A week ago at the USA Powerlifting Wisconsin State Open, Cooper Wage wasn’t the only powerlifter putting up big lifts. Natalie Hanson was also leaving her mark by setting a new Open American squat record.
Hanson, 26, competed in the women’s -84kg weight class and squatted 262.5kg (578.7 lbs) in a single ply suit, which was 30 lbs over the current record. In fact, her squat opener was only 15 lbs off the current record, and she actually broke the record on her second squat attempt as well with 255kg (561 lbs).
The previous record of 247.5kg (544.5 lbs) was set in May of 2016 by hall of fame powerlifter Liane Blyn at USA Powerlifting Open Nationals.
Hanson’s record breaking squat was over three times her bodyweight of 185 lbs. The squat itself looked incredibly easy for her. What might have been the most impressive part of the squat was her speed out of the hole.
A week ago Hanson shared a throwback of herself squatting the same record breaking weight three weeks before the meet. In the video there’s a point where she almost misses the rep, which makes the ease she squatted it with in competition so impressive.
Those three lead up weeks in prep to the meet appear to have served her well.
The rest of the meet continued to go well for Hanson as she hit three new personal PRs. She finished with a 157.5kg (347 lb) bench, 215kg (474 lb) deadlift PR, 635kg (1,400 lb) total PR, and 567.63 Wilks PR.
In a post on Powerlifting Watch, Hanson shared her thoughts on the meet, “I did what I came to Wisconsin to do. My priorities were to 1) stay healthy, 2) make lifts, 3) hit PRs. This meet was a tune up/practice meet before I begin my prep for Open Nationals in May.”
It’s safe to say she definitely accomplished what she set out to do in the Wisconsin meet. This May’s USA Powerlifting Open Nationals will be an exciting time to see if Hanson can continue the record breaking lifts.
Feature image from @natalie.907 Instagram page.
