Hampton Morris is just 14 years old and he’s already hitting what could be a lifetime PR for many athletes. The Team USA weightlifter weighs 55 kilograms (a little over 121 pounds) and measures about 5 feet 3 inches tall, and yesterday he managed to pull off ten grueling squats of 137 kilograms, or 302 pounds at an Atlanta gym. Watch the magic unfold.
Nobody’s going to call this guy on depth.
When one impressed commenter on his Instagram asked what his max deadlift and bench was, Morris had to disappoint him:
I bench about once a year, so not much. I only deadlift for cleans, but I am working on more often. Sorry… 🙁
Hey, his programming certainly seems to be working for him. He added that he doesn’t really do 1-rep maxes either, but his next big goal is to squat three times his bodyweight for reps.
Of course as a competitive Olympic weightlifter he does do 1-rep max snatches and clean & jerks when he’s on the platform and this weekend he pulled off two new personal records at a meet in CrossFit South Cobb: a clean & jerk of 115 kilograms (253.5 pounds) and a total of 202 kilograms (445.3 pounds). You can watch his performance below.
One of our favorite parts of strength sports is watching the celebration of a new PR, and Morris did not hold back.
Morris’ first meet was in July 2016 and he says that his father is the one who got him interested in the sport. In a 2017 profile of the young athlete, he says that weightlifting has taught him “how to stay calm during difficult situations, and that it’s always important to be patient.”
Earlier this year, Morris won bronze at the 2018 Youth Pan American Championships in Colombia where he made a 100-kilogram clean & jerk, which broke the previous Youth American Record of 99 kilograms.
USA Weightlifting has also announced that he’ll be competing for them at the Youth World Championships in Las Vegas next March. It’s probably safe to have high expectations for his performance.
Featured image via @hamptonmorris on Instagram.
