About two weeks ago, we wrote an article about powerlifter John Haack’s 227.5kg (501 lb) bench PR. To conclude the article, we wrote that we were excited to see what strength feats Haack would end up hitting as the year progresses. Well, not even two weeks later, and we’re already seeing Haack put up his highest total to date (in training).
Haack’s next meet will be at the Kern US Open, which takes place on May 12-13th in San Diego, California. In his latest Instagram post Haack writes, “Meet prep for the @kernusopen starts next week, decided to test out today. Hit a 322.5kgs/710lb squat in sleeves, 225kgs/496lb bench and 347.5kgs/766lb deadlift for an 895kgs/1973lb total. Body weight at 88kgs/194lbs.”
Check out the video below to see Haack’s three lifts from the description above.
Last year, Haack competed in the 82.5kg weight class at the CETC US Open. He finished in second place behind Ben Pollack with a 856kg (1,884 lb) total, along with a 573.62 Wilks score. This massive total earned him second place in the Light Weight Men Best Lifters category where he walked away with $10,000 USD. The best lifter scores were determined by highest Wilks scores, and Haack finished a mere .4 points behind first.
Keep in mind, Haack is sitting at a slightly heavier weight than his normal competition weight, as he’s not in full prep just yet, but if we calculated his Wilks score off his latest total, then we end up with 578.04 Wilks. This would have been enough to push him into first and earn the top prize of $40,000 USD.
This year’s Kern US Open currently has 12 athletes in Haack’s division, and over $250,000 USD of prize money on the line (spread across multiple sports). With this strong new PR total and recent bench press PR, it’s going to interesting to see what Haack’s able to pull together come meet day.
Feature image screenshot from @bilbo_swaggins181 Instagram page.
