Powerlifting dates back to ancient Greece when incredible body strength was highly valued.
Powerlifting is a strength sport consisting of three major compound lifts: the squat, bench press, and deadlift.
The World Strongman competition uses powerlifting rules to determine who is the strongest man in the world.
Zydrunas Savickas has won the Arnold Strongman Classic eight times.
Many people in the strength game consider Ed Coan to be the greatest powerlifter of all time.
However, to find out who makes our list of the top ten greatest powerlifters of all time, let’s jump right into the article.
10. Eddie Hall
- British Nationality
- Professional Sport: Strongman
- The Beast’s Nickname
- 190cm/160 kg in height and weight
Even though Eddie Hall has retired, he remains popular among fans due to his television appearances.
Similarly, from 2011 to 2016, he held the title of UK’s Strongest Man for six years in a row. Similarly, he held the title of Britain’s Strongest Man from 2014 to 2018.
Hall has also competed in Europe’s Strongest Man twice, finishing second in the 2017 edition and setting the world record for Axle press lifting 216 kg (476 lbs).
In 2012 and 2013, he failed to qualify for World Strongest Man. However, for the next four years, he consistently finished in the top ten.
Furthermore, World Strongest Man Hall won his only World Strongest title in 2017 before retiring due to health issues.
His previous best finish was third place in the 2016 edition.
In the same year, he set a deadlift world record at official events, lifting 500 kg at the World Deadlifts Championship (1,102 lbs).
9. Mikhail Koklyaev
- Russian nationality
- Professional sports include strongman, powerlifting, Olympic weightlifting, and boxing.
- Misha is a nickname.
- 193cm/134kg in height/weight
Mikhail Koklyaev’s professional career began as a strongman. He finished third three times and second once in the Arnold Strongman Classic.
Similarly, in the ISFA Strongman World Championship, he finished third once and second twice.
He has won the Strongman Champions League multiple times. He has seven titles and several podia finish to his name.
Koklyaev won the WPC Raw European Championship in powerlifting in 2012.
His personal best powerlifting records are 360 kg/ 793.7 lbs for squat, 230 kg/ 507.1 lbs for bench press, and 417.5 kg/ 920 lbs for deadlift, for a total of 1,007.5 kg/ 2,221 lbs.
Koklyaev later made his professional boxing debut in 2019. However, he was defeated by Alexnder Emelianenko via TKO.
8. Björnsson, Hafór Jlus
- Icelandic nationality
- Professional Basketball and Strongman
- The Mountain’s Nickname
- 205 cm/156 kg in height and weight
Most people are familiar with Hafór Julius Björnsson from the HBO TV series Game of Thrones, where he played Gregor Clegane for five seasons.
Furthermore, in 2018, Björnsson became the first person to win the Arnold Strongman Classic, Europe Strongest Man, and World Strongest Man all in the same year.
He was a basketball player before beginning his professional acting and strongman career. However, at the age of 20, an ankle injury forced him to retire.
He began competing in a strongman competition in 2010. Later, from 2011 to 2020, he held the title of Iceland’s Strongest Man for ten years in a row.
He is also a four-time Giants Live winner and a five-time Europe Strongest Man champion.
Furthermore, after finishing third and second six times in previous years, Björnsson finally claimed the title of World Strongest Man in 2018.
Similarly, at the Arnold Classic in 2019, he broke the world record for elephant bar deadlift, lifting 474kg (1,045 lbs).
Björnsson also holds the world deadlift record. In his Iceland gym in 2020, he deadlifted 501 kg (1,105 lbs) under strongman rules.
7. Andy Bolton
- British nationality
- Professional Sports include strongman and powerlifting.
- Unavailable Nickname
- 188 cm/ 164 kg in height and weight
Andy Boltman began his powerlifting career in 1991 when he was 20 years old. He first competed in the BAWLA Yorkshire Junior Championship, a local powerlifting competition.
He later began competing in World Powerlifting Congress competitions. As a result, he is a three-time WPC Powerlifting champion and holds several WPC world records.
His total weight of 1273 kg/2806 lbs and squat weight of 550.5 kg/1213 lbs are both WPC records that have yet to be broken. In addition, his total squat records are third and fourth in their respective categories.
Boltman is also a 15-time British Powerlifting champion and a 7-time World Powerlifting Organization (WPO) world champion.
He is also listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the first powerlifter to lift more than 1000 pounds. He is also a previous world deadlift record holder, having lifted 457.5kg/1008.6 lbs.
He finishes fifth in the 2002 Arnold Strongman Classic while competing in strongman competitions.
6. Brian Shaw
- American nationality
- Strongman is a professional sport.
- Gigantor is a nickname.
- 203cm/199kg in height and weight
After graduating from college, Brian Shaw fell in love with strength. He used to be a college basketball player.
He began his professional strongman career in 2005 when he competed in the Denver Strongest Man competition.
Furthermore, he competed in the tournament despite having no formal training. Shaw was among professional strongman athletes within seven months.
In 2008, he competed in his first World Strongest Man competition. Since then, he has appeared in 13 finals, winning four of them.
Similarly, he has finished on the podium six times and in the top five 12 times. Shaw also holds the record for the most consecutive WSM appearances, with 14.
He also holds the world record for a little bighorn handle lifting 108kg (238lbs). In addition, World Strongest Man set a key toss world record in 2021, tossing over 7.75 meters.
Shaw has also won three Arnold Strongman Classics and six Strongman Super Series titles.
5. Paul Anderson
- American Professional Nationality Olympic weightlifting, Strongman, and Powerlifting are all sports.
