The 2014 Junior Asian Weightlifting Champion in the 56kg weight class Long De Cheng is providing inspiration for just about every weightlifter on the planet — again — after appearing in this recently posted training video of an incredible clean & jerk of 170kg (375 pounds).
That’s just over three times his bodyweight and one kilogram short from the world record for his weight class, set by Korea’s Om Yun-chol at the 2012 Olympics. In Rio 2016, Om’s clean & jerk was 169 kilograms, which earned him a silver medal after Long Qingquan’s Olympic Record: 170kg. Long De Cheng is hitting Olympic Records in training.
Long (that’s his last name) has been performing inhuman feats of strength for years now, and is pretty well known for squatting a little over four times his bodyweight during a Ma Strength Weightlifting Camp in 2014. Without a belt.
For those counting along at home, that’s a back squat of 266 kilograms (586.4lb) in the 56kg weight class, which would beat Gray Kelvin’s IPF world record raw squat in the -59kg class by 26 kilograms. And Yandell Sawyer’s IPD world record squat of 248.5kg in the -66kg weight class. And El Fekair Rabah’s 260.5kg squat in the -74kg class.
And of course, then there’s the time in 2015 that he hit a triple bodyweight overhead squat at a Ma Strength technique seminar at Lift Strong, Run Fast in Houston. Without a belt.
On Ma Strength’s official Tumblr, they wrote in 2014,
Some people wondered how Long De Cheng can squat such an amazing weight. While natural explosive ability and levers are important, what sets him apart from teammates with shorter femurs is his outstanding back development (see below) and accompanying strength. The systematic use of strength training methods and exercises to develop the entire back results in the ability to maintain balance. Examples include submaximal and supramaximal methods, isometric methods, as well as controlled repetition work and maximal singles.
It’s crazy to think that if he could casually walk into an elite powerlifting meet and pick up a barbell, he’d crush all the competition without even training as a powerlifter. We’re looking forward to cheering his lifts for years to come.
Featured image via @awesome_weightlifting on Instagram.