Powerlifter Heather Connor Lifts 200kg At 45kg Body Weight

Female powerlifter Heather Connor may be slight in size but she deadlifted a phenomenal 200kg on New Year’s Eve - that’s more than four times her bodyweight.

The American confirmed she weighed just 45.6kg on the day of the lift which she completed in a sumo stance. 

Connor had originally pledged to hit the 200kg target by the end of November, although she only reached 192.5kg in the original time frame.

She then vowed to accomplish her first goal by the end of the year, and just made it on the final day of 2020.

It was certainly an ambitious target but one that the 4’10” tall pocket rocket trained hard to reach, having previously posted an Instagram video of herself lifting 185kg for a paused deadlift on Christmas Eve while dressed in an elf outfit.

The 200kg deadlift was 15kg heavier than the 29-year-old’s competition best, while her official PBs at the squat and bench press are 142.5kg and 72.5 respectively. 

A former primary school teacher, Connor is the pound-for-pound strongest woman in the International Powerlifting Federation and is known for her high-energy personality.

She certainly possesses a strong character and high levels of resilience; traits that have helped her in sport as well as a fight with anxiety.

“It’s something that’s not spoken about, but depression and mental illness is a real thing,” Connor said in 2018. “Cool there’s all these stories on proper nutrition, but lets talk about real life things. For me, that’s anxiety and depression.

“Going to the gym [to powerlift] has helped me control it. I use the word control not cure because I found methods that have worked for me. Whatever I was feeling that day, the gym was the one place my mind could relax. I was focused on that one set thing and that was lifting. For once, I didn’t have all these weird thoughts going through my head.

“It became my escape. After leaving the gym those [first few weeks] I felt good and I could just live my life normally. Anxiety is still a very, very big thing that I still battle with. I find all these different methods to control the situation.  I understand what is going through my head and I recognise what I can control and can’t control.”

Connor will no doubt now turn her attentions to some more ambitious numbers and titles in 2021.