These could be the first powerlifters to deadlift 500 kg

Are strongmen really the strongest men?

The History Of the record

One of the most talked about lifts of the past decades has been the infamous 500 kg deadlift, and rightfully so. The record was first set in 2016 by the English Strongman Eddie Hall who pulled the weight in front of ten thousand screaming fans.

Four years later that record was finally broken by Hafthor Bjornsson who added 1 kg to it. Many considered this as a illegitimate attempt because the event was organized in his own gym without any other competitors or spectators.

How do powerlifters stack up

You didn’t click this article to hear about strongmen so what about the powerlifting world record?

Well… that was set by a strongman as well. Benedikt Magnússon, who has also held the strongman record, set it back in 2014 and it still stands today.

So at this point in time the gap between the strongman and powerlifting record is a big 40 kg. So is there anyone that could close it?

Requirements to be on this list

Before we get into the list, here are some prerequisites for the lifters on there:

• Only Powerlifters: This list will only contain powerlifters that are currently active and not strongmen that might transition.
• Straps: Gym lifts can be done with straps. Of course this would not count in an official competition but this will be about raw deadlift strength.
• Equipment: We will consider both raw and equipped lifts since the strongman records were also set with a suit.
• Sumo: Is allowed in powerlifting (so also in this list).

Now that you know the requirements to be on here, lets see who made it!

The contenders

1. Jamal Browner

This will probably not come as a surprise to many of you because Jamal has pulled over 450kg in training several times. This also translated well to competition where he set the world record in his weight class at 440.5 kg.

For now Jamals best deadlift in the gym topped out at 476 kg so a half ton seems right around the corner.

2. Yury Belkin

The second man on this list took the deadlift world record back from Jamal. In a spectacular performance where he just took one attempt, he deadlifted 445 kg and the word on the street was that he was planning to go for the ATWR.

In his training leading up to his record breaking performance he has gone even heavier. He made weights like 450 kg look easy.

3. Krzysztof Wierzbicki

Krzysztof is a very underrated lifter and the only tested lifter. He usually competes in the IPF in the 93 kg weight class but also holds the all time world record in his weight class at 433.5 kg.

In training the Polish lifter has gone up as high as 456 kg. Not bad considering he is the lightest person on the list.

4. Ventsislav Dimitrov

As opposed to the other athletes we have discussed, Ventsislavs pulls have never materialized in competition. In training though, he is up there with the best pulling weights up to 470 kg.

I hope you all enjoyed my first article here on Medium and if you did make sure to give me some feedback. I see it as a way to give some more insight into the reasoning that goes into making a video.

Thanks for reading and stay strong my friends!