For years, most people have measured strength by performance in the bench press, squat, and deadlift. However, the strict curl was considered, in the early days, a way to display pure strength, raw power, and discipline. And when a 22-year-old set a world record in that division, it made headlines.

And the young lifter is Elias Engquist, who, according to the April 19 Instagram post by whoisthebestbb, “has just broken the WORLD RECORD for the strict barbell biceps curl!”

After setting the record, Engquist himself posted the news on his Instagram on April 20, expressing excitement and praising his coaches and wife.

He said, “New all-time STRICT CURL World record! 114.25 KG with subpar conditions, but we made it happen!

Couldn’t be happier with the outcome of this prep and thank you to both my coaches (Fede Guevara and Jordi Benlliure) and my wife (Ksenia Sadekova Vladimirovna) for supporting me through this prep every single day!”

The strict bicep curl, or strict curl, is an exceptional display of physical power that eliminates cheating and back movement, and it is mostly performed with a wall behind a lifter.

The Swedish powerlifter surpassed the previous record set by Leroy Walker, whose strict curl record was 114 kg or 250 lbs in 2021. However, in 2022, Nizami Tagiev tried to break this record at the Siberian Power Show and lifted 114 kg, tying Walker's record.

From his Instagram posts, it can be seen that in recent weeks, the young strength athlete has gradually worked on his strength and workouts while recovering from his chest injury. And 2 weeks ago, he shared the strict curl session that he followed for the competition.

Elias Engquist’s Strict Curl Session 2 Weeks Ahead of the World Record Event

On April 4, Engquist shared a video on his Instagram showing his preparation ahead of the strict curl event.

He said, “Starting off, the plan of today was to hit a top single with 105 kilos, making it look very, very light. Since we're only two weeks away from the competition, we're not going to try anything crazy heavy.”

After that, he also performed 3 sets of 2 at 97.5 kg, which almost reached 100 kg, and he considered it an intense volume PR for him.

Following that, he said performing his last set, “We are showing up on the last set of the 97.5, still moving f******* good. I'm super excited how this is going to go.”

Discussing his step for next week, which was 1 week prior to the event, Engquist added, “Next week, we're going to push it a little bit higher. And to finish off the strict curl session, we have two sets of four reps, paused in the middle. This is where the strict curl stops in most cases.”

And he admitted that for him, this part is the hardest part of the curl and said, “As I think many times, the strict curl, the most important part is the upper half because the bottom to the middle is easy.”

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Written by

Supradeep Dutta

Edited by

Ashvinkumar Patil