Powerlifters you Should be Following - UPDATE 1 Year Later

One year ago we put together a list of ten monsters from the platform.  These ten were all super strong dudes.  Our criteria was really simple to make the list, just be insanely strong and have less than 10,000 followers on Instagram (we realize that not everyone is into Instagram, and that's cool.  But we are, and it's our list!)  Now one year later we are revisiting some of these beasts and seeing what progress they have made.  Have they improved their big three? Have they done any big meets? Has their following sky rocketed after we made them super famous with our original list?

After making the original list, we got some really good suggestions from all of you on guys that we missed.  We haven't forgotten about that.  As a matter of fact, we are currently working on our new 2017 list.  So please give us any suggestions that you have!  Send us an email, or contact us on Facebook or Instagram.

Don't forget to check out some of our bad ass T-shirts and hats.

Elijah Najera @Elijah_najera

Elijah put up meet PR's in the squat and deadlift this year.  He hit 672 for a 17 pound squat PR and 677 for a 5 pound deadlift PR.  He totaled 1,829 in that meet.  His Instagram following hasn't changed significantly over the last year, so our original article probably hasn't gotten him all the fame and fortune that we promised.

Meet recap for the #DeadWeightOpen : Went 8/9 for a 1829lb total via 672lb Squat, 479lb Bench, 677lb Deadlift which was good for first in the 275lb weight class and best overall male lifter. Got a 17lb pr on squat and a 5lb pr on deadlift and would've matched a meet or on bench if i didn't pop my pec a bit on my second attempt. This was the first meet I've ever had someone handle me, so shout out to @chrisgordert and @the_ox_73 for doing a bang up job picking my attempts and making this meet as smooth and stress free as possible for me. Also thank you to @mr_orlando and @gmoney831 for coming out to support ya boy E Streets. And @greeeeeenie for always being in my corner and being my biggest fan! #YourMomsFavoritePowerlifter #powerlifting #strongman #crossfit #gains #fitness #fitfam #motivation #fitspiration#sandiego #allthingsSD #competition #sandiegofitness #uspa #uspapower #usapl #squat #bench #deadlift #lafitness #24hrfitness #rpowerlifting #powerlifter #reactivperformance #ExplosiveByEli

A post shared by Elijah Najera (@elijah_najera) on Dec 4, 2016 at 7:11pm PST

Chris Bridgeford @bridgeford242

Last year we said that this guy is young, and strong as an ox.  Turns out that's still true. He competed in Reebok Record Breakers 2 this November.  In that meet he put up a 495 bench for a 22.5 pound meet PR, a monstrous 821 deadlift for a 66 pound meet PR, and finished the day with a 2,082 total.  He also competed in the US Open where he rebroke his squat PR with 805 and his deadlift PR with 832 on his way to a new personal best total of 2,122.  So basically, he's killing it.  He also more than trippled his IG following over that same period of time.

Squats from the US Open yesterday... opened with 804 lbs and smoked it. Jumped to 865 lbs and got called on depth. I decided to retake it, buried it and it moved faster than the first time which I think caused me to step forward at the top, and then the bar rolling off my back which has never happened to me. So thank you to the spotters for catching the weight, and I'm glad no one was hurt in the process. Thank you to @evansnydman @mad_scientist_duffin for the insane partner wrap. And @brandon_senn and @jakexhartman for holding my legs down! @feedmefightme @isuweightclub @ginahalfwolf @mbslingshot @pioneer_fit #powerlifter #powerlifting #cetcusopen #feedmefightme #countrystrong #conjugatestrong

A post shared by Chris Bridgeford (@bridgeford242) on Apr 16, 2017 at 5:34pm PDT

Johnny Do @johnny_do_

A really well rounded powerlifter in the 198 class.  Johnny last competed in December of 2016 where he hit a personal best total of 1,791 on a day where he wasn't feeling 100%.  Look for him to crush the 1,800 mark in the near future.  His IG following more than doubled, closing in on 10K.  That must be from our article last year...

