If you're a barbell, Artyom Antropov's good moods are bad news.
The Kazakh heavyweight is indisputably one of the strongest weightlifters alive, and Artyom's recent 300-kilogram (661 pounds, for the Americans) front squat proves it.
Antropov may not have had the performance he wanted at this year's Asian Weightlifting Championships, but it wasn't because he lacked for strength.
- Remind Me: Antropov slugged it out against China's Liu "Gigachad" Huanhua in Jiangshan. Both tried world records and failed. Liu walked away with the gold medal by a 24-kilogram margin.
Gigachad on his best day couldn't front 300, but Artyom did it twice in the two weeks leading up to their clash in the last 102-kilogram session before the weight classes change.
Weightlifting House hit Artyom up to see if he'd share the recipe to his success in the squat rack — he said we just have to let him cook.
Artyom Antropov's 300KG Front Squat, Explained
Let's set the table: Artyom's 300-kilogram is the heaviest known front squat by a non-superheavyweight weightlifter. In fact, we can't think of too many supers who could comfortably hit it.
- By the Numbers: We saw Japan's Eishiro "Tank" Murakami hit 300 kilograms in 2019. If allowing for the cross-arm technique, the heaviest front squat of all time belongs to powerlifter Jezza Uepa at 405.
Naturally, we wanted to find out how he does it. Artyom's extraordinary strength must be the result of meticulously programmed workouts, right?
Wrong. It's mostly vibes: "I decide how often I'm going to front squat during the training week," he tells us. "There's no clear principle behind it."
While there may not be a "clear principle," Antropov did outline his general approach to training the squat:
- He squats 4-5 times per week, depending on how intense his weightlifting-specific exercises are.
- Only one of those sessions is dedicated to the front squat.
- 1 to 2 squat workouts per week will include loads at or above 90%
The further Artyom is from a major competition, what he calls the "recovery period," the more inclined he'll feel to push himself in the back or front squat — standard fare for most world-class weightlifters.
- Parallels: Prior to Artyom, the heaviest front squat by a weight-capped athlete that we could think of belonged to all-timer and Kazakh teammate Ilya Ilyin, who managed 290 in his heyday.
Artyom Antropov: The Next Big Thing?
As Team Kazakhstan's latest world-class heavyweight, Antropov has some Ilyin-sized shoes to fill. After being suspended for failing a drug test at Asians in '23, Antropov returned in force to win his first World title in Manama, Bahrain, last December:
Artyom Antropov (102KG, KAZ) | 2024 World Weightlifting Championships
- Snatch: 165, 170, 173x
- Clean & Jerk: 220, 227, 230
- Total: 400
Artyom's tremendous leg strength doesn't do him any good in the snatch — he placed 12th in Manama, but was five kilos up on 2020 Olympic Champion Meso Hassona in the clean & jerk.
Antropov caught a lucky break at Worlds; Liu was absent, still recovering from his historic gold-medal performance at the 2024 Olympics four months prior.
Both men are expected to bulk up to the IWF's "new" 110-kilogram category, which takes effect in June. However, adding weight doesn't always translate to a bigger total. The extra body mass can affect technique and timing, as Armenia's Simon Martirosyan told us at the European Championships this spring.
But with a 300-kilogram front squat up his sleeve, we'd bet Artyom beats Gigachad to the punch in setting the class' first clean & jerk world record.
The 2025 World Weightlifting Championships run Oct. 2 to 11 in Forde, Norway. Weightlifting House will be there, and we expect to see Antropov (and Liu) there too.
