Swedish powerlifter Isabella von Weissenberg set her eye on breaking multiple long-term powerlifting goals at this year’s Arnold Classic. On Saturday, March 3rd, she competed in the women’s -72kg open raw weight class on the Rogue Strength Stage at the Arnold Powerlifting Grand Prix by SBD.
To kick off what would become her best meet to date, Weissenberg finished her squats by hitting a huge powerlifting milestone, life goal, and IPF open raw squat world record. Weissenberg had been aiming for a 200kg (440 lb) squat for a long time and finally made it a reality this meet.
Check out the Instagram video of the 200kg (440 lb) squat below where Weissenberg writes in the description, “200 KG. 440 LBS. IPF world record squat in the open -72kg category.#lifegoal”
And if that wasn’t impressive enough, this squat wasn’t the only record Weissenberg broke. She also went on to set two European Records with a 215kg (474 lbs) deadlift and a 512.5kg (1,130 lb) total.
To conclude her meet, Weissenberg finished with a 200kg (440 lb) squat, 97.5kg (215 lb) bench press, and 215kg (474 lb) deadlift, which earned her an epic Wilks score of 505.3. Weissenberg wrote a recap in her latest Instagram video and we’ve included a majority of it below.
Weissenberg writes, “What an incredible experience it was. The platform, the huge crowd, the noise, the packed expohall, the best lifters in the world on stage.. quite extraordinary all of it, I’m so happy I was able to be there – and I really did my best meet ever, both in numbers and in feels:”
She continued in her Instagram description saying, “I squatted a new WORLD RECORD AT 200 KG (440lbs), a goal I’ve dreamed about daily since I started lifting. Benched 97.5kg. Deadlifted a european record at 215kg / 474lbs (video), at last hitting that +triple bodyweight, also one of my major goals. I totalled 512.5kg for a european record, a 505.3 Wilks and a 12kg meet PR – all of this despite having trained on a calorie deficit since November. (Although I did completely pig out on steak, mac and cheese and a billion other things last night and weighed in at 70.92 hahah. Win!) Thank you @miketuchscherer for your STELLAR coaching and programming.”
It was an exciting experience getting to watch Weissenberg crush multiple records. With her new squat milestone, it’s going to be interesting to see what she’s able to put up as the year progresses.
Feature image screenshot from @ivweissenberg Instagram page.
