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When footballers get benched, they are expected to swallow it and get on with the job.

This athlete from southwest China should certainly avoid gulping while competing though – otherwise his unconventional approach to bench pressing could prove a little bit more painful for his digestive system.

Li Hongxiao yesterday broke the world record for balancing benches with his teeth as he successfully held up a whopping 23 benches for 11 seconds.

The 30-year-old easily surpassed the previous record of 14 benches for the somewhat niche pastime.

With each bench weighing 3 kilograms, the combined bulk came to almost as much as much as his 75kg body weight.

(Image: Barcroft) (Image: Barcroft)

Hailing from Tianqiao village in Chongqing, Li began performing a ‘lion dance’ aged eight to earn money for his family.

Refining his sideshow act, he started to hold up objects such as bamboo poles, ladders and benches with his teeth in 2000.

As time passed, he became more and more competitive and increasing the load placed on his toothy pegs.

When attempting to balance 12 benches for the very first time, Li escaped with eighteen stitches in his lower lip after the garden seats fell off.

Still, Li could prove quite the unique garden centre employee should the circus work ever dry up.