Gavin Lin, Layout Staff
December 8, 2023
Just by looking at him, one can tell that Kevin O’Neill has unparalleled strength. His impressive size and stature scream ‘strength’ and make him stand out as a dominant figure whenever he enters a room. Arriving at Nobles 10 years ago, Coach O’Neill currently serves as the Director of Strength and Conditioning for all community members on campus. Of his role, he said “[I] oversee the afternoon program for Strength and Conditioning…and will write [lifting] programs for students that want to work out for general fitness goals. [I] can [also] work with faculty and staff if they need any type of workout programs [for general health].” In addition, O’Neill works with sports teams on campus for strength training. Throughout the seasons, he runs strength circuits as part of practices and also helps with varsity tryouts for sports that require weight room benchmarks.
Aside from serving as Nobles’ Director of Strength and Conditioning, O’Neill also has a strong history of weight training with some impressive personal records (PRs). Whether you are a seasoned lifter or not, the terms “bench press,” “squat,” and “deadlift” will probably ring a bell. These three exercises are among the most commonly used words in lifting. For O’Neill, these exercises and their associated maximums represent years of training, discipline, and consistency. O’Neill’s maximum bench press is an astonishing, “four and quarter [425 pounds]…about four years ago.” His maximum squat is an impressive, “530 [pounds], and that was probably 10 years ago,” and he managed to deadlift “525 [pounds], and that was about 15 years ago,” O’Neill said. Whether you are a trained or untrained lifter, there is no denying that these numbers are more than impressive. O’Neill’s high PRs make you wonder how the bar is capable of holding so much weight. Such incredible PRs take years to achieve and often require hours of training per day. Additionally, careful meal choice is essential to ensure optimal muscle growth, usually leading to boring meals such as the world-renowned chicken and rice, which is often eaten plain without any sauces or additional flavors.
If you’re wondering what type of training plan O’Neill follows, you’d find it to be a bit different than a traditional approach. Everybody trains and lifts differently, and O’Neill recognizes that incorporating heavy strength sessions is the most enjoyable for him. “I kind of write my own personal workouts in two weeks chunks…I’ve always been a fairly big, strong guy so I like to lift heavy…I don’t really need to put on size…so I will do a couple heavy workouts a week and incorporate some type of conditioning,” he said. Overall, O’Neill’s astonishing PRs are a tribute to the accomplishments hard work can achieve and the incredible strength of the human body.
(Photo Credit: Zack Mittelstadt)
