The very smart folks over at Juggernaut Strength Training Systems are stirring up trouble with a well-researched, but unavoidably controversial list: the top ten strength feats of all time.
Here’s what they look like:
10. Zydrunas Savickas‘ 228kg (502.6lb) log press, set in Brazil in 2015.
9. Jezza Uepa’s 400kg (882 lb) front squat.
8. Leonid Taranenko’s 266kg (586.4lb) clean & jerk in 1988 in Canberra, Australia.
7. Tatiana Kashirina’s 348kg (767.2lb) total at the 2014 World Weightlifting Championships in Kazakhstan.
6. Blagoy Blagoev’s 195.5kg (431lb) snatch at 90kg at the 1982 World Weightlifting Championships.
5. Ray Williams’s 455.9kg (1005lb) squat in October 2016 at the USAPL Nationals in Atlanta, Georgia.
4. Eddie Hall’s 500kg (1102.3lb) deadlift in July 2016 at the World Deadlift Championships in England
3. Ed Coan’s 408.7kg (901lb) deadlift and 1089.5kg (2402lb) total at the at the 1991 USPF Senior Nationals.
2. Naim Sulymanglu’s 342.5kg (755lb) total at 60kg at the 1988 Summer Olympics
1. Jen Thompson’s 144kg (317.5lb) bench press at 63kg, performed at the Reykjavik Games in Iceland this past January.
Announced on the JuggLife Podcast, show hosts Chad Wesley Smith and Max Aita said they came to their conclusions based on the statistical significance of the lift and the context in which it was made.
For example, while a bench press might seem like an unusual pick for the most impressive feat of strength ever, Chad and Max said that they reached this decision using the criteria of, “the most outlier, farthest above the person’s relative competition,” noting that at many of her meets Thompson benches at least 25 percent more than second place. At USAPL Nationals last year, for instance, she benched 137.5kg, while second place was 95kg. She made first place because she’s simply so far ahead of the competition.
So, what do you think — what’s missing from the list? At BarBend, we were surprised to see that Blaine Sumner squatting 500kg (1,102lb) at the Arnold Classic in 2016 and Chen Wei-Ling squatting 4.5 times her bodyweight absent from the rankings.
Correction: A previous version of this article stated that Jen Thompson was ranked for her 144kg bench at Liberty University, when she was in fact ranked for her 144kg bench performed at the Reykjavik Games the same month. Thanks to Jonnie Candito for pointing that out.
Featured image via @9for9media on Instagram