on 'how to weaponize bat viruses,' appeared to complete five reps without the help of a spotter. I managed four. (I didn’t have a spotter; I just lowered the bar to my lap after failing to complete the fifth rep.) It's fair to say that Kennedy is physically larger than me, and as a man, he likely has an advantage in terms of upper body muscle mass.

He and I could compare our numbers using a Wilks calculator. The Wilks formula adjusts for differences in gender and body size, so people can fairly compare their lifting performance. Unfortunately, when I tried to find RFK, Jr.'s exact measurements, I stumbled upon multiple celebrity websites that couldn't agree if he was 5'8" or 6'2", making me question the accuracy of their weight details. Still, I made an estimate. With five reps at 115 pounds, the calculator suggests an estimated one-rep max (1RM) of 134 pounds. My own four reps give me a 1RM of 129 pounds. Plugging in those figures with the assumption that RFK, Jr. weighs 175 pounds and is male, while I weigh 155 pounds and am female, his score comes out at 41.70, while mine hits 58.04. Even if we were the same weight, I would still come out on top—45 points for him and 58 points for me. So, you should probably vote for me, not RFK, Jr. (By the way, vaccines are good.)

Is it impressive for a 69-year-old man to do a 115-pound incline bench press? Not really. It's a solid working weight for someone who lifts casually, which is the context we're discussing. If a guy his age and skill level came into your local gym, you'd probably think, 'Good for you, staying active!'

If it's true that this weight is '50% of his max,' as claimed by the person who spotted him, then that would be a more notable lift. However, we don't have concrete proof to back up the spotter's assertion that RFK, Jr. could knock out a few reps at 230 pounds. We also can't explain why he chose to post his final drop set instead of a typical working set, nor can we figure out why he posted a video of himself doing 'eight partial-range pushups' and claimed that the low number was due to it being his last set of the day.

The whole discussion about this is really quite ridiculous.

Did we learn nothing from Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Crossfit videos? A person can be strong and fit and still be a horrible human being who has no business holding public office. (For the record, if Greene is still training, I’d wager she could probably out-bench Kennedy. Maybe we could organize an anti-vaxxer powerlifting contest to replace the Musk/Zuckerberg cage match.)

Kennedy’s primary goal in sharing these videos is to shift the narrative away from health being a universal concern, one that is deeply influenced by public policy. In the tweets following his pushup video, the man who says that '5G cell phone networks cause cancer' outlines his public health philosophy: 'not through pills or syringes, but through character and self-discipline.'

This is, of course, pure nonsense. Even the strongest people can get sick. In fact, illness itself can prevent the formation of healthy habits, which is why maintaining good health is crucial—it’s what enables people to exercise and eat properly in the first place. While exercise can help prevent certain chronic diseases, it doesn’t eliminate all other causes of illness.

Kennedy’s supporters have paired images of him and Joe Rogan with photos of vaccine scientist Peter Hotez, implying that the true measure of 'health' is simply how 'jacked' you look. (Hotez, who recently declined an invitation to debate RFK, Jr. on Joe Rogan’s podcast, was then harassed online and even in person about his decision.)

Kennedy is just one of many outspoken figures who have been blaming individuals for their own sickness since the early days of COVID. This trend goes back even further: I have a collection of old Strength & Health magazines from the 1940s, and several of them feature editorials claiming that people who lift weights are always healthy, and anyone with a health issue is simply to blame for it. If you go back even further, you’ll find proto-fitfluencer Bernarr Macfadden condemning 'weakness as a crime'—and warning not to be a 'criminal.' Macfadden, like Kennedy, didn’t believe germs could make healthy people sick, much as Kennedy seems not to believe that the HIV virus causes AIDS.