We have all seen Pat Mendez do 363kg squat, and we’ve seen Zakarov and botev do heavy squats on videos. There’s a video of Rezazadeh doing 305kgx2 very easily in training on youtube.
Do you folk have links to heavy squats performed by weightlifters, or have you heard about any great tales of squatting strength? Have anyone ever done more than 400kg in the olympic squat?
Ilberto Aranda from Cuba is by far the best squatter i have ever seen.
I have seen several videos of him squatting 310 for easy doubles at 76-78kg body-weights only a few days out from competition.
There is no doubt in my mind that he could squat 330 at 77ish for a single if he was a little farther out of competition.
There the legendary tale of Aslanbek Yenaldiev getting pinned by a 240kg clean at the 1979 Spartakiade when his back squat at the time was (according to Rudolph Plukfelder) 455kg. Gennady Bessanov says he was told Yenaldiev had done 460 though:
“I didn’t see how Aslanbek Yenaldiev back squatted 455 kg with my own eyes but my coach Dorokhin was an eyewitness how Yenadiev did back squat with 460 kg. It was in our place in Shakhty, during the training session. One correction, it wasn’t in 1978 but in 1976.”
ninearms: Interesting. Wonder how it is possible to missing a 240kg clean if the lifter have that strong legs.
my favorite