International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) super heavyweight world champion Jesus Olivares has been building a giant squat for several years. He has made steady progress since his competitive debut in 2019 and recently accelerated it further.

Olivares is four weeks away from his next meet, the 2024 Sheffield Powerlifting Championships on Feb. 10, 2024, and is handling heavy volume in the gym.

Take a look below at the titanic five-repetition set of a colossal 400-kilogram (882-pound) raw squat from Jan. 9, 2024, courtesy of Olivares’ Instagram page:

Olivares demonstrated supreme confidence in his abilities, electing to attempt a new personal record out of a combo rack without a single spotter. His confidence was well-founded. While Olivares slowed on the final two reps, both were fast and smooth; a testament to Olivares’ current strength levels.

Olivares lifts in the +120-kilogram class in the IPF, where knee wraps are not permitted in classic (or “raw”) competition. He hit these numbers with only the assistance of knee sleeves, a lifting belt, and wrist wraps.

Olivares is the world’s top-ranked powerlifter on raw total in knee sleeves. He scored the all-time world record 1,152.5-kilogram (2,541-pound) total at the inaugural Sheffield Powerlifting Championships in 2023. That total also secured him the top spot in the competition and the £30,000 (approx $38,200) prize purse.

Olivares will soon return to the UK to attempt a Sheffield Powerlifting Championships title defense. The potential prize purse has increased in 2024; first place claims £25,000 (approximately $31,850). There are also bounties on IPF Open world records, meaning that if Olivares breaks the IPF raw world records in the squat, bench press, deadlift, and total, his total prize money, in addition to overall gold, would be £45,000 (approximately $57,300).

The first obstacle on Olivares’ quest is Ray Williams’ long-standing raw squat world record, which stands at a daunting 477.5 kilograms (1,053 pounds). Olivares squatted 470 kilograms (1,036 pounds) at the 2023 Sheffield Championships. With such a solid year of training since then, Olivares seems likely to make a run at the squat world record at the 2024 Sheffield Championships.

While the bench press world record is probably out of reach for Olivares this time around, the deadlift and total world records are his own. The training Olivares has shared on his Instagram page over the past year was littered with personal records in every lift, so he is undoubtedly the strongest he has ever been.

Olivares will attempt to make history on Feb. 10, 2024, at the 2024 Sheffield Championships in front of a sold-out crowd of 2,200 strong. The event will be live-streamed in full and for free on SBD Apparel’s YouTube channel.

Featured image: @mega.gojira on Instagram

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