British powerlifter Tom Martin has set three new British raw powerlifting records: a squat of 370 kilograms (815.7 pounds), a deadlift of 402.5 kilograms (887.4 pounds), and a total of 982.5 kilograms (2,166 pounds), which is the biggest British raw total across any and all weight classes.
In fact, he annihilated the previous records for his -120kg weight class: he beat the old squat record by 30 kilograms (he was wearing wraps), the deadlift by 55 kilograms, and the total by 70 kilograms.
There are two things that make this feat even more impressive. First, he did it at a weight of 108.5 kilograms, so he was competing as a -120kg athlete at 11.5kg under the weight cutoff. And second, he had bicep reattachment surgery just four months ago after tearing his bicep in July. Watch his performance below.
Before thanking his friends and family, he wrote on Facebook,
I had a goal to finish the year back on the platform again, but there were days up until maybe 8 weeks ago I was too frightened to pick up an empty bar, and I never imagined I would actually be lifting at my best ever, with a 25kg increase to my total.
[Want to avoid an injury like that? Check out our ultimate guide to preventing a bicep tear.]
Martin holds a lot of British records — in addition to those he racked up on Sunday, he has the -93kg records in the raw deadlift (350kg or 771.6lb) and total (785kg or 1730.6lb), which he earned at the same 2013 meet, and he has the equipped deadlift record in the -83kg class (350kg).
Note that British Powerlifting lists Martin has holding the -93kg record in the raw and the equipped classes with a 350kg deadlift, but both records are listed as taking place on the same day. Since that date (October 13, 2013) was the Great British Powerlifting Classic, we think the equipped record may be a typo.
Perhaps Martin’s proudest achievement — at least according to his Instagram — is his -83kg IPF World Record deadlift of 345 kilograms, or 760.6 pounds.
His performance on Sunday was historic, even for an athlete who hadn’t been recovering from bicep surgery all summer. Congratulations are in order — we have a feeling he’ll be looking to take on some more IPF records next.
Featured image via Tom Martin on Facebook.
