The Strongest Man You’ve Never Heard Of – Kalle Räsänen

Powerlifting isn’t short on loud voices or big numbers. But every so often, someone quietly rewrites the record books while the world looks the other way.

Between 2016 and 2018, Kalle Räsänen posted the second-highest Glossbrenner score in the world-three years in a row. Not in a fluke meet. Not in a soft federation. Consistently, against the best of the best. The only man ahead of him was Dave Hoff. Everyone else-legends and hype machines alike - were playing catch-up.

And yet, you’ve probably never heard his name.

Here’s the kicker: Räsänen isn’t just a coefficient wizard. He’s got hard numbers to match. He owns the fourth-highest raw w/ wraps total of all time at 90kg, behind only John Haack, Chad Penson, and Patrick Morrison. He’s the all-time world record holder in single-ply at u90kg with a staggering 1,131kg total. And in the multiply game, he’s posted a 1,100kg total at just 82.5kg bodyweight, with a Glossbrenner score of 723.68 - good for #3 all-time multiply, across any weight class. And then at u90kg, he totalled 1,175kg and  he's still ranked second all-time by total, only behind Shawn Frankl.

These are all-time rankings. Across Raw, Single and Multiply with lifters like Jason Coker, Ed Coan, Andrey Belyaev, Maliek Derstine, Ernie Lilliebridge Jnr, Ben Pollack, Jesse Norris, and countless others left in the statistical dust.

So the question isn’t “how strong is he?” It’s “how has no one told you yet?”

This article fixes that.

Fast Facts at a Glance - Kalle Räsänen

Category	Best Lift(s)	Body-weight Class	Best Total	Notes
Raw w/ Wraps	390.5 S / 192.5 B / 350 D	u90 kg	925.5 kg	National record & 4th All time Total
Single-ply	420 S / 337.5 B / 373.5 D	u90 kg	1,131 kg	ATWR
Multiply u90kg	486 S / 345 B / 390 D	u90 kg	1,175 kg	#2 all-time Total at that weight
Multiply u82.5kg	450 S / 310 B / 340 D	u82.5 kg	1,100 kg	ATWR & #3 all-time Glossbrenner

Three Years of Near-Legend Status (2016–2018)

Between 2016 and 2018, Kalle Räsänen wasn’t just strong-he was statistically one of the greatest lifters in the world. On the multiply platform, he posted Glossbrenner scores so high they put him second globally three years in a row, behind only Dave Hoff. Not just in his weight class. Overall.

In 2018, he achieved that feat twice, posting an astronomical 723.68 Glossbrenner at 82.5kg bodyweight. For reference, that’s higher than Hoff’s 707.34 winning score at the WPO Finals later that same year. The stage was set. Kalle had momentum, numbers, and legitimacy. All signs pointed toward a showdown at the 2018 WPO Finals-one that could’ve unseated Hoff for the first time in years.

But it never happened.

A hamstring injury, just weeks before the event, forced Kalle to withdraw. No announcement, no fanfare. Just silence and a vacant warm-up room. Hoff lifted unchallenged, claimed the title again, and Räsänen disappeared from the spotlight-if he was ever really in it.

Today, Kalle still holds the #3 all-time Glossbrenner score in multiply history, according to OpenPowerlifting. That’s across all eras, all bodyweights. The only men ahead of him are Dave Hoff and Shawn Frankl. He sits above the likes of Joe Sullivan, Greg Panora, and every modern multiply hopeful currently chasing legend status.

And yet in the peak social media era-when names like Kevin Oak, Mark Bell, and Larry Wheels were going viral-Kalle was posting bigger coefficients and higher totals with a much smaller public profile. While others gained cult followings for 400kg deadlifts or 800lb squats, Räsänen was quietly hitting those numbers at 90kg bodyweight and moving on with his day.

He didn’t play the algorithm. He didn’t need hype videos. His numbers did the talking. The problem? No one was listening.

