On April 12, 2021, 90-kilogram powerlifter John Haack posted a video to Instagram of himself bench-pressing 264 kilograms (584 pounds). The lift is four kilograms over his current world record. It was done raw with wrist wraps and no lifting belt. Since this is a training lift, the bench press doesn’t count as a new world record. He also squatted 340 kilograms (749 pounds) in that same training session, which is 10 kilos over his best squat in competition.
He set the current bench press world record in February 2021, at the WRPF Hybrid Showdown III in Miami, FL. That means in less than two months, Haack was able to complete tack 11 pounds onto that record. You can check out the bench press and squat below, courtesy of Haack’s Instagram page:
View this post on Instagram
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These lifts are a part of his preparation for the 2021 Kern US Open, currently scheduled to take place April 24-25, 2021, in San Diego, CA. In the caption of the post, Haack writes that he still needs to take care of one technique issue on the bench press.
[I] need to do better on the pause.
Haack may think his technique needs work, but the guy is clearly doing something right. He’s competed in 19 powerlifting meets since 2013 and only failed to get gold three times. For most of his career, Haack has competed in the 82.5-kilogram (181-pound) weight class. The 28-year-old didn’t start dominating the 90-kilogram class until 2020. According to Open Powerlifting, He holds the world records for the bench press and the total (967.5 kilograms or 2,133 pounds) in that weight class.
Here are his stats from his world-record total setting performance at the WRPF Hybrid Showdown III:
- Squat — 330 kilograms (727.5 pounds)
- Bench Press — 260 kilograms (573.2 pounds)
- Deadlift— 377.5 (832.2 pounds)
- Total — 967.5 kilograms (2,133.9 pounds)
With the gains clearly rolling in, Haack may be in a position to surpass his current world record bench press and total. Maybe he’ll break the 1,000-kilogram total milestone? If these lifts indicate how he will perform in San Diego, he should expect to have a very successful meet.
Featured image: @Bilbo_swaggins181 on Instagram
