Benedikt formerly held the world record for the Hummer tire deadlift of 500 kg at the Arnold Strongman Classic, in which hummer tires are used instead of powerlifting plates under strongman rules where lifting straps are allowed. Benedikt finished 5th at the Arnold Strongman Classic in 2006 & 2008, and was winner of Iceland's Strongest Man in 2003 as well as runner up in 2004 and recently in 2010. Benedikt is the current WPO powerlifting world record holder in the deadlift. He lifted in 2005 in Helsinki. He currently holds the Log Lift Icelandic Record, standing at 180 kg. He had the strongman deadlift world record, lifting 460 kg at MHP's Clash of the Titan's IV on 2 April 2011. Benedikt lays out his training routine leading up to his 460 kg deadlift in two simple steps, starting with the pre-conditioning phase and ending with the muscle-building phase. Between the two phases, he would spend 4–6 days in the gym per week. He is currently sponsored by online sports nutrition brand Myprotein. After his absence from competing due to injury and the following rehabilitation, Benedikt returned and broke the Strongman DeadliftWorld Record at the Giants LiveStrongman competition in Melbourne, Australia by deadlifting 445 kg RAW with straps. After only eight weeks of training due to an operation to re-attach a finger tendon, Benedikt broke his own strongman deadlift world record at the World Deadlift Championships at Europe's Strongest Man 2014 with a lift of 461 kg on a standard bar and plates. Benedikt then went on to compete in the World Deadlift Championships at Europe'sStrongest Man 2016, lifting 465 kg to equal the strongman world record deadlift on a standard bar, with standard plates, which had been set moments earlier by Eddie Hall. Eddie Hall then went on to be the first person to deadlift 500 kg, which Benedikt Magnusson attempted also, but was unsuccessful.
Personal life
Benedikt is the brother of another Iceland's Strongest Man winner, Magnús Magnússon. Benedikt, alongside Gemma Taylor, owned and ran a heavy lifting gym in Iceland called Super Gym, which ran monthly "raw" competitions including Log Lift Max, Deadlift Max, Rolling Thunder Max, Bench Press Max, and Squat Max.