 Cross-Division Comparisons

It’s one thing to dominate in a single format. It’s another to dominate across all of them-raw, single-ply, and multiply-at multiple weight classes, over a period of nearly a decade. Kalle Räsänen has done exactly that.

🧠 Strength-to-Weight Efficiency

Kalle isn’t just strong-he’s structurally efficient. His squat-to-deadlift ratio stays consistent across all equipment styles, and his numbers scale proportionally whether he’s at 82.5kg or 90kg. That’s rare. Most lifters fall apart outside of their optimal gear or weight window. Kalle’s leverages-compact build, short ROM, wide stance proficiency-carry over. Whether he’s in wraps or canvas, his technique never bloats, and his totals don’t rely on inflated meet conditions or water cuts. This is a technician with horsepower.

📊 DOTS vs. Glossbrenner

Räsänen’s career spans an era where DOTS replaced Glossbrenner as the coefficient king. Most lifters saw their historical prestige dip during that transition. Not Kalle. His multiply Glossbrenner scores-723.68 and 760.61-are still top 3 of all time, and in raw/single-ply formats, he regularly hit DOTS scores over 590 and 700+. He isn’t inflated by one scoring model-he’s elite across both.

Where some lifters manipulate bodyweight or coast in one fed, Kalle quietly maintained numbers that speak for themselves in any system, under any coefficient.

📈 Longevity, Consistency, and Body of Work

It’s easy to get distracted by freak totals from one-day lifters. One huge meet, one video, one viral deadlift-and suddenly someone is crowned “the future.” But the deeper truth in powerlifting is this:

GOAT status doesn’t come from moments. It comes from a body of work.

Räsänen has over 10 meets above 650 DOTS, including top scores in three different equipment categories, at two major weight classes, with a competitive career spanning nearly 10 years. His career average is better than most lifters’ lifetime best. There’s no hype spike-just an unrelenting upward line.

In an era obsessed with novelty, he’s proof that sustained excellence is still the gold standard.

🧬 Rarer Than People Think

It’s easy to assume that all-time great lifters dominate across every division. They don’t.

The truth is, very few athletes have found meaningful, long-term success in raw, single-ply, and multiply lifting-especially while staying in lighter bodyweight classes. The technical and physical demands of each style are wildly different. Raw lifting punishes inefficiency. Single-ply rewards precision and patience. Multiply demands aggression, gear mastery, and fearlessness under the heaviest weights in existence.

You could count the lifters who’ve excelled in all three on one hand.

Phil Herndon did it in his era-multiply, raw benching, and some single-ply crossover. Val Oliveira built a monster coefficient resume in gear and made waves raw in Brazil and the US. And then there’s Eliot Page, the “mutant” who has posted outrageous numbers at multiple bodyweights and equipment setups across the past decade.

But even among them, none have quite mirrored what Räsänen has done-not just placing well, but actively posting world-leading totals and top-3 coefficients in each division.

Kalle didn’t just dabble. He dominated.

He’s not a “raw lifter who sometimes puts on gear.” He’s not a multiply guy who decided to cut weight and go sleeves-up for a year. He’s built a legacy in every format-and did it while being consistently overlooked.

It’s not just the numbers. It’s the range. It’s the résumé.

What Keeps Him Obscure?

If Kalle Räsänen’s numbers were attached to an American IPF lifter-or a Westside Barbell poster boy-he’d already be a household name. But powerlifting isn’t a meritocracy of exposure. It’s a landscape shaped by algorithm, federation bias, and who yells the loudest online.

So how does someone with Räsänen’s résumé remain practically unknown many except those who competed with him in places like the BPU and WPC?

🏛 Federation Fragmentation

First, he competes under the banners of WPC, GPC, IPA, and FPO-respected federations, but outside the visibility of the IPF/USAPL ecosystem or the hype-centric WRPF/USPA circuits that dominate Instagram. Multiply and single-ply lifters already exist in a niche within a niche. Kalle's choice of federations puts him even further out on the margins.

