Donald C Reinhoudt was an American powerlifter and strongman.
20 Facts About Don Reinhoudt
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Don Reinhoudt won the IPF World Powerlifting Superheavyweight Championship four consecutive times, and won the World's Strongest Man in 1979.
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Widely considered to be one of the greatest powerlifters of all time, Reinhoudt set over forty powerlifting records throughout his career and held all four of the powerlifting records in his day.
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At Fredonia High School, Reinhoudt was an All-League basketball player, an All-Western New York football player and an All-Western shot putter.
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Don Reinhoudt began lifting weights when he was an 18-year-old defensive end at Parsons College, a small college in Iowa.
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Don Reinhoudt competed in six Olympic weightlifting competitions, including the 1967 Junior Nationals.
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Don Reinhoudt went on to finish in 1st place 4 times in a row at the World Powerlifting Championships from 1973 to 1976, winning the United States national titles during the same span.
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Don Reinhoudt was the only Super Heavyweight to hold IPF World Records in all three lifts as well as in the Total simultaneously.
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Don Reinhoudt had three meets, in which he totaled more than 2350 pounds.
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Don Reinhoudt is one of the few lifters ever to have squatted more than 900 pounds raw and bench pressed in excess of 600 pounds raw.
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One time at national championships, Don Reinhoudt squatted 950 pounds raw without knee wraps, in only a thin Olympic belt.
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On November 10,1976, after winning the IPF World Championships, Don Reinhoudt retired from powerlifting mainly due to the inconvenience his heavy weight caused to his health, such as shortness of breath and lack of flexibility.
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Don Reinhoudt quickly dropped his weight from 365 to 239 pounds in the time span of only four months.
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Don Reinhoudt never competed in powerlifting afterwards and put all his energy on lifting for the World's Strongest Man shows.
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Don Reinhoudt competed in the following three competitions from 1978 to 1980.
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Don Reinhoudt was forced to withdraw from the 1980 World's Strongest Man competition after tearing his biceps and left hamstring, which proved to be career ending injuries.
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Don Reinhoudt retired from competition in August 1980, shortly after this contest.
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Don Reinhoudt did Olympic lifting in his younger years when he weighed approximately 240 pounds.
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Don Reinhoudt was married to Pam and had two children from a previous marriage; Molly and Ben.
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Don Reinhoudt died on July 3,2023, at the age of 78 in a one-vehicle crash in the Town of Pomfret in Chautauqua County.