Marcello Ferri (Italy) held a 100 kg (220.46 lb) weighted deadlift for an eye-watering 6 min 3 sec, achieving the record for the longest duration deadlift with a 100 kg weight in his hometown of Pesaro, Italy, on 19 July 2020.
Marcello first broke this record in July 2019 with a time of 2 min 7.45 sec, going on to better his time to almost four minutes (3 min 42.37 sec) in February 2020.
That means he's more than doubled his own record since first breaking it less than two years ago.
No stranger to heavy lifting, multi-record title holder Marcello decided to attempt this record to prove that eating meat is not always synonymous with achieving weightlifting goals.
Marcello himself has been a vegetarian for over 30 years.
In addition, Marcello wanted to keep his word to his late father: that he would achieve the impossible.
However, achieving the impossible is no easy feat.
Marcello’s training regime in preparation for the attempt consisted of lifting a variety of weights from 80 kg (176 lb 5.9 2 oz) to 200 kg (440 lb 14.79 oz) and holding them for as long as possible.
He incorporated many different lifting techniques, including ‘good mornings’, a common powerlifting exercise.
Despite all the physical training, Marcello says that holding a weight this heavy for six minutes takes a lot of mental strength too.
He even felt that keeping concentration was the most difficult challenge on the day.
"6 minutes is not only a physical endeavour, but a mental one too. If you're not [focused] all the time, your hands weaken and then open up." - Marcello Ferri
One of the main challenges of this record is keeping a strong grip on the bar, so it was vital for Marcello to keep concentration to avoid his hands slackening.
As well as maintaining his grip, Marcello also had to keep an eye on his all-important form.
The guidelines require that the attempt be witnessed by people who are experts in fitness to ensure the correct technique is accomplished.
So not only did he have to impress the Records Team, but he also had to impress the other experts, too!
Luckily, Marcello met all the guidelines to achieve the record. Despite the gruelling work that went into this attempt, Marcello wants to go on to break more records.
In fact, he is already planning on attempting the heaviest weight lifted with the toes and the most weight lifted by dumbbell rows in one minute with one arm in the future!
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