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Home / Sport

NBA star easily tops The Rock's PB in the weight room

By Jai Bednall of news.com.au
news.com.auยท
1 Jan, 2019 11:12 PM3 mins to read

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Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks. Photo / Getty

Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks. Photo / Getty

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These hips don't lie.

WWE legend The Rock claimed he was "bionic from the waist down" after posting a new hip thrust personal best of 460 pounds (209kg) this month โ€” and shared footage of the feat with his 126 million Instagram followers.

View this post on Instagram

Personal best 460lbs hip/glute thrusts to warm up before hitting legs. Solid gains in strength and coach @daverienzi and I are always managing lower body past injuries - multiple knee surgeries, quad & adductor tears off pelvis, ruptured surgically repaired Achilles, multiple hernia surgical repairs etc etc. Stronger now and carrying more dense muscle then ever before, but the key is really smart, precise, intense training and diet. And doing my best to always listen to my body. And according to NASA, Iโ€™m basically bionic from the waist down. Which always leads to inappropriate jokes whilst I drink my tequila ๐Ÿ˜‰ We trained very hard today. #TodayWasAGoodDay #LegDay #BionicStuff #IronParadise ๐Ÿ’ช๐Ÿพ๐ŸŒด

A post shared by therock (@therock) on Nov 30, 2018 at 4:01pm PST

But there's bionic strength โ€” and freakish power.

MVP contender Giannis Antetokounmpo claims to have added 23kg of pure muscle since he entered the NBA in 2014 and his muscles aren't for show.

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Known as the Greek Freak, the Milwaukee Bucks star raised an eyebrow like The Rock used to during his professional wrestling heyday when he saw the now actor's PB on Instagram.

Alongside teammate Pat Connaughton, Antetokounmpo raised the bar and issued a challenge for The Rock to come and lift with him in the Bucks' so-called Iron Paradise while thrusting 570 pounds (259kg).

View this post on Instagram

Me and @planetpat5 making our own Iron Paradise in Milwaukee - 570lbs/260kgs... I think we topped your 460lbs personal best but weโ€™ll give you a chance to match it here in Milwaukee @therock #StayFreaky #EyeBrowOnFleek #WhatDoYouThinkRock #ItsDoesntMatterWhatYouThink ๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚

A post shared by Giannis Ugo Antetokounmpo (@giannis_an34) on Dec 30, 2018 at 6:37pm PST

Antetokounmpo (24) is about half The Rock's age (46) but that's still an impressive mark.

For comparison, NFL veteran and world famous gym junkie James Harrison has thrusted up to 675 pounds (306kg) while some power lifters have reached 800 pounds (363kg).

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The Greek-born forward's workouts are becoming the stuff of legend โ€” and making him one of the most physically dominant players the league has seen.

He's getting as many dunks a game as anyone since Shaquille O'Neal while leading the Bucks to the NBA's best record at the turn of the year.

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