Who Is Mark Bell

Mark "Smelly" Bell

Mark Bell’s feats of strength extend beyond the gym, in pursuit of the American Dream.

Mark is the meathead millionaire who has leveraged a successful powerlifting career into a multi-million dollar business empire. He owns and operates the Super Training Gym, dubbed “The Strongest Gym In The West” and largest free gym in the world, publishes a national fitness magazine, and is host of a Top 50 health and fitness podcast, along with an impressive YouTube following.

Much of Mark’s business success has comes from his patented invention called the Sling Shot, a widely popular weight lifting device, billed as the greatest invention since the weight lifting belt. It is used by athletes and coaches and can be found in gyms and Crossfit boxes throughout the country.  

His motto in life is simple: “If you’re not getting better, then you’re getting worse, so never be caught standing still.”

The Powerlifter

Mark is a World and American record holding professional powerlifter. He is currently ranked in the top 10 of all-time powerlifters, with a total of 2,628 lb. He has squatted 1,080 lbs, bench pressed 854 lbs, and deadlifted 766 lbs. Mark continues to train and power lift to set personal records in his own Mark Bell gym called Super Training Gym.

The Coach and Fitness Expert

Mark coaches a wide array of athletes of various ages, experiences and strengths, some of whom make up his Super Training Team at his gym in West Sacramento, California. As a coach, Mark believes it is just as much about recognizing and understanding the needs of the athlete or individual he is training as it is about good mechanics and technique. He focuses on helping his athletes set goals, get results, and not to be complacent so that new goals can be achieved. This means checking his ego at the door and putting his students above himself. You can come to his gym for a Mark Bell workout.

Mark has also teamed up with Crossfit to develop a Crossfit Powerlifting Certification series and offers lifting seminars to Crossfit boxes throughout Northern California. He also hosts one of the Top 50 Health Podcasts, “Mark Bell’s PowerCast” on iTunes and was one of the early users of YouTube to host a channel that offered lifting tutorials and “infotainment” to his viewers.

The Entrepreneur

Mark embodies the true definition of a successful entrepreneur, one who has started a business, taken risks and has become an influential leader in his industry. He and his wife, Andee, own and operate the nationally and internationally distributed POWER Magazine, a must read for anyone who follows the power lifting, bodybuilding and fitness industries. POWER showcases strength athletes as the most powerful people on Earth, such as guest features by the World’s Strongest Man Brian Shaw and Cassandra Martin.

The Innovator

Who better to invent a patented device that improves your bench press than the man who has benched a whopping 854 lbs? Now, you can even download the Mark Bell bench press program. Mark Bell took a negative situation -- dealing with the pain and rehabilitation from an injury -- to create a simple device that improves technique, range of motion, mobility and form to strengthen your bench press, dip and push up movements. Mark Bell’s Sling Shot and other training devices from the Mark Bell product line have much innovation, functionality and care put into their design and manufacturing to allow their users to PR lifts and achieve great results.