For practically every athlete on Earth, an 800-pound deadlift would be either out of reach or a lifetime PR, something that would cause them to finish the rep, dust off their hands, recover for a week, and probably not try again for a long time. (If ever again.)
But Larry “Wheels” Williams is not just any athlete. A veritable phenomenon in the world of strength sports, and after two still-unbroken world record totals in the 242-pound class (2,171 pounds) and 275-pound class (2,291 pounds), he’s made the move from powerlifting to strongman.
Not a man to do anything halfway, he’s been training with the current World’s Strongest Man™ Hafthor Bjornsson so that he can continue to push the limits of strength. It’s been a real treat watching the two work out: we’ve seen them together as Bjornsson hit a huge 951-pound deadlift double and Jon Call even had them compete against one another in an epic arm wrestling bout.
Today, they’re giving the people more of what they want: AMRAP deadlifts. It’s a lengthy video, a full twenty-five minutes of discussions on form and Atlas stones, but if you want to skip ahead to the heavy pulls, Bjornsson tries his hand at 816-pound axle deadlifts at the 7.37 mark and Wheels starts his set of 805-pound (365.1-kilogram) deadlifts at 9.16.
And that’s 7 reps. And a not insignificant amount of blood pouring from his forehead. (“It complements my complexion, red looks good on me,” he jokes.)
[Surprised? Here’s why some lifters bleed during max effort lifts.]
He goes on to say around the 10.20 mark that he had been training with wrist straps for three months and wanted to return to lifting strapless with a vengeance — to “take out some pent up aggression.”
This was his last heavy session and he’s not planning on hitting a competition deadlift until July. We can’t wait to see what he’ll pull then.
Featured image via Larry Wheels on YouTube.