Bud Jeffries was a powerlifter and strength coach during his career.
Bud Jeffries passed away on Friday at the age of 48. He was a former powerlifter and strongman turned weightlifting coach who was known for his incredible feats of strength.
Jeffries’ wife, Heather, took to Instagram on Saturday to make the announcement. She revealed that he collapsed during a workout. She tried to resuscitate him before medical help arrived. There has been no cause of death confirmed but Heather explains that it could have been a pulmonary embolism.
“I have been trying to find the right words to post to all of you. I am heart broken and overwhelmed to have to say that yesterday afternoon, Friday, January 21, around 3:30, while doing a light training session outside, Bud collapsed. I performed CPR until medics arrived, but after lengthy efforts to resuscitate him, he never recovered.
It would appear to have been a pulmonary embolism, but that has not as yet been decided as the final cause. Possibly a result of his brief bout with Covid in early December – again that has not been determined.”
Bud Jeffries began training at age 14 in hopes of becoming a football player. He played at the high school level while also training as a powerlifter. He competed in a local meet at an early age and this is where he truly fell in love with the sport. Once Jeffries was done with football, he began taking his lifting to the next level.
Jeffries has completed many enormous feats of strength. This includes squatting 1,000 pounds from the bottom position of a squat rack. Jeffries also completed a one-mile walk with a 300-pound weighted vest on and swung a 24kg kettlebell 2,350 times in an hour. The legend of Jeffries grew in recent years thanks to social media.
Bud Jeffries grew his Instagram page to 59,000 followers and this is where they were able to see his crazy accomplishments. For example, Jeffries’ last post to social media was of him carrying a refrigerator over his head with one arm. Jeffries was more than just a powerlifter. He began working as a motivational speaker and weightlifting coach.
Jeffries was an inspiration in and out of the sport of powerlifting. He made an impact on many over the years and remained a focal point in weightlifting.
“He wanted more than anything for people to be able to realize their potential. To never doubt their abilites and have confidence in themselves. He believed in seeing the extraordinary as ordinary to reach one’s goals, dreams and success. It was important to him to encourage others to use what may be perceived as a weakness and not be pigeonholed to stereotypes or others opinions,” Heather Jeffries added to the caption on Instagram.
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