Icelandic professional strongman Hafthor Bjornsson is making solid progress on other lifts outside of his squat and deadlift. In the last couple months, Bjornsson has been making some serious gains on his axle clean & press. His latest video below highlights Bjornsson’s heaviest axle clean and press double to date.
A few hours ago, Bjornsson shared a video of himself axle clean & pressing 182kg (400 lbs) for a double. He utilizes the continental clean technique to get the bar off the ground and presses both reps with ease, even after a slight slip up on the second rep’s clean.
What makes this video so impressive to us is the difference in bar height when compared to a normal axle clean and press. The traditional axle clean and press in competition has a much larger wheel on each side, so the amount of total height to lift the bar is less. Bjornsson’s axle appears to be smaller, almost comparable to a standard barbell’s height, and let’s not forget that he stands at a whopping 6′ 9″.
Keep in mind, this set is still a considerable amount away from the current world record, but it’s drawn some attention in the strength world. Last year in April, Eddie Hall broke Zydrunas Savickas’s 215kg record that he set back in 2011 with a 216kg axle clean & press at the 2017 Europe’s Strongest Man competition.
And ever since last year’s 2017 World’s Strongest Man competition and the drama that followed, Bjornsson has been on a path of redemption. Since then, he’s hinted at attempting a new deadlift world record in 2018, and has posted some crazy squat progress. And now it appears Bjornsson is pushing his axle clean and press to the next level.
To further our point, the video below December 29th highlights a 172kg (379 lb) axle clean and press double, which Bjorsson hit for two sets.
2018 is already looking like another strong year for Bjornsson. Will he accomplish the lofty goals he’s set for himself? It’s hard to say this early on, but from his shared progress on his Instagram page, we’re optimistic for what he’ll accomplish this year.
Feature image screenshot from @thorbjornsson Instagram page.