Art Walge's 400-Pound One-Arm Deadlift

Art Walge
One of the greatest grip exercises is also one of the simplest: the one arm deadlift performed with an Olympic Barbell.

Here's Big" Art Walge doing just that: deadlifting 400 pounds with one hand. Art stands 6'6", weighs 275 and held the World Record for the bent-arm pullover.

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Batta

Charles Batta, or, as he was more commonly known "Batta" was an oldtime strongman famous for his incredible grip strength. Standing at 5'10" and a bodyweight of only 200 popunds, Batta was the only man who duplicated one of the Apollon's greatest feats: the lifting of four 44-pound blockweights overhead -- each tied to a finger of one hand. It was also written that Batta cleaned (but did not jerk) Apollon's famous railroad wheels - an incredible feat in its own right, but even more so due to his light bodyweight.

Batta

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Michael Mayer

Michael Mayer - Oldtime Strongman
The strongmen of old worked on their overhead press much like modern trainees work on their benchpress. The difference is that the overhead press is a much better exercise. Michael Mayer, at a height of but 5'6", was one of the first men to press 300 pounds overhead.

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George Jowett And The Bent Press

George Jowett And The Bent Press

The great oldtime strongman and strength author George Jowett as he prepares to bent press a heavy globe barbell. Jowett was a master of many different strength feats, most notably, lifting a 168-pound anvil by the horn and other feats of grip strength Jowett's best bent press performance was 304-1/2 pounds. Note the great Milo Kettlebells in the background.

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Barrel Lifting for Forearm Development

Barrel Lifting for Forearm Development
I can't always say for sure how the oldtime strongmen built their strength but I can say that in the year 2008, many of the training methods they wrote about works just fine. One of those methods is Barrel Lifting which is a good way to build the gnarly, knotted foreams that the oldtimes often had. The unbalanced, unweildy load provides a shock to the system that can build incredible strength. Check out ROCK IRON STEEL by Steve Justa and Dinosaur Training by Brooks Kubik for more information on barrel lifting.

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The Wrestler's Bridge

The Wrestler's Bridge
The Wrestler's Bridge is and can be a very good exercise for developing neck strength. You must first master your own bodyweight before moving on the the weighted version that this Japanese wrestler is demonstrating.

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George Hackenschmidt

"The frequent employment of one's will power maters all organs of movement and trains them to perform feats which otherwise would have been difficult, painful, and even impossible. The man becomes independent and self-reliant; he will never be a coward, and, when real danger threatens, he is the one looked up to by others. The knowledge of one's strength entails a real mastery over oneself; it breeds energy and courage, helps one over the most difficult tasks of life, and procures contentment and true enjoyment of living." - The Way to Live by George Hackenschmidt, written in 1908

George Hackenschmidt

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The Neil Lewis Arm Wrestling Trainer

Some of our eagle-eyed Ironman Magazine readers might remember this one from the back cover of the August-September 1970 issue: The Neil Lewis Arm Wrestling Trainer. It was not only featured on the back cover but the inside back cover, the inside front cover and a two-page spread in the magazine with Chuck Sipes, 1970 IFBB Mr. Canada Vince Basile, "Big" Jim Forsythe and several other notables. Looks pretty nifty -- Wonder how many they ended up selling?

The Neil Lewis Arm Wrestling Trainer

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Cyclops and Sampson

Cyclops and Sampson
A rare poster advertising the strongman duo of Franz "Cyclops" Bienkowski and Charles A. Sampson. Sampson's Harness Lift is highlighted.

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Martin "Farmer" Burns

Iowa-born Martin "Farmer" Burns was a champion wrestler and America's premier grappler at the turn of the last century. The "Old Farmer" trained hard, and that made him hard to beat. Plenty of wrestler's bridges gave him a 20" neck at a bodyweight of only 165 pounds and his level of conditioning was legendary, regularly tiring out much larger and stronger opponents until they could easily be pinned. His top student, fellow-Iowin Frank Gotch, became arguably the greatest wrestler who ever lived, with Burns' training methods.

