Powerllifting athlete Chris Bridgeford has been hitting absolutely monstrous strength feats in prep for the Kern US Open. He’s set to take the stage in the 110kg (242 lb) weight class in less than a month at the Open, which is taking place May 12-13th in San Diego, California.
In his latest videos, Bridgeford is pushing his squat to personal best next levels, along with hitting deadlifts that have the potential to break Ed Coan’s long-standing 110kg (242 lb) all-time American deadlift record.
[Watch Bridgeford deadlift 400kg (881 lb) for a strong double earlier this year!]
Yesterday, Bridgeford shared a massive 400kg (881 lb) wrapped squat, which is a lifetime personal best for him. In Bridgeford’s video’s description he writes, “l haven’t had 800+ lbs on my back since Record Breakers In November when l re-strained my quad tendon… tonight l hit a milestone that l had begun to question that l would ever reach.”
“400 kg (882 lbs) for a big PR single and all I needed was a wrap job from Hell via @ginahalfwolf. My meet PR is 837 lbs @ 242. BW was 255 this morning. I’m ready for the Kern US Open.”
In addition to this monstrous squat, Bridgeford has also been pulling huge weight that’s positioning him to potentially take a stab at the the all-time American deadlift record. Ed Coan’s current 110kg (242 lb) all-time American record sits at 402kg (887 lbs) and was set back in 1998.
Five days ago, Bridgeford deadlifted 410kg (903 lbs) and almost hit the weight for two smooth singles. Bridgeford told us his goal for the Kern US Open is to take a stab at breaking Coan’s record on his second attempt.
[The sumo deadlift requires more than brute strength, check this guide for more!]
Judging from his latest deadlift video, we think Bridgeford is positioning himself in the best way possible to make that goal a reality. He’s pulling over the record for almost two singles, so come meet day it’s going to be interesting to watch Bridgeford put it all together.
Related: Romanian Deadlifts
Feature image from @bridgeford242 Instagram page.