🌍 Geographic Isolation

While he competed in the UK and the US a few times, most of Kalle’s meets took place in Finland, the Baltics, or Eastern Europe-where local meets can feature world-class totals but draw almost zero English-language coverage. In an era where US-based livestreams, meet recaps, and YouTube highlights create instant fame, Räsänen has been posting historic lifts in venues that don’t even have English announcers or proper lighting.

📉 No Hype Machine

He’s not a social media operator. His Instagram is sparse. There’s no highlight reel of grunting AMRAPs, no branded hype edits, no gym shoutouts. He’s not sponsored by anyone with a meme account. And so, the algorithm treats him like he doesn’t exist.

🧊 Quiet Brilliance

He doesn’t sell coaching. He’s not reposted by strength influencers. He’s not a walking quote. He just shows up, totals over a grand, and goes home. In an industry obsessed with noise, Räsänen has built one of the strongest resumes in the sport by doing the exact opposite of what drives attention.

And that might be the final piece of the paradox:

UK Lifters in the equipped scene know him as one of the best. Kalle isn’t obscure because he’s not good enough. He’s obscure because he never needed you to know. 

Take-Home Lessons for Lifters

You don’t need to chase a 700+ Glossbrenner to learn something from Kalle Räsänen. His career offers a rare and clear message in an era full of noise:

Strength isn’t just about numbers-it’s about how you build them.

⚙️ Strong In and Out of Gear

Unlike most modern lifters who “add gear” later to chase totals, Kalle was technically proficient in multiply lifting from the very start. He didn’t just throw on briefs and hope for carryover-he treated it as a craft. His multiply lifts were sharp, consistent, and repeatable. But that gear proficiency didn’t hide anything: he was also genuinely strong raw. He didn’t rely on equipment to mask weaknesses-he trained in a way that made him dangerous in any division.

🔧 Precision Over Mass

Kalle’s greatest advantage wasn’t mass-it was mastery. His leverages, positioning, and movement quality allowed him to express near-maximum output at relatively low bodyweights. In every discipline-raw, single-ply, multiply-the lifts look the same: deliberate, aggressive, and efficient.

♻️ Lifters Who Adapt, Last

Kalle didn’t pin his identity to a weight class or an equipment category. He moved between 82.5kg and 90kg. He lifted raw and equipped, local and international, across feds and scoring systems. That adaptability gave him a longer runway-and it’s a huge part of why his totals kept climbing while others faded out after a single peak.

🎯 It Only Has to Matter to You

The legacy isn’t in the followers, the reposts, or the video edits. It’s in the meets. The scores. The execution. Kalle’s career reminds us that external validation is optional. Mastery isn’t loud. Greatness doesn’t need permission.

You can lift for yourself-and still be one of the best to ever do it.

 Closing Thoughts

There are lifters with more followers. Louder entourages. Bigger gym lifts. But when it comes to actual performance-on the platform, across formats, over time-Kalle Räsänen belongs in any serious GOAT discussion.

He’s held all-time world records in multiply and single-ply, posted one of the highest raw totals ever at 90kg, and sits top 3 in multiply Glossbrenner history. And he did it all without hype. Without marketing. Without a spotlight.

Kalle isn’t a myth. He’s a reminder. A reminder that numbers still matter. That career depth still counts. That efficiency, adaptability, and execution beat noise, every time.

So if you’re chasing greatness-real, sustainable, undeniable strength-start there. Don’t follow the trends. Study the data.

And if you’re ready to build that kind of body of work for yourself-whether raw or equipped, 60kg or 160kg- I’ve got resources to help you do it. 

📚 Check out the ebooks. 

🎯 Or hit the coaching page. You might not go viral. But you’ll get strong. The kind of strong that doesn’t fade when the likes stop.