There were a lot of big stories and memorable moments from the World Raw Powerlifting Federation Hybrid Showdown II this past weekend. Stefi Cohen smashed three new all-time world records in the -52kg weight class, Kevin Oak plowed through 390kg/860lb for an all-time world record squat in the 110kg/242lb weight class, and Jamal Browner made setting a new all-time world record total easy after pulling a new all-time world record deadlift of 440.5kg/971lb in the same class as Oak. In risk of stating the obvious, a lot of world records changed hands.
But while those new records obviously grabbed all the space in the headlines, one moment flew under the radar. Until now. In the -90kg weight class, Hayden Bowe was grinding his way through a 290kg/640lb competition personal record deadlift that captured the spirit of the event. Check it out below from his Instagram page:
This was Bowe’s third attempt after successfully pulling 275kg/606lb and 285kg/628lb. Right as the bar reaches knee level, it almost appears as though Bowe is pausing this lift. He is not. Bowe had to grind over three times his body weight from that position all the way to the top. Stefi Cohen commented on the post where she simply put:
“Oh my.”
Jamal Browner followed up that comment with his own where he writes:
“#GrindGod”
John Haack joined with a bit of sarcasm:
“Knowing you, I feel like you had another 5-10 kilos.”
Judging by Bowe’s determination and technical efficiency to get that lift to the top, Haack may genuinely have a point. This 290kg/640lb deadlift was a long time goal of Bowe’s as just six months prior, in August of 2019 at Boss of Bosses 6, he attempted the same lift and fell short. Here are Bowe’s stats from Hybrid Showdown II:
- Squat: 310kg/683lb
- Bench: 185kg/407lb – ties competition PR
- Deadlift: 290kg/640lb – 5kg/11lb competition PR
- Total: 785kg/1730lb
With this new PR achieved, the next may not be that far away. Bowe has shown that he can pull a lot heavier than this albeit while using straps. Check out Bowe pull a colossal 302kg/665lb deadlift in training below:
If Haack’s assessment of how heavy Bowe could pull is right, then we are excited to see which event Bowe grinds through next.
Feature image from Hayden Bowe’s Instagram page: @hayden.bowe