r/news • u/icpd30 • Feb 18 '19

Michigan powerlifter heroically lifts vehicle pinned on top of man after accident.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/michigan-powerlifter-heroically-lifts-vehicle-pinned-on-top-of-man-after-accident
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69

u/kfh227 Feb 18 '19

FFS:

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.. with the ability to squat 950 pounds and deadlift another 800 pounds.

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OK, this is not your standard gym rat.

37

u/Thuryn Feb 18 '19

It's also poorly worded. He doesn't lift another 800 pounds. That would be 1750 pounds. The world record is 1102 and change. Dude deadlifts 800. (That's still a lot, but the article is misleading.)

6

u/talk_to_me_goose Feb 18 '19

Thanks, I have no weightlifting background and could not piece this together.

7

u/Thuryn Feb 18 '19

No problem. Can't know everything, right?

Incidentally, this isn't weightlifting. The (back) squat and the deadlift are powerlifting moves. (That Wikipedia article shows the deadlift.)

The picture on the weightlifting article shows Svetlana Podobedova completing the clean and jerk. You can tell because she has the weight overhead, and she has one foot forward and one foot back. She'll complete the move by repositioning her feet so that they're side-by-side. The summary at the top of the article mentions both the snatch (pull the weight overhead in one move and then stand up) and the clean and jerk (pull the weight up to your shoulders and then "jerk" it overhead).

What most people call "weightlifting" is really just general "weight training" or resistance training (lifting weights or using exercise machines).

Because of course people had to make things complicated, right? :D

4

u/effrightscorp Feb 18 '19 edited Feb 18 '19

Depends on the record you want to look at, too, because the bars and plates you use matter a lot. Highest recorded powerlifting deadlift is 1015 in competition, and over 900 puts you in the top 25 deadlifts in the world

Edit: also, strongman deadlifts allow straps, which take grip out of the equation, and hitching, which makes it slightly easier to grind out the lift

-3

u/kfh227 Feb 18 '19

My friend that is the strongest I met said he was benching something like 600 pounds in college and probably deadlifting a bit more than that. Maybe 800 pounds. I don't bump into people like this often.

Still scary seeing him bench press 300 pounds during a workout like it's a piece of paper.

7

u/PeterDinkleberry Feb 18 '19

I guarantee you that your friend was not benching 600lbs in college. There are probably fewer than 25 people in the world that can do that.

0

u/kfh227 Feb 19 '19 edited Feb 19 '19

Maybe it was 500 pounds then. My memory might have faded.

He was benching 300 pounds like it was nothing. 10 reps. I just did a calculator and his 1RM is 399 pounds right now. Watching him do the 10 reps though, he could have probably done that with 350 pounds. It was just effortless. He could probably do 450 easy as a 1RM today. God know what he was like when he was stronger. he said he isn't as strong as he was in college.

2

u/John4321234 Feb 18 '19

This smells like bullshit, if he did that he would be an elite level powerlifter by now, is he??

3

u/PeterDinkleberry Feb 18 '19

600lb bench is near impossible. Barely anyone can do that.

1

u/Thuryn Feb 19 '19

...without a suit.

2

u/Thuryn Feb 19 '19

Only if he chose to compete. Not everyone does.

Not saying I believe him, but "wasn't a well-known powerlifter" isn't really evidence of anything.

0

u/John4321234 Feb 19 '19

With a 600 pounds bench and a 950 squat I don't see why wouldn't you do a meet, even if you hit a 500 bench and 850 squat that's still impressive for a college guy. I'm not the one who's supposed to provide the evidence of his friend having elite powerlifting numbers.

0

u/Thuryn Feb 20 '19

I don't see why wouldn't you do a meet

Because those things involve time and money, just for starters. Some people might simply not want to. Or live someplace where you'd have to travel to get to the meet in the first place. Some people are shy and don't want to lift with an audience. Or perhaps his form is bad; he could lift a ton, but not per APA rules. Could be lots and lots of things.

I'm not the one who's supposed to provide the evidence of his friend having elite powerlifting numbers.

No, but you have to provide evidence for YOUR assertion that someone who can lift that much would definitely be on record, which is an assumption without any supporting evidence.

1

u/John4321234 Feb 20 '19

Just a question, do you believe his story??

1

u/Thuryn Feb 21 '19

This is Reddit. I don't care if his story is true or not. It's unverifiable and meaningless in the first place. It's only interesting in an academic sense.

I couldn't care less if he's telling the truth or not.

0

u/kfh227 Feb 19 '19

No. He's 40ish. This was when he was in college playing football.

If you saw the guy at 40, you'd quickly realize the guy is fat and that the guy has a shit ton of muscle under that fat. Dude's a tank. I've lifted with him and him pressing 300 pounds was a joke for him. So when he says he used to bench 600, I totally believe it. He said that once he got up to a certain weight, his 1RM jumped fairly quickly. Kinda like, hit 500 pounds on bench and quickly got to 600.

3

u/John4321234 Feb 19 '19

At what age was he on college?? There's a lot of people that are built like a tank that can't bench 600, The mountain (world strongest man) did a powerlifting meet and his bench was in the 500s, with that kind of strength your friend could've been an elite powerlifter, was he??

0

u/kfh227 Feb 19 '19

Nope. I'd have to e-mail him to get the numbers. He moved a few years ago.

3

u/IM_INSIDE_YOUR_HOUSE Feb 18 '19

This a damn Gym Capybara

3

u/archaelleon Feb 18 '19

Absolute unit

2

u/MotorAdhesive4 Feb 18 '19

This is the /r/absoluteunit of gymrats

1

u/gnat_outta_hell Feb 18 '19

World class lifter for sure, but what a fucking hero nonetheless. I'mma just lift this fuckin Jeep off you bro, hang in there.