Powerlifter Joe Sullivan had a momentous squat PR this weekend, becoming one of the few humans on Earth to have crossed the 900-pound barrier. Watch a solid example of beast mode in the clip below, with a 905-pound (410.5kg) squat.
We liked hearing “Traps!” being shouted at him, one of our favorite squat cues.
He says in the comments that he doesn’t know how much he weighs right now, and even said in a recent article, “Embrace your strength and stop letting yourself be limited by an arbitrary number invented by people attempting to level an inherently unlevel playing field. Throw your scales out. Be an athlete, not a number.”
That said, he usually competes in the -220lb weight class. If he competes at that weight with knee wraps at his next meet, he’ll be contending with Sam Byrd’s 915-pound world record lift from 2015.
Later on he posted more of that training session, which also included a few more progressively heavy singles.
[Think that’s impressive? Check out this twenty-second pause deadlift of 275kg that he posted last week. Your hamstrings will hurt just watching it.]
He added this caption:
845×1, 885×1, 905×1 from yesterday. Just watch the walkouts and the ease of the reps. Fix your walkout and your squats will come. 845 was harder than either heavier singles due to me being unable to control my arousal. Taking an extra 5 seconds will NOT result in lost strength. The weight isn’t going anywhere, so why are you in such a hurry?
If you’re scrolling through the Instagram comments you’ll notice a lot of people being thankful for the fact that the bar didn’t bend, a reference to a viral video Sullivan posted of himself last year in which a barbell straight up bent over and around his body during a 675-pound back squat.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Be_RVbyDvP9/
Thankfully he escaped without serious injury.
Sullivan ‘s next meet will be on October 27th and in the meantime, he says he’s got 905×2 on the mind.
Featured image via @joesullivanpowerlifter on Instagram.