(Andrey Posing for a photo in his gym)
Dimensions
- Height: 6 ft
- Weight: 340 lbs
Notable lifts
- Best Squat: 1,069 lb (Raw w/Wraps) @ Big Dogs (2016)
- Best Bench: 584 lb @ Boss of Bosses 2 (2015)
- Best Deadlift: 892 lb @ GPA World Championship (2013)
- Best Total: 2,513 lb (WR Raw w/Wraps) @ Big Dogs (2016)
(Andrey squatting 1,069 at Big Dogs, 2016)
Biography
This week, we will be taking a look at one of favorite strength athletes of all time, Andrey Malanichev. Not recognizing the name Malanichev in the world of powerlifting is a sin. Andrey has set the bar to an exceptionally high standard in his career, all while remaining exceptionally humble. This giant, who was born in Moscow on January 10, 1977, grew up in Russia and had began his weight training career at fourteen with a makeshift bench, a crow bar, and old T.V. dishes that he used as plates. He would later enter his first gym at sixteen and be coached by Russia national head coach of powerlifting, Andrey Chuprin.
(Andrey dropping 682 lbs onto his chest after losing his grip on the Bench Press, 2010)
Andrey had experienced a lot of success in his early in his career, as he soon became one of the best lifters in Russia and begun to break world records and take world titles. However in 2010, his career, and his life, almost came to an end. While preforming a 682 lb bench press, Andrey had lost his grip and the bar had fell hard onto Andrey’s chest. His coach had told him that he needed to drop out of the competition and be rushed to the hospital, Andrey protested and went on to dead lift a staggering 881 pounds before going to the hospital, where he later found out he had fractured multiple ribs during the accident. After that day, Andrey had sworn off lifting in gear, which he blamed for causing him to drop the bar, and decided to pursue the art of raw powerlifting, or powerlifting without the aid of supportive equipment such as a squat suit or bench shirt.
(Andrey’s WR performance at Big Dogs in 2016)
Most Scientists say that a human reaches their max athletic performance at 25 and from there only begin to decay overtime, But Andrey proved them wrong. In 2016 at the age 39, Andrey not only put the best performance of his life, but the best performance that the entire powerlifting world had ever seen. Andrey had had not only broke two world records, including a 1,069 lb squat, but set a huge milestone in the sport after totaling a world record weight of 2,513 lb, becoming the first and so far only man in powerlifting to ever lift such a weight.
(Video of Andrey’s training philosophy)
What I love most about Andrey is his humility. Though Andrey is a bit of a celebrity in Russia, he goes unrecognized in the international sports world, where only other strength athletes know who he is. In a video featuring a joint trainign session with Kirill Sarychev, who held the former world record bench press at 738 lbs, Kirill attempts to hype up Malanichev infront of the camera man: “What Bad things can be said about our champion Andrey? Too Strong? Too Famous? He is what man envies!”. The Humble Malanichev replies “What envy? I take the train like everyone else!”. The lack of recognition doesn’t effect Andrey in the very slightest, as Andrey is the embodiment of what a sportsman should be. A person who does not better themselves in a sport for the glory, or the money, but rather to push the limits of themselves and what the human body is capable of, as well as inspire and encourage the younger generations to break his records. Andrey says in the video with Sarychev: “As we are speaking, the man who will break my records is already alive and training, but that is okay, this sport would be boring if no one could break records, after all that is what the crowds want to see, records being broken, and legends being born!”.
References
SARYCHEV, KIRILL. “(Eng Voice over) Sarychev, Malanichev, Konstantinov. Joint Workout & Pancake Battle.” YouTube, YouTube, 16 July 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpw99Plj0Xg&t=447s.
“Andrey Malanichev Answers Questions from Fans.” Lift Unlimited – Lift.net, 6 Feb. 2017, www.lift.net/2014/02/19/andrey-malanichev-answers-questions-from-fans/.
“Andrey Malanichev (M).” OpenPowerlifting, www.openpowerlifting.org/u/andreymalanichev.