Chapter 562: Don't Unload the Plates, I'll Train My Biceps For a Bit

Chapter 562: Strip the Plates, I’m Working on My Biceps

Meng Fan swapped to a heavier barbell—actually, it was the black-tech barbell he’d redeemed from the achievement task [Lifting Weights with Ease]. This barbell could adjust its weight freely, ranging from 0.1 to 10 times Meng Fan’s body weight. Beyond that, its quality was impeccable; as long as plates could be loaded, it could bear any weight.

Meng Fan set the weight to the Olympic standard of 20 KG, then had the nearby athletes help load the plates. Each large red thin plate weighed 25 kilograms. He hung eleven plates on each side, plus a 5-kilogram and a 2.5-kilogram plate, bringing the total to 585 kilograms. If you factored in the bar and the two collars, it was definitely over.

“What’s he doing?”

Dean Zhan clutched his thermos, looking a bit flustered.

It wasn’t about whether he could squat it—he was mainly worried about Meng Fan getting hurt.

This weight was a bit too extreme.

Still, he felt relieved when he saw Meng Fan fasten a belt and knee wraps after loading the plates.

Though such protection meant next to nothing under this kind of weight, Dean Zhan had his own estimate of his disciple’s strength. At least with a little protection, he could breathe easier.

He unscrewed the lid, took a light sip, and gulped down a mouthful of water mixed with goji berries. Through the thin steam, he squinted as Meng Fan stood beneath 585 kilograms.

He was still a bit nervous, but no longer worried.

He didn’t quite understand what Meng Fan was up to, but he overheard some athletes saying Meng Fan was challenging a hundred world records. Thinking back, the world record for the squat was 460 kilograms, which Meng Fan had already squatted. This weight seemed to be… perhaps the heaviest squat achievable under no drug testing and with heavy equipment—the kind humans could manage by any means necessary. But could that even count as a world record?

To squat such a weight under the premise of drug testing and almost no equipment… Heh, probably only his disciple could pull off something so insane.

Dean Zhan also admitted that Meng Fan wasn’t human.

He unracked the bar!

The world record holder had used a walk-in squat rack, but Meng Fan used a monolift hook squat rack, which didn’t require moving the feet after lifting the weight—saving a lot of effort. Meng Fan, however, used a walk-in squat rack, meaning he had to unrack and step back.

Just from Meng Fan’s unracking steps, Dean Zhan knew this lift was likely solid.

His core strength was incredibly stable; his steps were steady, his knees didn’t tremble.

After standing still, Meng Fan bent his knees and hips, squatting down, his force line remaining very stable.

Once his thighs were parallel to the ground, Meng Fan continued descending into a full squat.

From the motion of this squat, one word came to mind: steady.

After reaching the bottom, Meng Fan didn’t pause like he did with 460 kilograms. Instead, he stood up directly.

During the ascent, there was a slight hitch—just a tiny moment that made everyone present and the viewers in the livestream hold their breath. That moment might have been less than half a second, but it was enough to make hearts skip a beat, creating a sense of suffocation.

He made it up!

At that moment, it was impossible to say how many people let out a long breath, then held it again, waiting for Meng Fan to re-rack the bar. After he finished, everyone exhaled heavily, and whether in the venue or in the livestream, a powerful emotion burst forth.

When Meng Fan successfully squatted 460 kilograms, it had already caused an uproar in the powerlifting world.

Powerlifting had always been a domain dominated by white people, with very few other skin tones—even the current record for the total of three lifts under drug testing and without equipment belonged to a black man, let alone a yellow-skinned person. As for Asian records, they only reached world-class levels, far from the top-tier global standard.

Although China’s weightlifting was very strong, the development of powerlifting lagged far behind the world level.

With Meng Fan successfully squatting 460 kilograms, the powerlifting world knew that the Eastern Iron God had finally set his sights on powerlifting!

A beast had suddenly barged in!

Then, seeing Meng Fan successfully squat 585 kilograms—using a walk-in unrack and simple knee wraps—it was undoubtedly a taunting intrusion in their eyes.

Like a tiger among sheep, smashing everything to pieces!

Though it wasn’t a competition and no record was broken, Meng Fan’s move had clearly dropped a nuclear bomb in the powerlifting world. It was hard to say if it would inspire, but it would likely cast a shadow.

No, not just one.

Look, the livestream wasn’t over yet. Meng Fan walked from the squat rack to the bench press rack and started loading plates again!

Two hundred kilograms for a warm-up, doing twenty reps in one set!

Then he jumped straight to 337 kilograms!

“Another world record!”

“Ha, I only just realized that the Iron God’s so-called challenge of a hundred world records has already begun!”

“World records, and so informal!”

“Is he really going to bench press this? Holy shit, I can’t even squat this weight on a hack squat machine with elastic bands for cushioning!”

“Ha, I can’t even lift this on a leg press machine.”

“The guy above, no offense, but you’re really useless—can’t even handle a confidence booster!”

“Iron God, don’t strip the plates after you’re done; let me do a few sets of bicep curls.”

“After you finish your bicep curls, let me work on my triceps.”

“I just want to know if you’re working on your triceps with the guy upstairs or with 337 kilograms!”

…

After loading the plates, Meng Fan lay down, found a suitable grip width, and unracked the bar.

Compared to squats, Meng Fan didn’t bench press much. Technically, his squat form was perfect, but his bench press technique was mediocre—barely any skill at all. It was just a correct bench press, with nothing worth analyzing or learning.

The unrack went smoothly.

Slowly lowering the bar.

The bar touched his chest.

Meng Fan didn’t exaggerate his arch, so the bar’s travel to his chest was quite long—at least a third longer than the record holder’s travel.

The longer the travel, the more work done, and naturally, the more strength Meng Fan needed.

He pressed it up.

He completed one rep of 337 kilograms smoothly.

Then, Meng Fan pressed another!

And then another.

Meng Fan pressed a total of five reps!

Because he was happy. This time, after successfully challenging the world record of 337 kilograms, the system deemed it a success—unlike the squat earlier.

That might have been because the other world record of 487 kilograms with heavy equipment (bench press shirt) relied too much on gear.

In his joy, he pressed a few extra reps.

Those few reps truly stunned the viewers in the livestream, especially the foreign powerlifting enthusiasts.

They all knew the difference between pressing 337 kilograms once and twice.

Let alone five times!

From this, it could be inferred that Meng Fan’s actual one-rep max (1RM) was at least over 410 kilograms!

Maybe even more, because during the fifth rep, there was no sticking point—Meng Fan pressed it easily.

And with such terrible bench press technique!!!

(End of chapter)