Joshua Baker, also known as the ‘Gym Reaper’, has shared countless incredible feats of strength in recent years, performing lifts that seemingly should not be humanly possible. So, he recently decided to test his strength officially and thus made an appearance at the 2025 BPU Warrington Qualifier, which took place on February 22nd in England. There, Baker managed to bench press 282.5 kilograms (622.8 pounds), setting the Heaviest Raw Bench Press in the History of Britain’s Powerlifting.
Joshua Baker weighed in at 180.3 kilograms (397.5 pounds) for his powerlifting appearance and competed in the raw division, thus putting on just a pair of wrist wraps for all of his attempts. He opened up with 260 kilograms (573.2 pounds), which turned out to be a speed rep for him. In turn, the ‘Gym Reaper’ decided to jump to 282.5 kilograms (622.8 pounds) for his second attempt but was unfortunately unsuccessful.
However, Joshua Baker still had one more attempt remaining. So, he decided to stick with 282.5 kilograms (622.8 pounds) once again. This time around, his rep looked very clean, as his technique was absolutely perfect. In turn, he did not struggle to press the weight at all. With that lift, the Gym Reaper achieved his goal, setting the Heaviest Raw Bench Press in British History, regardless of federation or weight class.
*Sam Drozdzik held the previous Heaviest Raw Bench Press in Britain’s Powerlifting History of 280-kg (617.3-lb), which he achieved at the 2024 BPU BTC / NSO Qualifier.
Watch Joshua ‘Gym Reaper’ Baker’s bench press here:
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Joshua Baker currently has over 600,000 followers on Instagram and 1.4 million on TikTok. He gained fame for his reaction to people who mock others in the gym and also for his incredible and unconventional lifts. His most notable event is the bench press, which is why he decided to do an 8-week preparation program and participate in a powerlifting competition.
As per Joshua Baker’s statement, he does not plan on continuing his journey in powerlifting for now, as he enjoys making social media content more.
“To those of you that claimed I can’t bench, claimed I’m an IG lifter.. you’re right I am, an IG lifter just did in 8 weeks what it takes most you divs years to do. Now leave me alone, I’m going back to IG lifting, it’s more fun here.”
The Gym Reaper has already collaborated with multiple notable figures, such as Larry Wheels, Eddie Hall, Julius Maddox, Ronnie Coleman, and others. He never fails to leave his colleagues mind-blown, as he often performs massive one-arm presses, bench presses with a clap, or AMRAPs with huge weights.
Check out some of Gym Reapers most insane lifts here:
@bigbaker Gym Reapers 5 most impressive lifts so far #foryoupagе #fy #fyp #gymtok #strong #gymreaper #gym #gymtiktok #foru
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It did not take long for Joshua Baker to continue completing incredible gym lifts, as he locked out 52 reps on the bench press with 320 pounds (145 kilograms) in his hands just days after setting the British record. So, it is clear that his potential in powerlifting is absolutely huge. While it is clear that he has no plans for the near future, hope remains that Baker will continue improving and return to the competition floor at a later point once again.
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