Strongwoman Inez Carrasquillo’s Overhead Pressing is On a Different Level

The sport of strongwoman can be not only incredibly demanding but also a difficult and competitive sport to make a name for one’s self. Inez Carrasquillo, a rising star in the sport, doesn’t have this problem. Her latest astonishing feat is a 136-kilogram (300-pound) log press performed on Feb 2., 2022. It breaks (unofficially) the current world record and is a strongwoman’s heaviest press ever completed from the floor.

You can watch the lift below, originally posted to Carrasquillo’s Instagram.

According to Carrasquillo’s caption, the lift was “300X1 on the worst log ever.” And, apparently, this has been something the strongwoman has been in pursuit of for a little while: “Been chasing a 300lb press off the ground and I needed this win,” she added.

Carrasquillo’s 300-pound press shatters the previous world record by two and a half pounds, set by Andrea Thompson during the World Ultimate Strongman’s “Feats of Strength Series” in July 2020. However, because Carrasquillo did not complete the press in a formal competitive setting, the record is not yet hers. The last time Carrasquillo did officially compete was when she finished fourth during late last year’s World’s Strongest Woman, according to BarBend.

It’s important to distinguish between the log Carrasquillo lifted, how she managed the press, and the one Thompson lifted. Carrasquillo had a more compressed log with bumper plates attached farther out, whereas Thompson used a wider, more extended log. To wit, Carrasquillo began her press from the floor, while log presses usually start from elevated pads.

Carrasquillo, a third-place finisher in the 2021 Official Strongman Games, showed off her immense pressing potential by winning the famed Log Press for Reps segment. There, she pressed a 106.5-kilogram (235-pound) log 12 times. And in a another training session, Carrasquillo hoisted an axle bar loaded with 300 pounds overhead three times. 

But it’s her recent log press feat that drew the attention of the strength world. The “Texas Titan,” Gabriel Pena, had nothing but praise for the bright up and comer.

“Absolutely incredible [Inez]! I very much look forward to watching you write new pages in the books of history over the coming years.”

Elsewhere in the community, Thompson herself had yet to comment about Carrasquillo’s feat publicly. But her trainer, Laurence Shahlaei—an accomplished strongman himself—noted that he thought Carrasquillo’s lift was “Awesome.”

Finally, Canadian World’s Strongest Man lifter and the owner of the Hummer Tire Deadlift World Record, JF Caron, interjected simply by maintaining, “That’s very impressive.”

With an eye-popping moment like this behind her, massive strides are undoubtedly on the horizon for Carrasquillo. For someone who has claimed to want to be the world’s strongest woman in the past, how could they not be?

According to her trainer Alec Pagan, Carrasquillo is competing in the 2022 Arnold Amateur Strongman Championships from Mar. 3-5. If this titanic of a log press foreshadows what the near future holds, we can only expect more fireworks from Carrasquillo in front of the greater strength world at large.

Featured Image: @ines_strongwoman on Instagram