Badass Feats Of Strength #1
In the modern day era of YouTube and Instagram many crazy strong people go unrecognized simply because they do not post videos titled "A entire day of eating" or "How to get shredded fast". Many of the strongest people in the world get there by keeping their heads down and continue to put in work day after day, week after week to reach insane levels of strength, yet they still go unrecognized. So today I say fuck that!
The first athlete I would like to highlight is Caleb Williams.
That face you make when you are right out of the hole and you stop moving.
Caleb was first introduced to the sport of powerlifting by a football coach and at that point he was bit by the iron bug. He went on to set a world record and his best lifts in the 148 weight class were as follows:
- 722lb Squat
- 474lb Bench
- 600lb Deadlift
He eventually decided to leave powerlifting to take his shot in weightlifting. He completed what few manage to do, become a top contender in two sports. He became a 3x USA weightlifting national champion and a 6x USA Weightlifting National Medalist. His best lifts in the weightlifting realm where as follows at 152lb's:
- 282lb Snatch
- 365lb Clean & Jerk
I could not find anything realted to how he trained for powerlifting and what I could find for his weightlifting training was very limited. Below is an excerpt from an interview he did with Matt Foreman of Catalyst Athletics.
"Zygmunt’s programs are very involved and have a high volume as well as high intensity. But they produce results. I train once a day, that’s all I have time for, six days a week." (Matt Foreman)
"At that point in my career, I was okay with my lifts going down a little bit, so I gave CrossFit a shot while still training for weightlifting. The opposite ended up happening…. as I got more into CrossFit and doing a WOD almost every day after my lifting, etc., my conditioning got better. Some areas that were being neglected were strengthened and I was better mentally prepared to attack the weights. As a result, my lifts have gone up and I’ve been able to stay healthy and be a better all-around athlete as well! I was very surprised."(Matt Foreman)
While in powerlifting he competed in gear and wraps but his raw strength was far from pathetic.....
Repping out 500 at 148 fast as fuck!
When it comes to strength sports its largely a popularity contest and you mainly only ever hear about the larger lifters. Names like Eric Lilliebridge, Dan Green, and Andrey Malanichev come to mind. However many of the smaller lifters put up INSANE lifts compared to their body weight. I hope to shine the spotlight on some of those more or less unknown lifters who are killing it in today's strength sports.
Sources:
http://theoutlawway.com/team/caleb-williams/
http://www.catalystathletics.com/article/1938/Interview-Caleb-Williams/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOzIXYC_ywo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBynINo4Luo
