Ryan Stills Wins His Sixth Powerlifting World Title

Vegan powerlifter Ryan Stills has won his sixth world title, taking the 120kg Masters 2 class at the IPF World Masters Championships with a 797.5kg total.

Stills won by 30kg. He squatted 305kg and deadlifted 315kg, gold in both, and took bronze on the bench with 177.5kg in Reno, Nevada, according to the official IPF results and Great Vegan Athletes. That bench is remarkable in itself: this was his first world championship since a shoulder replacement, and two surgeons had told him his bench-pressing days were probably over.

Strategic attempts are more important than hitting PRs.

The comeback started in May, when he won both the raw and equipped 120kg titles in the 50-59 division at US Nationals. "Phase 1 of my comeback to the powerlifting platform was a success," he said at the time, as reported by Great Vegan Athletes.

Stills went vegan in 2019, and it was about ethics, not performance: "I don't want another sentient being to suffer or die for me to exist." His diet is straightforward. "I eat a good amount of tofu, seitan and tempeh. For snacks I often have trail mix and black berries." Seven years in, he's lifting world-title weights on it.

We covered Stills when he won his fifth IPF world title in 2022. Plant-powered lifters have been at it for years: Matthew Jones credited his vegan diet for his success back in 2016, and Hulda Waage set an Icelandic total record of 550kg.

New shoulder, sixth world title. No meat, no problem.