As the Europe’s Strongest Man contest approaches, one of the most hotly debated questions is the matter of who will win the log lift event. Some of the strongest overhead pressers on Earth, including Eddie Hall, Hafthor Bjornsson, and Zydrunas “Big Z” Savickas, will be in attendance when the event kicks off on April 7th.
Savickas currently holds the all-time world record in the log lift: 228 kilograms (502.6 pounds), which he made three years ago at the Arnold Classic in Rio, Brazil. Having Schwarzenegger himself watching him lift undoubtedly gave him some extra motivation for the PR.
And in an video he posted yesterday, the Lithuanian claimed — in a now deleted Instagram story, unfortunately — that he hit “a new PB” in the log lift. He did post the video, but steadfastly refuses to say how heavy it is. Take a look below.
Maybe he didn’t get to full extension, but when a cynical commenter called the lift “a fail,” Big Z had a response ready.
are you referee? I explain for you. It’s video from my training. It is in my gym. Not in competition. I train 30 year and I know how to prepare for competition.
That’s fair. So how heavy was that log? We have a few hints. In a post last week, he said that he’s aiming to lift over 230 kilograms (507 pounds) at Europe’s Strongest Man and agreed with one commenter that 235 kilograms is “achievable.” Today, he gave a more precise answer:
this year my plan to lift 235kg. But I never lift in training records. My best in training 220kg. But my best before I lift 228kg world record was only 205kg. Its not important what I lift in training. Most important what I will lift this year in competition
[Watch Savickas hit a glute-burning 8-rep set of 772-pound hip thrusts last week here.]
Most commenters are pretty sure that was a 230-kilogram lift he posted yesterday, but we don’t know. We do know we’ll be in for a fight come April 7th at Europe’s Strongest Man. Eddie Hall recently made a 226-kilogram seated log press in training, and that was following a 40-rep set of 60kg dumbbell overhead presses.
This is only Hall’s second ever Europe’s Strongest Man (he came 2nd last year behind Hafthor Bjornsson) and it will be the first time that Hall, Bjornsson, and Savickas will be competing for the ESM title. Buckle up.
Featured image @savickas_bigz on Instagram.