Chad Wesley Smith is a very strong man: American Record Holding powerlifter, professional strongman competitor, founder of Juggernaut Training Systems, and author. Oh, and he deadlifts in boat shoes, so that’s probably impressive as well?
Anyway, Smith recently made a trip to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, and while powerlifting is normally his game, the dude just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to sling some weight quickly. Here he is power snatching 275 pounds:
Honestly…not that bad. And definitely more weight than most dedicated (American) Olympic lifters are catching above parallel. It’s not like anyone was doubting a guy who squats nearly 850 pounds in just wraps could sling some weight overhead. But Smith’s definitely got some explosiveness hiding in there, and he hits positions better than a lot of Oly lifters would expect from their powerlifting brethren.
He even got a nice shoutout from Olympic silver medalist and pause snatch World Record holder (probably) Dmitry Klokov.
Might as well just retire from weightlifting after this email from @klokovd #JuggLife #CrossFat
A photo posted by Chad Smith (@chadwesleysmith) on
Chad Wesley Smith seems to have a nice thing going with powerlifting, Juggernaut, and whatever else he’s been cooking up. But if he does decide to make the leap to weightlifting, there’s a strong precedent. American superheavyweight weightlifters and Olympians Shane Hamman and Mark Henry both made the transition from powerlifting to weightlifting, and Hamman still owns the American records in the snatch, clean & jerk, and total (though Caine Wilkes is certainly aiming to change that in the next year or two).
Know of any other powerlifters who are making the switch to weightlifting? Let us know, and maybe they’ll get a shoutout — or something.
