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Hafthor Björnsson and Dan Bell Deadlift Together at the 2023 Arnold Sports Festival

The strongman and powerlifter pulled 396 kilograms in front of a hyped crowd.

Phil Blechman
Written by Phil Blechman
Last updated on July 17th, 2023

The 2023 Arnold Sports Festival from March 2-5, 2023, in Columbus, OH, was flush with action across various strength sports. Nick Walker and Samson Dauda clashed at the top two in the Arnold Classic, with Dauda claiming the title for the first time in his career. Victoria Long and Mitchell Hooper won the Arnold Strongwoman Classic and Arnold Strongman Classic, respectively, in convincing fashion. Records were eviscerated at the Rogue Record Breakers event.

While all that marquee action was occurring, however, some of the greatest strength athletes alive were competing on the floors of the Arnold Expo, including a deadlifting showcase between 2018 World’s Strongest Man (WSM) champion Hafthor Björnsson and all-time raw powerlifting total world record holder Dan Bell. Check it out in the video below, courtesy of Björnsson’s YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA9WDTVmnBU&ab_channel=HafthorBjornsson

[Related: Strongman Kevin Faires Scores New Dinnie Stone Walk World Record of 31 Feet, 7 Inches]

The 2023 ASF was five weeks before Bell’s next powerlifting meet. Björnsson was at Rogue Fitness’ booth in the Arnold Expo, and Bell stopped by to pull some heavy lifts for the massive crowd packed in the convention hall. The two giants performed a warm-up in front of the crowd surrounding their booth.
 

25 kilograms at a time.

Bell’s warm-up is a dynamic movement session that pre-habs his knees and hips to prep them for the substantial load he routinely trains with. Neither Bell nor Björnsson warms up with movements outside of what they intend to train that day. In this case, to warm up for the deadlift, they loosened themselves up with variations of a hip hinge and squat to find mobility in their joints before deadlifting incrementally heavier for single reps.
 
After putting on their lifting belts, Björnsson and Bell took turns pulling raw, both with mixed grips. They each locked out 270, 320, and 370 kilograms before maxing out at 396 kilograms.

[Related: Trey Mitchell Beats His Previous Thor’s Hammer World Record Time at the 2023 Rogue Record Breakers]

Bell’s next powerlifting meet is the Pioneer Open in South Padre, TX. According to Bell, that meet will be unsanctioned, and he will compete in knee sleeves instead of wraps. He expects to squat 460 kilograms, bench press 275 kilograms, and deadlift 415-420 kilograms.
 
Björnsson’s stated goal is to improve upon Bell’s all-time raw powerlifting total world record of 1,182.5 kilograms by the end of 2023 before returning to competitive strongman in 2024. With both men looking as strong as ever, if and when they meet on the competitive powerlifting stage will be a day for the history books.
 

Featured image: @thorbjornsson on Instagram

Phil Blechman

About Phil Blechman

Phil is a native New Yorker passionate about storytelling, bodybuilding, and game design. He holds a BFA from Syracuse University.

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