On Aug. 29, Crossfitter Mat Fraser deadlifted 540 pounds (244.9 kg), a personal record for him.
The lift was performed raw, in socks, with a mixed grip, chalked hands and without a lifting belt. He performed the lift right after he finished a 30-minute cardio session on the Stairmaster.
Once the bar got past his knees, Fraser hitched the weight (rested the bar on his quads for before pulling it to lockout). Hitching is not allowed in powerlifting but is allowed in strongman. Fraser was apparently surprised by lift. After dropping the barbell, he danced on a weight plate to celebrate.
One of Fraser’s goals has been to improve his deadlift. Earlier this August, Fraser announced he had achieved a lifetime PR on the deadlift, having pulled 540 pounds. “Deadlifting wasn’t a high priority when I was training to compete and I wanted to have something to work towards that was new,” he said at the time. “I wrote out a couple months of training and got to work.”
Fraser is a five-time CrossFit Games champion. He retired from competitive CrossFit in early February 2021. He currently programs the “Hard Work Pays Off” (HWPO) training method for Hybrid Performance Method (HPM), hosts a podcast and cofounded a supplements company called Podium.
After knocking out 540, he now intends to go after 600. On his Instagram, he wrote, “Feels pretty cool to be hitting PRs after my competitive career. I think 600 needs to happen though.”
BarBend predicts Fraser will continue to be a rockstar:
Although Fraser is finished with competitive CrossFit, he is still making improvements in the gym. It will be left to the imagination to wonder how he would fare should he return to the Games. Judging from his latest PR, he’d likely maintain his status as the G.O.A.T.
