Polish powerlifter Krzysztof Wierzbicki is deadlifting unfathomably heavy again. The 110-kilogram lifter shared a video on his Instagram page on Jan. 17, 2024, wherein he pulled a monstrously heavy 510 kilograms (1,124.4 pounds) off blocks in a sumo stance while wearing lifting straps.
While Wierzbicki’s deadlift was not pulled off the floor — meaning that the range of motion from the bottom of the lift to lockout is narrowed — he did not wear a lifting belt. You read that right: Wierzbicki locked out a 510-kilogram deadlift off blocks without any equipment other than lifting straps. Check it out below:
[Related: Brian Le (66KG) Raw Deadlifts 12.5 Kilograms Over the IPF World Record In Training]
Given that Wierzbicki has pulled the second-heaviest deadlift ever seen on camera — a 502.5-kilogram (1,107.8-pound) sumo pull in April 2022 — it should not come as a surprise that he is continuing to add weight to the barbell.
However, adding 7.5 kilograms (16.5 pounds) in the context of the heaviest-ever-seen deadlift is surprising. To contextualize, that range is nearly unfathomable, as it was uncharted territory until Ventsislav Dimitrov deadlifted 505 kilograms (1,113 pounds) at the 2023 Eisenhart Black Competition. Wierzbicki exceeded that by five kilograms but with the addition of blocks.
For reference, below is the video of Wierzbicki’s 502-kilogram effort:
[Related: Amanda Lawrence (84KG) Squats a 250.5-Kilogram Raw Double]
Wierzbicki did not share his body weight at the time of this remarkable 510-kilogram block-pull. He does, however, appear more muscular than his previous deadlift PR, though camera angles can be deceiving. The 510-kilogram block pull was 4.64 times his 110-kilogram competition body weight.
The closest comparison to this pull is less likely to be found in competitive powerlifting and more likely to be found in the world of competitive strongman. The partial deadlifts performed in strongman are at similar weights; the current Hummer tire deadlift is 549 kilograms (1,210 pounds), locked out by 2020 World’s Strongest Man Oleksii Novikov of Ukraine at the 2022 Shaw Classic.
However, the similarities of Novikov’s record lift more or less end at the weight. Novikov pulled in an equipped conventional stance rather than a nearly raw (straps) sumo stance, and rather than weight plates on the barbell, there were giant treaded wheels intended for a gas-guzzling SUV.
Rauno Heinla holds the all-time 18-inch deadlift world record at 540 kilograms (1,190.5 pounds), scored at the 2023 Tartu Rammumees ja Rammunaine contest in Tartu, Estonia. Similar to Novikov’s lift, Heinla’s was performed in a conventional stance, though only with lifting straps and a weight belt, but with weight plates the size of Vauvillian bicycle wheels.
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Wierzbicki is more or less in a league of his own, forging a path into the realm of what is humanly possible with a barbell off the ground. Onlookers can assume Wierzbicki either has the capacity to add more weight to the barbell, eventually remove the blocks, or both.
Featured image: @mr.deadlift on Instagram
