British powerlifter Tom Martin continues to up the ante in his quest to set a new all-time world record in the deadlift. His commitment is pretty darn admirable, particularly since he tore his bicep attempting what would have been a world record lift of 411 kilograms (906 pounds) at ~110kg bodyweight in July last year.
His recovery, however, has been shockingly fast and he just pulled a serious PR of 415 kilograms (915 pounds) at The Strength Therapy, a gym outside of Manchester.
[Wondering if hook grip deadlifts are right for you? Here’s how to decide on the best deadlift grip.]
He posted with the caption,
415kg / 915lb deadlift PB Well I wasn’t even training today but after watching everyone I coach lift all day to my training music I was just in the mood… More weight than I snapped my arm with for the first time 👀
This isn’t the heaviest deadlift we’ve ever seen from Martin, but it is the heaviest we’ve seen that conformed to competition standards, ie. that didn’t have wrist straps. You can see his all-time heaviest lift of 425 kilograms (937 pounds), which he made with wrist straps, below.
Since he tore his bicep attempting a world record, the world record in his weight class was broken by Russian powerlifter Yury Belkin, who made a tremendous 440kg (970lb) lift in October. Without a belt.
So Martin now has quite a bit of ground to cover if he wants to take that record. But his recovery has been going astonishingly well. Two weeks after the tear and the day before his reattachment surgery, he deadlifted 370 kilograms (815.7 pounds) and totaled 920 kilograms (2028.5 pounds). Four months after the surgery, he broke several British Powerlifting records when he deadlifted 402.5 kilograms. (The other records were in the squat and total.)
[Want to avoid a bicep tear next time you max? Here are the essential preventive exercises.]
Just a few weeks ago he went on to hit a new deadlift PR of 410kg (903lb), which was the first time he pulled over 900 pounds to competition standards.
He’s got a ways to go until he sets a world record, but he’s certainly got the tenacity.
Featured image via @tommartinpl on Instagram.