CJ Cummings is a 4-time junior world weightlifting champion — he won them consecutively in 2016, 2017, 2018 in the -69kg weight class, and 2019 in the -73kg weight class where he currently competes. The 19-year-old Cummings also has a gold medal from the 2019 Pan American Weightlifting Championships, where he broke fifteen records.
As a member of Team USA weightlifting, Cummings has not stopped training despite the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. On a tranquil day with birds chirping throughout the neighborhood, Cummings decided he needed to lift an absolutely massive 255kg/562lb front squat in what appears to be his driveway. Check out that lift below from his Instagram page:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_nH7e9lv9D/
[Related: Read the interview with CJ Cummings after winning three silver medals at the IWF Grand Prix.]
After having to drop the weight, re-racking might have taken him a while but it is certainly worth it for a lift of this magnitude. For context, here are Cummings’ current personal bests:
- Snatch: 153kg/337lb
- Clean & Jerk: 192kg/423lb
- Total: 344kg/758lb
This post was the first time Cummings’ shared a lift on his Instagram page in a month but it would be safe to assume that in that time, he has been focusing on getting stronger in the front rack position to help improve his clean & jerk. Here he is holding what appears to be 270kg/595lb in a front rack position for a count of ten:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-SDP89FQfQ/
[Related: Check out CJ Cummings favorite workout songs and pre-meet rituals.]
For a look at how Cummings’ front squat stacks up against the world’s best, here is a video of 2016 Olympic gold medalist Shi Zhiyong performing a 255kg/562lb front squat of his own:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B4zeBIegHqH/
Although that was from 2017 when Zhiyong was competing at -69kg, he did mention that he was aiming to hit 260kg/573lb this past winter. Suffice to say, Cummings’ driveway front squat is in good company.
More interested in seeing the man’s clean & jerk? Here’s a recent training session where Cummings lifted 134kg/295lb:
Note: slide left to see Cummings front squat 150kg/331lb. Then slide left again to see him squat 219kg/483lb.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-aVtjkFaH3/
Cummings did not compete at the Arnold Sports Festival this past March but did say:
“I’ll try my best to make it to as much national competition as I can this year.”
How much national competition there will actually be this year is still up in the air, so it is not clear when Cummings will compete next. But we are excited to see him hit some big numbers when he does.
Feature image from CJ Cummings’ Instagram page: @cj__cummings
