The Israeli bodybuilder and powerlifter Amit Sapir just squatted 762.5 pounds (345.9 kilograms) weighing 181 pounds (82 kilograms), an official UPA world record. He pulled off the lift raw and with knee wraps at this weekend’s UPA meet, “Iron Battle on the Mississippi,” which took place in Dubuque, Iowa.
This is a barbell squat of over 4.2 times his bodyweight.
Anyway, his squat from the weekend is pretty significant. It was a world record, sure. That’s pretty good. But Sapir, who is already the most successful Israeli bodybuilder in the IFBB, had a loftier goal: to hold a squat record in four separate weight classes.
And the man has succeeded.
Over on Powerlifting Watch, Sapir is now listed as the world record holder for the squat with wraps in the 181lb weight class, but he holds the world record in three other classes without wraps.
He thanked his sponsors at Biotest and wrote,
Seeing my name on this list in four categories at once has been a goal for so long for me and this accomplishment is probably the thing I’m the most proud of in my athletic career!
Remembering the Squats
In April 2016, he set an APA world record in the 198-pound weight class with an 804-pound (364.7lb) squat.
About six months earlier, he set a UPA world record in the next weight class of 220 pounds with an 821-pound (372.4kg) squat. He actually broke the world record three times at this meet: 788 pounds, 804 pounds, and 821 pounds.
And in July 2016, just three months after hitting the APA world record, Sapir gained over thirty pounds and hit a UPA world record of 828 pounds (375.6lb) in the 242-pound weight class.
In a chat with BarBend, Sapir said,
I can PROMISE that once I’m fully healed (from a shoulder injury), you guys will see way higher numbers in wraps . I’m just learning them now and it was my first real meet in them. A bit more time and I’ll get a few more records in this list 🙂
We’ll keep an eye out, but even if Sapir never breaks another record, this is still one of the all-time greatest powerlifting accomplishments.
Featured image via Powerlifting Watch on YouTube.