Powerlifter Blaine Sumner was one of many talented athletes who walked away from the Arnold 2020 with multiple world records under his belt.
Strength Wars’ very own Blaine Sumner has been in the news a lot lately for his incredible accomplishments as one of the world’s strongest powerlifters. He recently impressed fans with a video showing him squatting 1,005 pounds — and that’s an off-day in the gym for one of the sport’s most accomplished figures. Blaine Sumner did it again at the Arnold Sports Festival 2020, where he broke not one but three IPF world records for different feats of strength.
Breaking down Blaine’s accomplishments: first, he squatted an insane 1,135 pounds (515 kg) and blew the audience away. You can check out video of the impressive feat below, which he shared to Instagram yesterday.
It was the largest recorded squat in IPF history. It’s an insane video to watch, not only for the effort he’s exerting, but for the incredible reaction from his team of spotters when he finally completes his goal. Everyone in the gym has great energy and is going absolutely crazy for Blaine when he hits his mark and puts the weights back.
But he didn’t stop there. He also broke the IPF world record for the bench press after lifting 939 pounds (426 kg) and the IPF world record total accumulated weight lifted at 2,987 pounds (1,296 kg).
But Blaine’s not the only champion in the family. His wife, Jessica LaCour, is an accomplished figure competitor in her own right. Blaine spent the rest of the weekend sharing updates on his wife’s progress in the competition to his Instagram and, like the proud husband he is, was absolutely gushing over her competitive drive.
“Going through these show preps while running her businesses, helping me with training, and taking care of her family always makes her my hero! Way to go boo!” He captioned the photo post showing his wife competing in her third consecutive Arnold Sports Fest.
For more updates on Blaine Sumner’s life and competitive career, look no further than GI’s own Strength Wars, a cross-fitness epic strength competition that pits greats from the worlds of bodybuilding, powerlifting, and more against one another. As one of the world’s strongest powerlifters, Blaine Sumner represents his team like a true champion, and competes against other legendary figures such as Larry Wheels and NDO Champ. Recently, Larry Wheels also competed at the Arnold 2020 and even walked away from the festival with a powerlifting world record of his own — he lifted 2,370 pounds (1,075 kg), narrowly beating out the previous record-holder by just 0.1 pounds. Seeing two men who are at the absolute top of their field go head-to-head is one of the great joys of all bodybuilding and strength competitions. In a match up between Larry Wheels and Blaine Sumner, it’s anyone’s guess who would come out on top. There’s only one way to find out, and that’s to watch Strength Wars: The Movie when it’s released later this year.
*All images and media courtesy of Instagram.