Martin "Farmer" Burns

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Mighty Mac Batchelor - Undefeated Armwrestling Champ

Mighty Mac Batchelor - Undefeated Armwrestling Champ
"Mighty" Mac Batchelor doing his thing -- Mac was undefeated for over a quarter century at armwrestling.

Mac was quite the athlete - at a bodyweight of 330 pounds, he could run the hundred yard dash in 11 seconds and hurl the javelin 190feet.

He also could squat 400 for reps, perform the Zottman Curl with 90 pound dumbbells and Stiff Leg Deadlifts with 500 pounds.

I sure wouldn't want to be across the table from ol' Mac...

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Ottley Coulter

Ottley Coulter
A rare shot of the well-known oldtime strongman Ottley Coulter as a young man.

In the early 1900s, Coulter performed for a number of years with several Circuses, Carnivals, and Vaudeville houses.

Among being a master of many traditional Strongman feats (Spike Bending, Human Bridge, Harness Lifting, Backlifting etc) he was also rather adept at Muscle Control and Hand Balancing.

Interestingly, Coulter was not large like many other well known strongmen of the day, his bodyweight during his peak was 150 pounds.

Later, Coulter, along with George Jowett and David Willoughby formed the first weightlifting governing body in the country: The American Continental Weightlifting Association.

Coulter's vast collection of physical culture books, courses, memoribilia and letters also became the corner stone of the Todd-McLean Physical Culture Collection Holdings currently housed at the University of Texas.

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Paul Baillargeon

Paul Baillargeon
I have said many times that Arthur Saxon's records would never be broken... and they won't be... but the man who has come the closest was Paul Baillargeon of the famed Baillargeon Brothers of Quebec.

These six brothers (who I will feature in another post), were all incredible wrestlers and strength athletes who toured their native Canada and the US taking on all comers.

Paul, who was quite possibly the strongest of the brothers, often lifted a horse as the finale of their strength performances.

Anyhow, this picture shows him oficially bent-pressing a barbell loaded to 321pounds, a feat which he achieved on May 11, 1951, in front of Harry B. Paschall and other reliable witnesses at the Apollo Health Studio in Columbus, Ohio.

Paul Baillargeon actually did succeed in bent-pressing 375 pounds in practice a few times.

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Thomas Inch's Challenge

Thomas Inch's Challenge
"Can you lift it?" - That's what Mr. Inch's challenge boiled down to. Here's the great historian David Webster with a placard announcing Mr. Inch's Challenge at the Aberdeen Sports Review in the early 1950's -- and Mr. Inch's famous Challenge Dumbbell.

The prize for lifting the Inch Dumbbell was announced as 30 British Pounds -- adjusted for inflatation that's over $450 in today's dollars. Whether then or now, to conquer the Inch Dumbbell's thick handle, you'll need a tremendous grip.

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The Stone Wheel

One of the unusual pieces of training equipment in traditional Indian Physical Culture is the "Gar Nal" or stone wheel. As pictured, Indian Wrestlers would wear the stone ring around their neck to add resistance while they performed their squats and other leg exercises.

The Stone Wheel

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Cyclops The Coin Breaker

Cyclops The Coin Breaker
Another look at Franz Bienkowski, aka Cyclops, whose fingers were so powerful that he could bend and break coins with his bare hands. On the right is one of the 10 centimes coin that Cyclops broke, a feat witnessed and authenticated by several other notable strongmen.

Cyclops possessed considerable strength and possessed a 14-1/2-inch forearm, 18-inch upper arm and 52-inch chest. He often partnered with Charles Sampson.

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George Zottman's Oldtime Strongman Equipment

George Zottman Globe Barbells
A rare picture of a young George Zottman with some of his great oldtime stage equipment. Grip strength is a premium for any oldtime strongman. Gotta love those thick-handled globe barbells and dumbbells. You can tell a lot of great workouts happened with those.

The globe dumbbell in the foreground weighs 175 pounds -- and the dog's name was Sphinx.

