Blog · October 31, 2026

Celebrity Back Squats: Heaviest Squats by Famous Non-Athletes

Across the 19 famous non-athletes with back squat records in the data, all 19 marks appear in the table, running from 45 kg (99 lb) to 611 lb (277 kg). The ranking includes actors, fitness creators, an author, a singer, a former tech executive, and politicians.

Actor and WWE wrestler John Cena holds #1 with a 611 lb (277 kg) personal record from 2015 at age 38. Each entry tracks the bar weight, context, and effort type: a max or PR, a competition lift, a working set, or an effort of unknown status.

#	Person	Mark	One-rep max	Year	Effort	Source
1	John Cena	611 lb (277 kg)	611 lb	2015 · age 38	Max or PR	PHOTO: John Cena sets personal squat record, is your workout goals - theScore
2	Arnold Schwarzenegger	610 lb (277 kg)	610 lb	2023	Max or PR	Arnold Schwarzenegger Reveals His Heaviest Lifts Ever (BarBend)
3	Sylvester Stallone	550 lb (249 kg)	550 lb	2006	Max or PR	Round 7… Sly Stallone Vs. the AICN readership! (Ain’t It Cool News, Dec 12, 2006)
4	Alex Hormozi	405 lb (184 kg) × 9	Estimated max 527 lb	2015	Max or PR	Alex Hormozi Gained 35lbs in 6 Weeks Naturally (Here’s How)
5	Fergus Crawley	501 lb (227 kg)	501 lb	2020	Max or PR	Endurance Athlete Fergus Crawley Scores 1200lb Powerlifting Total, Then Does Ironman Triathlon (Fitness Volt, 2021-07-27)
6	James Clear	425 lb (193 kg)	425 lb	2017 · age 31–32	Max or PR	My 2017 Annual Review
7	Henry Cavill	365 lb (166 kg)	365 lb	2013	Max or PR	Man of Steel: How Henry Cavill Got Superhero-Shredded (Muscle & Fitness, 2013-06-10)
8	Hugh Jackman	355 lb (161 kg)	355 lb	2015 · age 46	Max or PR	Hugh Jackman Joins 1,000 Pound Club, Watch Him Impressively Deadlift 410 Pounds!
9	Jonathan Daviss	315 lb (143 kg)	315 lb	2024	Working set	How Outer Banks Star Jonathan Daviss Trains With Big Weights to Get Ripped
10	Gracyanne Barbosa	140 kg (309 lb)	140 kg	2012	Working set	Como as famosas se preparam para o Carnaval carioca
11	Meg Gallagher	140 kg (309 lb)	140 kg	2018	Competition	Simple Meals. Strong Body. Low Carb Cookbook - Strong Strong Friends Nutrition, Meg Gallagher biography, p. 3
12	Markwayne Mullin	137.5 kg (303 lb)	137.5 kg	2020 · age 43	Competition	2020 USPA Iron Office Open original results (OpenPowerlifting data)
13	Kevin Hart	125 kg (276 lb)	125 kg	2025 · age 45–46	Max or PR	Celebrity Squat Personal Bests And One-Rep Maxes (Men’s Health Australia, archived copy)
14	LeanBeefPatty	120 kg (265 lb)	120 kg	2024	Competition	Lean Beef Patty wins her competitive raw powerlifting debut (BarBend)
15	Gemma Atkinson	90 kg (198 lb)	90 kg	2025 · age 40	Working set	Gemma Atkinson: my biggest wellness wins at 40 (Get the Gloss)
16	Sunidhi Chauhan	70 kg (154 lb)	70 kg	2024	Effort unknown	Aaj Tak: Sunidhi Chauhan’s trainer describes her fitness
17	Dick Costolo	150 lb (68 kg)	150 lb	2016	Working set	Former Twitter C.E.O. Dick Costolo Has Dreams of Being a Fitness Guru
18	Sabrina Sato	60 kg (132 lb)	60 kg	2012 · age 30–31	Working set	Como as famosas se preparam para o Carnaval carioca
19	Janhvi Kapoor	45 kg (99 lb)	45 kg	2020	Working set	Hindustan: Janhvi Kapoor lifts 45 kg in back squats

Top personal records and recalled gym bests

Cena squatted 611 lb (277 kg) in knee sleeves in a gym video at Hard Nocks South on a break from WWE. theScore reported the lift from his gym’s 2015 tweet calling it a PR. At #2, actor and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger holds a 610 lb (277 kg) mark, recalled on The Pat McAfee Show in 2023 (reported by BarBend) as an all-time gym best from his bodybuilding era, with the feat date unknown.

At #3, actor Sylvester Stallone stated a 550 lb (249 kg) lifetime best in a 2006 Ain’t It Cool News fan Q&A at age 60, without a lift date. At #4, Gym Launch founder Alex Hormozi logged 405 lb (184 kg) × 9 (Estimated max 527 lb), reported in a 2015 Muscle & Strength article as an earlier lifetime PR after a peaking cycle.

Powerlifting meet results

Three lifters posted marks in powerlifting meets. Fitness creator Meg Gallagher (#11) squatted 140 kg (309 lb) at the 2018 USA Powerlifting Raw Nationals, per her Strong Strong Friends Nutrition biography. U.S. homeland security secretary and former Oklahoma senator Markwayne Mullin (#12) hit 137.5 kg (303 lb) at age 43 and 80.9 kg bodyweight at the 2020 USPA Iron Office Open, per the meet’s original results in OpenPowerlifting data. Fitness creator LeanBeefPatty (#14) squatted 120 kg (265 lb) at 58.9 kg bodyweight at a 2024 USPA meet, per BarBend.

Role preparation and adult personal records

Several personal records come from movie prep and adult training. Atomic Habits author James Clear (#6) self-reported a 425 lb (193 kg) lifetime best at age 31–32 in his 2017 Annual Review. Actor Henry Cavill (#7) reached a 365 lb (166 kg) PR at age 27-28 during 2011-2012 Man of Steel training with Mark Twight, per a 2013 Muscle & Fitness interview. Actor Hugh Jackman (#8) squatted 355 lb (161 kg) at age 46 on his 2015 1,000 lb club day at Dogpound gym, reported by Us Weekly from his caption.

Working sets and trainer reports

A “Working set” or “Effort unknown” mark records a reported load and is not a confirmed max. Actor Jonathan Daviss (#9) did a 315 lb (143 kg) working set with unspecified reps in a 2024 Men’s Health workout demonstration. Singer Sunidhi Chauhan (#16) has a 70 kg (154 lb) mark at age 41 with effort unknown, stated by trainer Viraj Sarmalkar in a 2024 Aaj Tak report without a rep count or max claim. Former Twitter CEO Dick Costolo (#17) did five working sets at 150 lb (68 kg) at age 53 in a CrossFit session observed by Vanity Fair in 2016.

Readers can visit the person pages on famousprs.com to compare their own squat numbers.

Each person appears once, with the same best record as their page: for a lift, the highest estimated one-rep max; otherwise the most reps or the fastest time. "Working set" and "Effort unknown" marks are training numbers, so the person's true best may be higher. How the data is collected.