Matt Kroczaleski
Matt "Kroc" Kroczaleski is an American professional powerlifter and competitive bodybuilder. He currently holds the world record in the 220 lb. weight class for lifting a combined (squat, bench press, and deadlift) total of 2,551 lbs. He also holds the fifth highest total for the 242 lb. weight class.[1]
Biography
Kroczaleski is also noted for the development of "kroc rows", or dumbbell rows performed with extremely heavy weight and a high number of repetitions. [2] Kroczaleski himself has been known to perform kroc rows with 300 lb. dumbbells.[3]
Matt “Kroc” Kroczaleski is a world champion and world record holding powerlifter and an NPC bodybuilder. He is the 2006 Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic WPO Powerlifting Middle Weight Champion and in 2009 became the all-time world record holder in the 220 lb class posting a 2551 lb total via 1003 lb squat, 738 lb bench press and an 810 lb deadlift. He is most well known for his mental toughness, work ethic, training intensity and ability to overcome adversity. His list of injuries include a torn left calf, torn right quadriceps, torn left pec, torn left lat, separated right acromioclavicular joint, two detached biceps tendons, he has torn his right triceps once and left several times and has also suffered numerous back injuries. Several of these injuries have required surgical repair.
He is also a cancer survivor having been diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2004. A former Marine he served in the USMC from ’91-’95 and was selected for Presidential Security duty serving under President Clinton. His tour of duty included time in Washington DC where he provided security for many admirals and generals that were assigned to the Pentagon as well as some of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from '92-'94. He was also assigned to security duty for then Secretary of State Warren Christopher during the United Nations Conferences in ’93. He was later assigned to the security force at the Presidential retreat at Camp David from ’94-’95.
He graduated from Ferris State University in 2002 and is a registered pharmacist working in the specialty pharmacy division of Walgreens. He is a sponsored athlete under contract with both EliteFTS and MuscleTech. Matt is also an author and model having appeared in and published articles in many magazines including Men’s Fitness, Powerifting USA, MuscleMag and Muscle & Fitness and is a featured author for T-Nation. He is a father of three boys and resides in the Ann Arbor area.
He is the author of Insane Training: Garage Training, Powerlifting, Bodybuilding, and All-Out Bad-Ass Workouts (St. Martin's Press, 2014)