On approximately April 20, 2022, Polish powerlifter Krzysztof Wierzbicki performed what could be considered one of the most spectacular deadlifts in training pound-for-pound ever. Whilst in a sumo stance, Wierzbicki wearing only a sleeveless shirt, shorts, deadlift socks, and wrist wraps, hoisted a staggering 490 kilograms (1,080.3 pounds) on a barbell off the floor and locked it out. It appears as though he did not wear a lifting belt.
Since April 2021, Wierzbicki has competed in the 110-kilogram weight class at sanctioned powerlifting contests, according to Open Powerlifting. Although he didn’t share his bodyweight at the time of the training lift, it is still four and a half times his competition bodyweight. Check it out in the video below, which was recorded from Wierzbicki’s Instagram stories, on Julian Howard’s (aka World’s Strongest Fan) Instagram page:
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Per Open Powerlifting, Wierzbicki is the all-time raw deadlift world record holder in the 100-kilogram class for his 433.5-kilogram (955.7-pound) pull at the 2020 National Association of Powerlifting (NAP) Siberian Championships. He also holds the all-time raw deadlift world record in the 110-kilogram class in a non-full power event — a 447.5-kilogram (986.6-pound) lift at the 2021 WRPF-POL Mistrzostwa Polski.
Wierzbicki is part of what seems to be a two-person show in the 110-kilogram class. He and Jamal Browner have not only added a lot of cement to their names in the powerlifting record books but are both teasing rewrites of the record books in general.
The current all-time deadlift world record is held by 2018 World’s Strongest Man (WSM) champion Hafthor Björnsson — 501 kilograms (1,104.5 pounds) from the World’s Ultimate Strongman (WUS) “Feats of Strength” series on May 2, 2020. The only other man to lift at least 500 kilograms (1,102.3 pounds) is the first human to do so successfully — 2017 WSM champion Eddie Hall at the 2016 World Deadlift Championships. However, both strongmen performed their lifts equipped in a conventional stance.
While it is difficult to directly compare a sumo deadlift to a conventional deadlift as the range of motion isn’t the same, and the muscles engaged in moving the barbell are different, Wierzbicki is yet another strength athlete now in the conversation to become the third person to enter the 500-kilogram club.
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Browner, who has been pulling a series of gigantic lifts throughout the 400-plus kilogram range in training, has actively been training his conventional deadlifts. Whether or not he will be able to convert that training into an all-time world record deadlift remains to be seen. Previously, Browner was in the race to the 500-kilogram club against strongmen Peiman Maheripourehir and Ivan Makarov, the former of which will compete at the 2022 WSM contest in Sacramento, CA, on May 24-29, 2022.
Now, all three men will also have to keep an eye on Wierzbicki if the Polish lifter starts testing out his ability in a conventional stance. For reference, the current all-time raw deadlift world record is held by powerlifter and strongman Benedikt Magnùsson, who locked out 460.4 kilograms (1,015 pounds) at the 2011 Hardcore Clash of the Titans IV (a deadlift-only meet) in the superheavyweight category.
While there are undoubtedly several changes to his form and additional pounds to his barbell that need to happen for Wierzbicki, his 490-kilogram training lift — again, without a belt — certainly spices up the race to the 500-kilogram club. At this point, the best onlookers can do is strap in for the ride because there are likely some historically massive deadlifts on the horizon.
Featured image: @worldsstrongestfan on Instagram