Deloading for this week and next. Was only going to deload for this week, but my body has gone through so much I'm not risking anything. My past less wiser younger self would have skipped deloading all together haha. I have learned what is 1-2 weeks to take time to recover than get hurt and spend the next month or months fixing/recovering. So my babe is now sick after taking care of me past couple days we figure it's not good poisoning now it's stomach flu... so 🍣 is on the nice list again Now these are my squats from opener to third. The reason why I have question marks next to my opener and second is that I have no real idea if those are the right numbers. I don't know kilos off top of my head and I had my friend @ripley220 handle me. So we would quickly discuss it and he would handle the numbers for me. I think those numbers are right, but I wasn't really with it. I only know my last squat for sure! Also my nose opened up during warm ups and surprisingly didn't bleed any other time... but the one time it did it shut down the whole warm up area which I understand they have no idea if I'm full of the herp or something. So I had only taken 495 as my last warm up and I think couple other people that were up late in my flight missed their last warm ups too which I feel most bad about. I was pretty use to it from my usage of kilo plates and taking 110lbs jumps during warm ups. So I might keep that up in the during peaks not normal training. Being able to just get your nervous system up and ready taking huge jumps seems like a invaluable skill. I hope my other fellow competitors didn't find me to be too standoffish or anything I normally am super talkative and friendly as all my friends know I just was there to take care of business. It has been a while since I competed and wanted to do everything I could. At the end as they were giving out awards I said to Colin did I win? I had no idea I was just focused on staying loose and trying to visualize everything before hand. My body wasn't quite working for me so I did what I could. Anyway, I'm looking forward to once again putting my weight back on once my damn water will stay in my body and getting back at

A post shared by Johnny Do (@johnny_do_) on Dec 14, 2016 at 7:13pm PST

Dan Stornaiuolo @stormcloud415

Fat Dan made some huge progress this year.  At Record Breakers 2 in November he went 9/9 hitting PR's in every lift.  788 squat, 446 bench, and 716 deadlift for a 1,951 total.  No doubt he wants to real in a 2,000+ total this year.

HUGE PR on Squats! 788 LBS.!!! 💪🏼 Smoke show, definitely could have done 800 LBS., this was a 38 Lb. PR from my last squat max; but I'm satisfied!!! Onto bench, and deads next!! 🤘🏻 @marksmellybell @silentmikke @mbslingshot @lilsmokeyst @jesseburdick @csagym @eddycoan @caffeineandkilos @ihviiimattvincent @feedmefightme @reebok @bodybuildingcom @tomkal1 @jplifts_team_ie @tommydis too many names to thank, but thank you to everyone for continuous support !! 💯 #SlingShot #STrong #Reebok #RecordBreakers #ST06

A post shared by Dan Stornaiuolo (@stormcloud415) on Nov 5, 2016 at 5:10pm PDT

LaRodrick "Debo" Duncan @debo_naturalpowerlifter

Debo hadn't competed for over a year when he did a meet this March.  He put together a 1,960 total.  We would bet on seeing him continue to improve on that this year.  He also broke over the 10K IG follower barrier.  

Had an OK come back meet....weighted in at 315, 12lbs less than last meet... I miss placed my squat shoes so i was forced to squat in Nike Air max lol...oh well...went 5/9 for 1960 total... (Shown is SQ755...SORRY ABOUT THE SIDEWAYS VID, Bp480 and DL 725) MEET RECAP: weighed in at 315...12lbs Hit my opener 755 scratched 2nd and 3rd attempts I know that was it because 755 never felt like that. Just one of them days......Bench 450 and 480 scratched 3rd and 700 and 725 dead scratched 3rd attempt.. Sctatched 3rd attempt...I'm not too upset considering I habe not completed in a year. Now its time to get back to work and get ready for June 25th USPA meet! #motivated #grindtime @bigwilkpower @bigwilk51 @seanperich @pitmankevin @barbendersunion @andersonpowerlifting @sbd.usa @guidedbypainclothingco @teamfitcrunch #drugfreemonsta #drugfreezone #drugfreestrength #rawpower #gettingit #gettingbetter #comingback #natrualpower #natrallystrong #natrualpower #ironaddict #profitnessgym #powerlifter #sbdbelt #sbd #squats #bench #deadlift #rawpowerlifting #bigwilkpower #barbendersunion #sorenomore #fitcrunch #strongasfuck #fuckaverage #gettingbettereveryday

A post shared by LaRodrick "Debo" Duncan (@drugfreemonsta) on Mar 25, 2017 at 1:29pm PDT

That's some pretty solid progress in just one year.  Let us know who we need to add to our 2017 list we are working on. Just remember, they need to be strong and have less than 10,000 IG followers.  If you like this article please share it.  If you think it sucks ass, please share it anyways.  And either way, check out our online store!  Also, subscribe to our podcast for more of that strong Massenomics content.