Over his near-decade-long powerlifting career, Phillip Herndon has built much of his reputation around an increasingly powerful back squat. On June 25, 2022, Herndon completed a sleeved squat of 395 kilograms (870 pounds) while training. That figure unofficially exceeds the raw squat World Record for a 110-kilogram powerlifter. It is five kilograms more than Kevin Oak’s official top mark from the 2020 World Raw Powerlifting Federation (WRPF) Hybrid Showdown II.
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While Herndon is a balanced, strong powerlifter who attends to each of his main squat, bench press, and deadlift movements accordingly, the squat is where the 26-year-old athlete excels most.
For example, Herndon is the current owner of the squat with wraps World Record for the 110-kilogram division. He achieved that with a 435-kilogram (959-pound) squat with wraps from the 2022 United States Powerlifting Coalition (USPC) Mid-Atlantic Classic. That achievement surpassed Daniel Misencik, who squatted 432.5 kilograms (953.5 pounds) at the 2022 WRPF Ghost Clash. Misencik had previously topped Herndon’s old squat with wraps World Record.
Not long after the USPC Mid-Atlantic Classic, Herndon completed a 410-kilogram (904-pound) squat with wraps relatively easily during an early May 2022 training session. That latter feat seemed to be a tease of the American athlete’s intent to extend his squat with wraps record in the near future. Herndon may attempt to do just that at the upcoming 2022 WRPF American Pro. That contest will occur on July 29-30, 2022, in Manassas, VA.
At the time of this writing, Herndon has not confirmed whether he will compete raw or with wraps at that competition. Notably, Herndon has competed raw just once since late April 2018, per Open Powerlifting.
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Herndon’s Warranted Ambitions
While Herndon continues to break, unofficially exceed, and push for new squat World Records, his competitive ledger is by no means thin on overall accomplishments. In 35 career contests as both a Junior and Open competitor, the American powerlifter has won 23 times. If that weren’t impressive enough, he has missed the podium on just five occasions.
At the moment, Herndon might even be hotter than ever. He’s currently on an ongoing win streak of nine competitions, which is by far the longest winning streak of his career. His last loss came in August 2019 during the 2019 United States Powerlifting Association (USPA) The Tribute — where he still finished in second place.
A general examination of Herndon’s Instagram would indicate he plans to make it 10 straight wins at the 2022 WRPF American Pro while simultaneously adding to his squat with wraps record. He may go for both feats in Manassas, VA, on July 29-30, 2022.
Featured image: @phillip_herndon on Instagram
