On February 6th, Allentown, Pennsylvania hosted the 2021 MM Northeast Power Bowl powerlifting meet. It was at this event that a new standard has been set for the deadlift in the 308 pound/140kg bodyweight class.
Twenty-five year old Chris Weist was one of the 13 competitors taking part in this meet, and he competed in the Pro Open Raw class of the USA–PA meet, only taking part in the final of the big three lifts. His effort culminated with a successful deadlift of 942.4 pounds (428 kg), which is the most he has lifted in any meet. He weighed 308.6 pounds (140 kg), which placed him in the 308/140 division.
Not only did this conventional lift best the next best lifter at this meet by over 350 pounds, but it set a new unofficial all-time world record for that division. You can see the lift in the video below. The attempt received three white lights from the judges in attendance.
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The meet wasn’t international, and powerlifting has no official world records across federations due to the sport having numerous governing organizations. (In most federations, lifts only count toward world records if performed in international-level meets.)
While there may be no formal record, Open Powerlifting does have this lift as the new and current top lift for raw lifters in the 308/140 division. The previous mark was at 925.9 pounds (419.9 kg) set by the late Konstatine Konstantinovs in 2010. He also now holds the top lift for the same division in raw plus wraps.
Weist later posted an image of the Open Powerlifting listing of his new mark. Along with the image, he shared his thoughts about his most recent accomplishment.
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”Here it is, Still in disbelief, What an accomplishment, I never dreamed I’d be here from the day I started, always watching YouTube videos of @ericlilliebridge @pete.rubish and numerous others years ago, and now I’m closing in on all of my goals for this journey, Just 1 check off my list, time to make more of my dreams come true, Keep grinding👊!”
This mark is the only record that Weist currently holds, but he isn’t just a deadlifter. He does compete in full meets, and totaled 2,230 pounds (1,011 kg) at RPS’ Powerpalooza meet in July of 2020. He also recently shared another video of him performing an 825 pound squat in training.
As of this writing, there is no official word on when Weist’s next meet will be.
Featured Videos and Image: Instagram/unleash_the_weist