Finland-based powerlifter Zahir Khudayarov just broke his world squat record with a phenomenal lift of 480 kilograms (1,058.2 pounds) in knee wraps and a Harris singlet, which is made for raw competitions, at the Finnish National championships. He typically competes in the 125 kilogram (275 pound) weight class.
The last time he was seen squatting weights like this in competition was when he made a 472.2-kilogram (1,041-pound) squat two years ago in a Finland Powerlifting Organisation (FPO) meet. That stood as the world record for the raw squat with knee wraps in his weight class, until now.
The leadup in the clip below is a little funny. Khudayarov clearly had this particular song selected for his lift and it almost looks like he may have trained to have it playing when he hits big lifts — he asked to have the song restart when it was time to squat.
This depth looked good, and we wouldn’t be too surprised if he could hit 500 kilograms in a full meet. He went on to hit a bench press of 529 pounds (240kg) and a deadlift of 771 pounds (350kg) for a total of 2,358 pounds (1,070kg).
So what’s next? Khudayarov is heading out to Australia for ProRaw Big Dogs 2, a meet that will be held in Melbourne on October 15. This time around, he’ll be competing in the same meet as Eric Lilliebridge, who was recently seen making a squat of 465 kilograms (1,025 pounds) in training.
The two athletes share something of a rivalry in the sport. They regularly call each other out in their social media posts when they lift a big number, but it seems to be a pretty respectful relationship — when Khudayarov inevitably tagged Lilliebridge in this weekend’s 480kg squat, Lilliebridge congratulated him, commenting:
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Motivation for next heavy squat session
It looks like Big Dogs 2 should provide a pretty entertaining squat battle no matter how it eventually shakes out. Watch this space.
Featured image via @zahirkhudayarov on Instagram.
