Powerlifter Ashton Rouska recently showed off some insane deadlift training (casual 716.5 pounds for five reps we’re talking about), and let’s just say all that gym time has seriously paid off.
This past weekend, Rouska competed at USA Powerlifting’s Powerfest and set an unofficial World Record Total of 1,984 pounds in the -105kg/231 lbs weight class! He weighed in at 208.1 lbs and his successful day on the platform looked like this:
- Squat: 705 lbs
- Bench Press: 457 lbs
- Deadlift: 821 lbs
- Total: 1984 lbs
In Rouska’s Instagram post he wasn’t shy about his big day and even called attention to -105kg powerlifting phenoms Bryce Lewis and Krzysztof Wierzbicki and how he unofficially topped their records. He wrote,
“My 2nd deadlift of 804 lbs broke [Bryce Lewis’] total record (1967 lbs) and my final deadlift of 821 lbs unofficially surpasses the World Record total [Krzysztof Wierzbicki] (1984 lbs/900 kg). Beyond grateful to have such strong competition to push me to my limits. Much respect.”
Rouska only missed one attempt on the day and that was his second bench press at 457.5 lbs, according to Lifting Cast. He was later able to press and make the 457.5 lbs on his third bench press attempt.
Just back in April, Rouska closed out his collegiate career with a 1,930 lb total, which easily made him one of the top young powerlifters to keep an eye out for. Pretty impressive that it’s only been a couple of months since college and he’s improved his total pretty drastically. We’re talking 1930 to 1984 lbs here, that’s 54 pounds more at an elite level.
Rouska competes as a light 105kg athlete, so it’ll be interesting to see what weight class he chooses if he decides to compete at USAPL Raw Nationals in October. Last year, he competed as a 105kg and finished in second place. Either way, we’re expecting to see some big things out of Rouska, especially as he looks to officially break some world records soon.
Editors note: This post has been updated to Rouska finishing in second place at Raw Nationals last year, as it previously incorrectly stated that he finished in first place.
Featured image from @ashh117 Instagram page.
