If you felt the earth shift a little bit Sunday, there’s no need for alarm, it was most likely due to Russian super heavyweight powerlifter Vlad Alhazov’s most recent squat. Chances are you’ve seen the video floating around social media, but in case you haven’t, Alhazov squatted a ridiculous 505kg (1,113 lbs) at the ProRaw Powerlifting exhibition held this past weekend at the Arnold Sport Festival in Australia.
He performed this epic feat raw with knee wraps, which topped his current all-time world record 500kg (1,102 lb) wrapped squat from July 2017. Alhazov is no stranger to moving heavy weight, but this squat may be one of his most impressive lifts to date.
Check it out below.
On social media, if you’ve seen this video re-posted by athletes and other strength enthusiasts, some have been saying it’s all-time world record. Well, it is and it isn’t, and it’s going to come down to your personal definition of what an “unofficial” world record is.
The ProRaw Powerlifting exhibition wasn’t a formally sanctioned meet held by a federation, so this is where calling the squat a world record can get dicey. In addition, Alhazov bombed out on deadlifts and was unable to earn a good lift on all three attempts, so he didn’t total. That being said – and while this exhibition wasn’t held by a federation – had it been, Alhazov’s record wouldn’t stand in (some) federations due to the incompletion of the full meet total.
On that other hand, this record may stand and be posted on unofficial record sites like PowerliftingWatch within their all-time world record page since it was performed with judges watching, etc. So technically, this squat isn’t an “official” world record per any federation, but it could be defined as an “unofficial” world record per your definition on what classifies it as so.
All of the “official” and “unofficial” record talk aside, there’s no taking away from Alhazov’s latest feat of strength. This is a massive milestone for a lifter who’s had a full knee replacement in the past and it’s certainly pushed the boundaries for powerlifting.
Feature image screenshot from @australianstrengthcoach Instagram page.