No wrist straps, no suit, just old-fashioned raw powerlifting. He’s of course wearing a weightlifting belt but nonetheless, this is a remarkably smooth 400-kilogram (881.8-ound) deadlift from Hafthor Bjornsson. (Fueled, as is often the case, by a hefty huff of ammonia.)
[Curious about ammonia? Here are three tools to help you get psyched up for lifts.]
He posted this with the caption:
400kg/880lbs easy deadlift 2 sets yesterday. . Preparation for Thors Powerlifting Challenge 15th December.
If you haven’t heard the news by now, mark it down: Hafthor Bjornsson is holding a powerlifting meet. His first ever. Perhaps the most popular strength athlete on Earth (due in no small part to his role on Game of Thrones), this must be one of the biggest crossover events in strength sports history. Athletes and fans of both strongman and powerlifting have been asking the same question over and over since the announcement was made: what’s the man going to total?
This is the reigning World’s Strongest Man we’re talking about, and while strongman involves a lot more conditioning and non-barbell lifts than powerlifting, the man can compete. Earlier this week he pulled off two bench press doubles of 235 kilograms (517 pounds) with considerable speed.
Plus he made this 400-kilogram (880-pound) back squat this week as well.
We’ve seen him deadlift 472 kilograms on an elephant bar before, which of course is a different experience than lifting a stiff bar (an elephant bar is a little easier to get off the ground), but we’re certainly expecting him to lift more than the 400 kilos we’ve seen here today.
In 2018 Thor Bjornsson has won the Arnold Classic, the World’s Strongest Man, and the World Ultimate Strongman. He also broke the weight over bar record (again), he got married, he starred in a Kickboxer movie, and he’s finishing the year with his first powerlifting meet. (Which, let’s be honest, he’ll probably win.) This year will go down as his most eventful yet and we can’t wait to see how he ends it in three weeks.
Featured image via @thorbjornsson on Instagram.