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Sig Klein's Neck Bridge Feat

The era of Strongmanism, several generations ago, used to feature many strongman stunts that baffled and amazed the public. Here's a rare shot of one of the feats performed by Sig Klein and his stage partner Jack Bier. Here Sig holds a Neck Bridge while holding a globe barbell at arm's length as his partner stands on his chest. -- that's several hundred exta pounds supported by Sig Klein's neck alone. Having accomplished a similar feat, I can say this is NOT easy!

Sig Klein's Neck Bridge Feat

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Milo Steinborn vs. The Motor Car

Milo Steinborn vs. The Motor Car
An unusual feat of strength(?)by Henry "Milo" Steinborn. Milo used to lie down and let a motor car drive over his chest. Impressive -- but it came with a price -- Milo was seriously injured while performing this feat although fortunately he did make a recovery and was eventually able to wrestle again.

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Jack Walsh

Jack Walsh
Jack Walsh from Trenton, New Jersey, is the strongest man you've never heard of.

Over his career he performed all kinds of crazy strength feats, including lifting elephants, towing trains and letting trucks run over his body. At a bodyweight of 190 pounds, he even broke Louis Cyr's backlift record.

Anyhow, here's Jack Walsh jerking a 230-pound dumbbell overhead -- That's damn strong! Do you know anybody that can jerk more than bodyweight overhead with one arm?

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The Press-Up

The Press-Up
The Press-Up is an intermediate handbalancing movement that you must master of you want to move on to more advanced moves.

Be sure not to straighten your legs too quickly or it will cause you to lose your balance and fall foreward. Practice and master this move on parallettes before moving on to the bare floor. (You can find our more tips on this move on page 32 of Bill Hinbern's Handbalancing for Muscular Development.)

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Karl Norberg's Olympic Barbell Feat

The Mighty Norseman Karl Norberg could perform many incredible strength feats -- one of which involved a simple Olympic barbell. Norberg could do a front holdout with the bar (which is pretty impressive by itself.)

Karl Norberg Olympic Bar

Then, with wrist power alone, he would twist the bar from horizontal to vertical. -- A very impressive feat of forearm strength and highly difficult due to the leverages involved.

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Stone Lifting in India

While every culture has its own unique definition of STRENGTH, the interesting thing is that in every culture you will find some form of Stone Lifting. Here's a shot from a recent stone lifting contest in India, a country which is certainly no stranger to traditional physical training.

Stone Lifting in India

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H.E. MANN

H.E. MANN
H.E. MANN was an old 1930's Tennessee farmer who followed in the footsteps of Milo of Crotona by lifting a calf each day until it became a full-grown bull.

It worked! ... and thus, progressive resistance training was born. This principle is particularly useful for heavy squatting although I prefer lifting iron to livestock.

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Paul Von Boeckmann's Breathing Gymnastics

Paul Von Boeckmann

An ad for the famous oldtime strongman Paul Von Boeckmann's Breathing Gymnastics Course. Von Boeckmann felt that one of the Secrets to great strength and physical development had much to do with building large, powerful lungs through breathing exercises and taught these techniques by mail order for years.

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Cannon Lifting with Warren Lincoln Travis

Warren Lincoln Travis

You aren't a real Oldtime Strongman until you lift a Cannon... The great Warren Lincoln Travis shows he's still got it as an old man, Harness Lifting a Cannon and a Globe Barbell - combined weight: over 1500 pounds.

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Arthur Dandurand at 48 Years Old

The great Canadian Strongman Arthur Dandurand at 48 years old, still looking very impressive. As far as feats of grip strength, Dandurand could deadlift 550 pounds with one hand and reverse curl 177 pounds.

Arthur Dandurand at 48 Years Old

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An Unusual Grip feat from Mac Batchelor

The great Mac Batchelor had quite a set of strong mitts. As reported in by John McCallum in The Complete Keys to Progress, Mac could pinch a wine cork between forefinger and thumb, press down as shown and split the cork in half.

An Unusual Grip feat from Mac Batchelor

Try it...