Warning: This article contains themes and discussion of dr*gs.
Josh Baker – aka the Gym Reaper – has never been shy about the size of his ambition.
The British powerhouse has built his reputation on moving enormous weight, but in a candid conversation with Eddie Hall, he revealed that the pursuit of history is coming with a growing sense of fear.
Speaking on The Good, The Bad, and The Beast podcast, Baker laid out his ultimate target without hesitation when Hall asked about his motivation. “To be the best bench press that’s ever lived,” Baker said.
Baker confirmed his current personal record sits at 330kg, a number that already places him among the world’s elite. When Hall pressed him on the scale of the challenge still ahead, Baker was blunt about the gap to the all-time mark. “So it’s a bit of a way. 25 kilo. And the thing is, at that level, you know how much that 25 kilo is. Do you know what I mean? Every two and a half kilo feels like a car,” he said.
As of this writing, Julius Maddox holds the world record bench press at 355kg (782.6lbs).
For Baker, belief in his physical suitability for the bench press is not an issue. He described himself as naturally built for the movement, pointing to his upper-body structure as a key advantage. “I am built for bench. I’ve got a very dense upper, you know, body, my back, my chest, my shoulders are very dense,” he said. “I’ve got really thick front delts. And so if there’s anyone that can do it, it is me.”
The real question, as he sees it, is the cost of turning that potential into history. “It’s just a matter of how far am I willing to push it to get there,” he admitted.
Hall asked directly about Baker’s mindset and timeline, and the answer revealed just how narrowly defined this pursuit has become. “Two years,” Baker said, before confirming that he is fully committed to the attempt. “I am going for it, but I’ve got two years to do it.”
There is, however, a hard stop in his thinking. Baker explained that if he does not reach his goal by his 34th birthday, he is prepared to walk away. “If I haven’t got it by the time it’s coming up tomorrow, 34th birthday, I’m calling it there,” he decalred.
Part of that urgency is tied to the reality of what Baker believes would be required to reach the record. He spoke openly about the pressure to push his body beyond what he has previously done, particularly when it comes to performance-enhancing dr*gs. “But I know that within them two years, being bland, I’m going to have to abuse a lot of performance-enhancing dr*gs to a point where I don’t know how much damage that’s going to do.”
He contrasted that with his past experiences, making clear there are lines he has not crossed. “But I’ve never, ever took a dose that’s going to be horrifying.”
Those concerns have been amplified by seeing other athletes at the extreme end of the strength world. During the discussion, Baker referenced meeting rising Russian strength athlete Andrey Smaev, describing how confronting it was to see both his proportions and what he was allegedly using to achieve them. “It’s horrible. It scares me,” Baker said. “But that’s the main thing, mate — I know what I want, I just don’t know… I’m scared of what it’s going to take to achieve it. That’s my only concern.”
Where the conversation became most personal was when Baker spoke about how fatherhood has changed his perspective. “Like you said, I’ve got kids. And I did have that attitude of, ‘I’m going to get it no matter what.’ But that attitude’s kinda shifting,” he explained.
Hall noted the danger of that internal shift, replying, “That’s the hard part, because as soon as it starts shifting, that target begins to slip away.” Baker agreed, but admitted he is caught between obsession and responsibility.
“It’s all I think about,” he said. “There have been months where I’ve sat and dreamed about bench press every night. As dumb as it sounds, it’s genuinely all I think about. I even call bench my third child. I love it.”
Yet the thought that follows is impossible for him to ignore. “But then I think — what about my first two kids? That’s where my head goes. What about them boys?”
Baker articulated the fear that sits at the heart of his dilemma: giving everything and still coming up short. “Because my concern is that I give it everything and still don’t get it,” he said. “Then I’m left thinking, ‘Right, I’ve abused my body, potentially taken years off my life, maybe put myself at risk with blood pressure, and I could drop dead tomorrow… and for what? I didn’t even achieve it.’”
The uncertainty does not end there. “So then what do I do? Push the boat out again and try once more? That’s the fear I’m dealing with now,” he said, before acknowledging how much his children factor into that fear. “And I know I wouldn’t feel this way if I didn’t have kids—it wouldn’t even matter.”
Hall summed up the conflict succinctly, telling Baker, “You’re conflicting yourself a lot.” The Gym Reaper did not disagree, saying: “Yeah. It’s that part of my brain that knows how bad I want it. And then that part of my heart that knows the risk involved.”
For Baker, the next two years are not just about adding kilos to a barbell. They represent a reckoning between legacy and longevity, and whether the heaviest bench press in history is worth everything it might take to get there.
Featured image credit: YouTube/@GoodBadBeastPod (screenshots)
