For a competitive Olympic lifter, world record caliber crouching is just another day of work. This was certainly the case for Kazakh weightlifter Artyom Antropov, who threw a super-heavy object on June 21, 2022. 300 kg (661.3 lbs) back squat double For social media.
Not only does Antropov’s leg strength display help prove that his case is one of the best light heavyweight Olympic lifters in the world, but his squats are a competitive power. It also counters the best efforts of world-class squat specialists whose primary direction is lifting.
Weightlifters like Antropov may not always be able to register and win international powerlifting competitions, but they can certainly hang with career squatters.
[Related: Weightlifter Mattie Rogers Squats All-Time Personal Record of 190KG]
Antropov wore weightlifting shoes, lifting belts and knee sleeves to bust out the two sets with back squats. In particular, he removed the barbell from the squat stand and pulled it out of the platform, giving him plenty of free space to work on.
Artyom Antropov Weightlifting Carrier
The 22-year-old Antropov has been competing for Kazakhstan for most of the decade since he finished seventh in the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) Youth World Championships in 2016.
Since then, he has participated in a total of nine IWF events, competing in (previous) 85, 96, and 102 kilogram classes, according to IWF athlete registration.
Artyom Antropov | Main competition results
- 2016 Youth World Championship: Money
- 2017 Youth Asian Championship: Money
- 2020 Junior Asian Championship: Money
- 2019 Junior World Championship: Silver
- 2021 World Weightlifting Championship: 4th
Note: These rankings show the total result of Antropov, which combines the best snatch of athletes with the best clean & jerk.
Weight lifter pair.Squat powerlifter
It’s a bold claim, but it’s backed by a pile of evidence. Olympic lifters can trade hits for some of the best squats offered by powerlifting.
For example, the 93 kg class International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) Men’s Open Classic Squat record is 331 kg (729.7 pounds) owned by Anatoly Inovo Pismeny of Ukraine.
Antropov competes primarily with a weight of 96 kilograms, and his 300 kilogram double could mark his one-time maximum with a squat somewhere in the 320 kilogram range. That raises the question. How does secondary weightlifter training respond to one of the competitive moves of powerlifters?
A good weightlifter can also be a good powerlifter
Your genetics will determine most of your athletic performance long before you pick up a barbell. Therefore, the style of training you practice in the weight room reflects your genetic potential.
Back squats are just an expression of strength, so there is no doubt that Antropov (or Novopismeny) will be very successful if one participates in a different strength sport than the career of choice.
Weight lifters always squat
Although they are judged by their prowess in snatch and clean & jerk, Olympic lifters still crouch back (and front) most of their overall training economy. Lifting heavy weights requires strong legs, whether out of the rack or overhead from the ground.
Weight lifters also accumulate a large amount of volume and skill work with standard training. All clean, snatch, or overhead squats require you to stand up from deep hip and knee flexions. This is also the maximum value for one iteration.
Powerlifters are specific
Talented and hard-working athletes are ready to succeed regardless of their physical activity of choice, but a key factor at the end of the day is peculiarity. Powerlifters like Novopismenny (and others) train weekly to make squats as technically sound and powerful as possible.
Weight lifters, on the other hand, usually do squats under the element of fatigue at the end of regular training. So you don’t have to practice high quality and devoted practice with squat movement patterns like powerlifters.
Leverage is everything
Powerlifters have very discrete and clear goals. Restore the barbell from the standing position to the depth where the wrinkles on the lower back are below the patella. Thus, the low bar position is the weapon of choice for any serious powerlifter.
The horizontal bar squat technique looks visually similar to the horizontal bar squat, but there are some important mechanical differences.
- Rover squat Narrow the range of motion (Compared to most horizontal bar squats).
- Rover position Balance the load Of barbells more evenly between your feet and back.
- Rover technique helps you Use lumbar muscle tissue and hip extensor To gain weight.
All of this allows the powerlifter to lift a little more weight than its weightlifting cousin.
Power is power
No matter which camp you attend, it is worth recognizing and respecting the efforts that powerlifters and weightlifters have put into their respective sports. It’s undeniably impressive that weight lifters like Antropov can casually crouch down with IPF podium caliber weights as something like a “retrofit”.
But the length that carrier powerlifters go to make squats as accurate and powerful as possible is just as noteworthy. Most, if not all, of the heaviest squats to date are held by powerlifters, so the discipline speaks for itself.
Still, you will find it difficult to knock Antropov for his squat game. It definitely rewards him with a weightlifting platform.
Featured image: Instagram artyom.antropov
