This is absolute insanity.
A few days ago, Blaine Sumner posted a video on his Instagram page squatting a ridiculous 431kg/950 lbs…with a safety squat bar. For many, this lift looks like a seemingly routine day at the gym for Sumner. After all, Sumner regularly shares 1,000 lb+ squat videos on his Instagram page, but this lift is much more significant than meets the eye, and here’s why.
Back in July 2018, we wrote an article covering Alex Simon’s legendary lift with 420kg/925 lbs on a safety squat bar. Simon, who’s an accomplished powerlifter, strongman, and now MMA fighter, wrote in his post’s description,
“420kg safety bar squat!!! I want to know if anyone has ever squatted more than this weight on the safety bar, this was the heaviest weight I ever did on the safety bar, was fairly comfortable”
At the time, we had to agree with Simon that his lift was the heaviest we’d ever seen, and so we wrote an article asking the question: was Simon’s 420kg/925 lb SSB squat the heaviest to date? The general consensus from the numerous social media comments on the article and video was — yes it was — however, one athlete’s name popped up frequently within those comments.
The athlete in speculation within those many comments was none other than — Blaine Sumner.
Sumner, who currently holds multiple IPF Open Equipped +120kg world records has been sharing some massive lifts on his Instagram page as he trudges through his latest meet prep, and one of his most recent lifts includes an insane 431kg/950 lb SSB squat. Right now, Sumner is in prep for the 2019 IPF Open World Powerlifting Championships which are taking place November 17th-23rd in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Check out Sumner’s insane SSB squat below. Sumner mentions in the comments and confirmed with us that he’s wearing single-ply suit bottoms in the video. What might be most impressive about this lift is that he walked the weight out similar to Simon in the video above, which is an absolutely massive feat of strength alone.
In his Instagram post’s description Sumner writes,
“950 lbs. on the SSB tonight. Had to move some things around due to work this week so no Monday night squats, but the daddy mojo was still there tonight. Dubai can’t come soon enough. I just wanna get on that platform.”
How Athletes Reacted
On his Instagram post, multiple top athletes reacted and shared their thoughts.
Dylan Hellreigel, an accomplished powerlifter wrote, “Is that an erection in your pants? Wait nope, that’s me…”
Mike Tuchsherer, an accomplished powerlifter and founder of Reactive Training Systems commented, “*mother of god meme*”
Laurence Shahlaei, an 11x World’s Strongest Man competitor wrote, “This is fu*king Insane. Awesome buddy”
As of right now, we think Sumner may take the cake for the heaviest squat ever performed on a safety squat bar. However, we’d love to be proven wrong, so if you’ve seen anyone squat more on an SSB, let us know in the comments below!