Any powerlifter would agree that there are few feelings in this world like beating a deadlift personal record, so it’s no surprise that the World’s Strongest Man, Hafþór “Thor” Björnsson, was over the moon when he broke his own elephant bar deadlift world record on Wednesday.
Thor hit the gym with a serious hype squad that included none other than Larry Wheels, who’s been learning the ins and outs of strongman training at the Icelandic strongman’s gym. Then, Björnsson took a whiff of smelling salts before he powered through one rep of 1,042 pounds, using hand wraps and a lifting belt to set a new, unofficial world record. He got the weight up without too much of a struggle, and he had a fair amount of energy for a post-lift celebration.
We don’t have to tell you that 1,042 pounds is an incredible amount of weight, because one look at the seriously bent barbell in Björnsson’s video makes it pretty obvious.
The previous elephant bar world record was 1,041 pounds, set by Björnsson at the 2018 Arnold Strongman Classic. Over the summer, he also won the 2018 World’s Strongest Man competition. It’s safe to say that 2018 was the 30-year-old strongman’s biggest year yet, and he’s clearly starting 2019 off on the right foot.
With the 2019 Arnold Classic quickly approaching, Thor seems to be hitting the gym harder than ever, and we doubt he’ll take it easy any time soon.
