One of the major changes this year at the Arnold is the deadlift. Gone is the iconic hummer tire deadlift, and in its place is a deadlift from standard height, with a not so standard bar. Introducing the Rogue elephant bar...

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Ever run out of room deadlifting with bumper plates? Here is the bar for you!

Not a standard powerlifting bar, the elephant bar has extended length and a lot of flex; which should result in some very big deadlifts thanks to Rogue’s thick CNC machined plates.

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The event is for max weight, and the thought of 1,000lbs not being sufficient enough for top 3 in the event is absurd.

Eddie Hall, the current deadlift world record holder and clear favorite, is rumored that he is good for 500k; a number that would have been ludicrous to even discuss two years ago.



Don’t just focus on Hall though, Brian Shaw could very well be good for 1,000+ and his training videos back that up.




….. and Thor recently hit a training PR of 935.

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...along with a speedy single at 880:

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Could The Mountain challenge for the top spot? Many are counting him out based on a poor performance in the Hummer Tire Deadlift last year, but I don’t think many expected him to deadlift 991lbs at the world Deadlift Championships either.



Of course, there is the 7-time champion Zydrunas Savickas as well. He has been rehabbing from a back injury at World's Strongest Man last year. The modest Lithuanian has been very quiet with his training leading up to the event, so the question that remains to be answered is how well recovered Big Z’s back is.

Jerry Pritchett will also be up there on the deadlift attempting to crack the 1,000lb barrier. In 2013, he narrowly missed out on a then Strongman world record:



Also, judging from a photo posted yesterday, it seems he pulled 945lbs:

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Vytaus Lalas is returning to the Arnold after suffering a back injury in 2014. The 2013 champion could very be good for a deadlift of 950+ if he is healed, and built upon this 814lb deadlift from 19 weeks ago:

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Mateusz will need to keep up to stay in the race. In 2015, the deadlift was his worst performance with “only” a successful pull of 829 before missing twice at 851 on the hummer tire deadlift. Hopefully, his traditional deadlift is enough to secure him a spot on the podium, proving it is not a fluke.

If you want to see more about who's competing at the Arnold Classic, check this out.