At the 1978 Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) National Championships in Los Angeles, California, Kazmaier squatted 782 lbs, bench pressed 534 lbs, and deadlifted 804 lbs in the 275-pound weight class, which immediately placed him on the top rank in his first national powerlifting appearance.[2] In 1979 at the age of 25, he set a world record with a bench press of 622 lbs on the way to winning his first IPF World Powerlifting Championship in Dayton, Ohio.[2] His winning lifts included a 865 lbs squat, the 622 lbs bench press and a 804 lbs deadlift for a 2292 lbs total .[1] He repeated the success in 1983 by first winning the U.S.A. Powerlifting (USPF) National Powerlifting Championships in July and later the IPF World Championship in November for a second time.[1] He won this IPF World Championship despite two major injuries: First a severe pec injury, from which he never truly recovered by 100%.[3] Second, shortly before the IPF Championships, he tore his hip flexors in the squat.[3]
Of the 3 disciplines of powerlifting he especially mastered the bench. In his prime, Kazmaier was able to press 600 lbs for 5 reps and 633 lbs for 3 reps in the gym. The world record at the time in early 1979 was 612 lbs, held by Lars Hedlund. Kazmaier moved the world record stepwise up from 622 in November 1979 to 633 in May, 1980 and finally to 661.4 lbs in a meet nearby Columbus, Georgia on January 31, 1981.[2][4] In this competition, Kazmaier officially became the first human to bench press 300 kg (661.4 lbs)[5] (raw) in an IPF-sanctioned meet* and recorded his lifetime best 3-lift-total of 2425 lbs (1100 kg),[1] which was a powerlifting world record that remained unsurpassed for more than a decade.[2] His winning lifts were: a 925.9 lbs (420 kg) squat, the 661,4 lbs (300 kg) bench press and a 837.8 lbs (380 kg) deadlift.[1] The bench press and deadlift were done raw (unequipped), while the squat was performed in a loose singlyply suit of that time, which could not enhance his squat by more than about 40 lbs max in contrast to the highly improved performance suits of today that would boost competitive lifts by hundreds of pounds.[2] His Powerlifting performance can be regarded as one of the all-time bests, considering the raw Powerlifting total world record today still is 2391 lbs (1083 kg) by Don Reinhoudt, set in May 1975.[6] In November 1981, Kazmaier became one of the very few lifters in history who held world records in 3 of the 4 powerlifting disciplines at the same time by setting a new deadlift world record at 402 kg (886.7 lbs) raw in competition.[1][3] From 1981 onwards Kazmaier's still young career was affected by multiple muscle tears and injuries, preventing him from setting the bar even higher. He sustained chest, shoulder and triceps injuries, ruling out further record-breaking poundages in the bench press.[3] Kazmaier has remained an icon for the lifting fraternity and is seen by many to be one of the best powerlifters ever.
* note: Jim Williams bench pressed 306 kg (675 lbs) (raw) earlier on November 9, 1972, just prior to the formation of the IPF at the AAU World Powerlifting Championships for an all-time world record (regardless of governing organization)
