Out in California the weight is absolutely flying. A few days ago Keith Correa, a Hawaii and California based powerlifter, hit an absolutely monstrous conventional deadlift milestone and PR. After his latest heavy deadlift session, Correa has officially earned his spot in the 700-lb deadlift club.
Correa is a regular competitor in the 148 lb weight class, but has been moving up to compete at 165 lbs in the recent months. His last competition was at the stacked invite only Kern US Open meet. At this meet, Correa took home second in the 148 lb weight class behind Gerald Dionio, an elite athlete who we’ve written about more than once — check out his own 4x+ bodyweight deadlift here, which he took for a double.
At the Kern US Open, Correa finished with a 302.5kg/666.9 lb deadlift, so this added weight appears to be serving him very well. He told us his bodyweight is floating around 160-165 lbs, which makes his latest 317.5kg/700 lb deadlift PR a feat that’s at well over 4.2x his bodyweight, and let’s not ignore how smooth the lift looked. Check it out below.
Correa told us his next meet will be the US Open in 2019, and his goal is to deadlift well over 700 lbs and total over 1,600 lbs. For the time being, he’ll be working to fill out his weight class.
As for his programming, Correa told us he’s currently deadlifting 2-3 times a week, and the only accessories he uses for his pull are paused deadlifts and snatch grip deadlifts.
For additional context on the weight class change and the US Open, legendary Bulgarian-born powerlifter Rostislav Petkov competed at the Kern US Open in the 165 lb weight class and hit a world record total of 1,840 lbs, and pulled 738 lbs. Petkov is arguably one of the best (if not the best) 165 lb competitors in the world.
As the year progresses, Correa definitely has his work cut out for him as he grows into being a full-time 165 lb competitor. We’re excited to see what his future holds and numbers he can push with a slightly heavier bodyweight.
Related: Romanian Deadlift Form
Feature image from @itschiefkeith Instagram page.
