It was at Rivercity Barbell in Cincinnati, Ohio, where 35-year-old powerlifter Aria Attia pulled a monstrous 413kg/910lb without using straps or a belt or any other piece of supportive equipment. For this one he used only his grip, his posterior chain, an agonizing expression, and the will to grind through to the top.
We’ll dive into who Attia is and his competitive history in powerlifting, but first take a look at his 413kg/910lb pull below from his Instagram page:
View this post on Instagram
“Believe me when I say I sold my soul to the devil for this one.”
No kidding.
Attia, however, is no stranger to picking up unimaginably heavy weight off the floor. Believe it or not, the 413kg/910lb deadlift above is not his all-time personal best. His heaviest ever deadlift actually took place in competition at the Southern Powerlifting Federation (SPF) North of the Border 5 on December 5th, 2015 in the -125kg weight class at the age of 31 after recovering from a partially torn quad just a couple of months prior.
That lift? A 415kg/915lb deadlift — a new world record at the time. If you have never seen it, you can below courtesy of Attia’s YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhfbgygCql8&
[Related: Watch strongman Hafthor Bjornsson deadlift the heaviest weight ever recorded — 501kg/1,104lb.]
Attia’s competitive career started relatively late compared to most powerlifters. His first appearance at a sanctioned meet was in April 2015 at age 30 at the Revolution Powerlifting Syndicate (RPS) Northern KY April Anarchy where he took gold with 921kg/2030lb total.
He continued his streak of gold medal finishes through his next four competitions before his met defeat for the first time at the United States Powerlifting Association’s (USPA) CETC US Open Powerlifting Championships in April 2017 at age 32. He still managed to stand on the podium with a third place finish.
Attia has not competed since 2017, so who is to say other than Attia himself if we’ll get the opportunity to ever see him compete again. We’ll be sure to keep our eyes open if he does.
Feature image from Aria Attia’s YouTube Channel.