Just two weeks ago, 16-year old powerlifter and football player Jackson Powell shook the internet with his explosive squat of 655 pounds (297kg) for three reps. Now, Powell is back and stronger than ever with a huge 725 pound squat for one rep.
Powell is just a sophomore in high school but he has been making massive improvements over the last year. In his first ever powerlifting performance in April, 2018 Powell competed at the SPF Grit House Classic in the -308 pound weight class in the raw 13 to 15 year-old division. While his numbers at his first-ever powerlifting meet were impressive to say the least, he’s completely taken off this year. At the meet last year he squatted 560 pounds, bench pressed 330 pounds, and deadlifted 570 pounds. Two weeks ago when Powell squatted 655 three times he beat his best meet squat by 95 pounds — for a triple.
Now, Powell has exceeded his competition best by 165 pounds.
“To say I’m happy is an understatement,” Powell said on his Instagram post on Thursday.
For context into just how big this squat is, Powell has squatted 118.8 pounds over the current record holders in the -308 pound weight class for 16 to 17 year-olds across all federations, according to Open Powerlifting. The two current record holders in that weight class and age group are Xavier Priddy and Ray Bowring, who both lifted 606.2 pounds. Now for even more context, the U.S. Powerlifting Association’s current record holder in Powell’s age group and weight class is Will Gallien who squatted 595.24 pounds. This means Powell is casually squatting 129.76 pounds over the USPA record for his age and weight.
Leading up to his huge squat on Thursday, he has been posting other big lifts on his Instagram. On Wednesday he showed off an impressive trap bar deadlift for 725 and one rep.
[Learn more: The Difference Between the Trap Bar Deadlift vs Squat vs Leg Press]
Powell is squatting well beyond his years and between his crazy 655-pound triple a couple weeks ago and his 725 pound squat milestone today, we can’t wait to see what kind of numbers he hits in next meet.
Feature image from @bigjpowell Instagram page.
