At the 2025 Sheffield Powerlifting Championships, Russel Orhii hit an IPF world record raw squat of 338 kilograms en route to an 870.5-kilogram total in the 83KG class. The 30-year-old’s strength continues to climb thanks to his strategic bulking.
In early June 2025, Orhii confirmed that he will not compete at the 2025 World Games, held in Chengdu, China, from Aug. 7-17, 2025. He declined his World Games invitation because he moved to the 93KG category. He doesn’t want to stunt his momentum by cutting any weight.
2025 NAPF World Championships
While the world already knew of Orhii’s plan to move a weight class, his initial intent was to compete for a final time at 83KG at the 2025 World Games; that was until his training success nudged him to reconsider:
“As we started training at 93KG, I created this bulking series, and my lifts immediately skyrocketed,” Orhii proclaimed. “I gained a lot of momentum.”
Orhii believes he’s “maxed out” his potential at 83KG. Ninety days into training at 93KG, Orhii is already eying another history-making performance.
“Last week, I essentially hit a 935-kilogram total, which would be the best at 93KG. We haven’t even fully filled out for the weight class,” Orhii disclosed. “We’ve only been training for three months or so.”
Orhii confirmed his next competition will be the 22nd annual North American Regional Powerlifting Championships (NAPF), scheduled from July 26 through Aug. 2, 2025, in George Town, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands.
Having just hit a bench press personal record of 215 kilograms in training, Orhii’s potential on the lifting platform is astronomical. With more time to adjust at 93KG, the record books can likely expect an impending rewrite.
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Featured image: @russwole on Instagram