- Unavailable Nickname
- 179 cm/ 163 kg in height and weight
In the world of strength professionals, Paul Anderson is a true hero. Anderson began lifting weights when he joined the football team at Furman University.
Later, at the age of 20, he competed in his first powerlifting competition, breaking the official 30-year-old squat record with a squat of 650 pounds.
In 1955, he won the World Championship and set two world records. The first was for a bench press of 184.9kg/ 407.7 lbs and a total weight of 512.3 kg/ 1,129.5 lbs.
Anderson won a gold medal in weightlifting in the 90+ kg weight division at the Melbourne Olympics the following year. He also won the US Weighlifting Championships in 1955 and 1956.
Anderson entered the Guinness Book of World Records in 1957 after back lifting 2,840kg/ 6,270 lbs. It has been described as “the greatest human lift.”
He set 18 American and 8 World Records as a powerlifter. Furthermore, he retired undefeated.
4. Bill Kazmaier
- American nationality
- Professional sports include wrestling, strongman, and powerlifting.
- Unavailable Nickname
- 179 cm/ 163 kg in height and weight
Bill Kazmaier is a legend in the world of strength competitions. Furthermore, he dropped out of college to pursue his dream of becoming a powerlifter.
Kazmaier set a bench press world record of 663 pounds while winning the 1979 IDF World Powerlifting Championship at the age of 25. He won the title again in 1983, this time with a total weight of 2292 pounds.
He finished third in his first World Strongest Man competition in 1979. Later, from 1980 to 1982, he won three consecutive titles.
He retired with numerous records, but the majority of them have already been broken.
He is a former IDF SHW class world record holder in the bench press and deadlift, lifting 300kg/ 661.4 lb and 402kg/ 886.7 lb, respectively.
Similarly, some of Kazemaier’s WSM achievements include a car deadlift (1159 kg/ 2555 lbs), a cement block lift (440 kg/ 969 lbs), a silver dollar deadlift (478.5 kg/ 1055 lbs), and a hungarian farm cart deadlift (510 kg/ 1124 lbs).
Kazemaier also competed for several wrestling promotion companies. Furthermore, his biggest break came with WCW’s debut in 1991.
3. Henry, Mark
- American nationality
- Professional Wrestling, Strongman, and Powerlifting
- Sexual Chocolate / The King of the Jungle
- 193 cm/160 kg in height/weight
Mark Henry, aka Sexual Chocolate, is most likely the most well-known name on the list. He is a well-known figure in the World Wrestling Entertainment industry.
He has two WWE championships and one world heavyweight title. In addition, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2018.
In terms of powerlifting, he is the 1995 WDFPF world champion as well as the 1995 and 1997 USA National champion.
Henry’s raw powerlifting total of 1,060 kg/ 2,336.9lbs places him first among drug tets powerlifters and second all time.
He has also twice represented the United States in weightlifting at the Olympics. In addition, he won the Arnold Strongman Classic in 2002, scoring 25 points.
2. Zydrunas Savickas
- Lithuanian nationality Professional sports: Strongman/Powerlifting
- Big Z is his nickname.
- 191 cm/170 kg in height/weight
Zydrunas Savickas is widely considered to be the greatest strength athlete of all time. At the age of 17, he broke all Lithuanian powerlifting records.
He has won some incredible titles. For example, he is the 16th Lithuanian Strongest Man. Similarly, he has won the World Strongest Man title four times and finished second six times.
Similarly, Savickas has won the Arnold Strongman Classic eight times. Similarly, he has three Europe Strongest Man titles, two ISFA Strongman titles, and two overall Strongman titles to his name.
His 410 kg (900 lb) squat, 250 kg (550 lb) bench press, and deadlift lift 360 kg (790 lb) are all national records.
He also holds several strongman records. He lifted 238kg/503 lb log in 2015.
He completed 8 clean reps of Apollon Axle Press weighing 166 kg/366lb in 2010. He previously set records for the hummer tire deadlift, metal block press, atlas stone, and giant barbell deadlifts.
1. Ed Coan’s
- American nationality
- Powerlifting is a professional sport.
- Ed’s nickname
- 168 cm/99 kg in height and weight
Although there are many legendary names in the strength world, one name stands out above all others: Ed Coan.
Nobody dominated powerlifting as much as he did, setting 71 official and 30 unofficial world records during his professional career.
Furthermore, he is one of the athletes who accepted doping as a part of the sport of powerlifting. Similarly, he is the lightest powerlifter to reach a total weight of 2,400 lbs.
Coan’s total of 2,463 pounds is also the highest in all-time total records. Squat (462 kg/ 1019 lbs), bench press (265 kg/ 584 lbs), and deadlift (409 kg/ 901 lbs) are his personal best records.
During his professional career, he claimed 7 USPF senior national championships and 6 IPF World Championships.
Even after serving a lifetime ban due to doping C,oan is still considered a powerlifting legend. He was also inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.
Summary \sWhether you are interested in powerlifting or not, you must have seen these athletes on TV or on social media.
Many people may be confused about why bodybuilders are not listed. It’s because powerlifting is a way different sport.
Let us have a quick look at the summary of who makes our list of all-time greatest powerlifters.
- Ed Coan \sZydrunas Savickas
- Mark Henry
- Bill Kazmaier
- Anderson, Paul
- Brian Shaw
- Andy Boltman
- Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson
- Koklyaev, Mikhail
- Eddie Hall
You May Know: Suzanne McFayden, Lulu Antariksa