Hafthor Bjornsson, or Thor as most know him, continues to crush big weight, while calling out future strength feats. And Bjornsson’s latest videos continue to show promise of what he may be capable in terms of static strength for the near future. It all began on September 21st when Bjornsson made his first strength claim, which was poking at attempting a new deadlift world record for 2018.
In his deadlift Instagram post’s description Bjornsson wrote, “Easy work today! I got big plans for 2018.. Working towards new world record… #OffSeason”. This statement of course caused some sparks in the strength sports world – not only because it’s a lofty claim – but because Eddie Hall, the current record holder, is also planning to up the current 500kg (1,100+ lb) deadlift feat.
All of the above brings us to Bjornsson’s latest Instagram video. It’s a squat video where he projects another epic strength feat, which will be embedded below. In the video, Bjornsson crushes a 350kg (770lb) 3-rep squat set with ridiculous speed. It’s not necessarily the weight, but the speed of his lift that opens the floor to a lot of speculation.
In his Instagram posts Bjornsson writes, “Squat. 350kg/770lbs 3reps. Today is a good day! @australianstrengthcoach @thorspowergym who believes in 455kg/1003lbs squat soon? Raise your hand if you would like to see me squat over a 455kg/1003lbs!”
Obviously, a 1,003lb squat is much different than a 770lb lift, but Bjornsson’s speed was pretty ridiculous. It may not be too far off of what he’s capable of if his static strength continues to grow as he continues to share.
Also, let’s not forget that at the 2017 World’s Strongest Man competition, Bjornsson came in second for the 700lb Squat Lift. He completed 12-reps, which earned him second behind Eddie Hall’s 15-reps.
All of these strength claims are continuing to build the hype behind what we may be able to expect from one of strongman’s top competitors in 2018. Will he be able to hit the numbers he’s projecting? It’s hard to tell, but it’s fun to speculate.
Feature image screenshot from @thorbjornsson Instagram page.
