Mark H. Berry

Mark H. Berry

Mark Berry was well known for his excellent training courses but his contributions to the strength world extended far beyond that. He was a very successful featherweight lifter in the American Continental Weight-Lifter's Association (ACWLA) during the mid-1920's.

He also became the editor of Strength Magazine, director of the Milo Barbell Company and helped establish the Association of Bar Bell Men (ABBM) which was a governing body for weightlifting and bodybuilding.

In addition to these accomplishments, Berry was also a coach for the 1932 and 1936 Olympic weightlifting team and was an early mentor to a young John Grimek.

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Big Paul

Big Paul

Big Paul shows why he's called "Big Paul" - That's 420 pounds overhead.

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The Jackson Barbell Company

The Jackson Barbell Company

A famous picture of Andy Jackson of the Jackson International Barbell company of Springfield, New Jersey. For years, Andy Jackson labored by himself in his basement manufacturing high quality barbells, plates, dumbbells and the like.

He did all the milling and machining by hand. Needless to say, his equipment was very highly thought of and used by many of the top names in the strength world. If you happen to own any Jackson equipment, consider youself very lucky.

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Doug Hepburn - 1953 Heavyweight World Champion

Doug Hepburn - 1953 Heavyweight World Champion

Doug Hepburn's final lift to win the 1953 Heavyweight World Weightlifting Championship held in Stockholm, Sweden. (defeating John Davis) The lift pictured here was a 363-pound clean and jerk -- the highest of the contest. Doug's other lifts of the day were a 371-pound press and a 297-pound snatch for a total of 1031 pounds.

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Bob Peoples' Barrel Barbell

Bob Peoples' Barrel Barbell

A look at Bob Peoples'first barbell, which he made out of a couple barrels in which he would load weight: chunks of metal, concrete -- anything he could find. Peoples trained alone in his garage gym and deadlifted over 700 pounds back in the 1940's. That sure doesn't leave much room for excuses...

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Bert Elliott's 276 Pound Bent Press

Bert Elliott's 276 Pound Bent Press
Bert Elliott performs a bent-press with 276 pounds on a russian Olympic set at a strength show at Pasedena, California in the 60's. This lift was approximately 100 pounds over bodyweight for Bert. That's Pat Casey spotting on the right.

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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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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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"The Great" Joe Rollino

"The Great" Joe Rollino
The Deadlift -- a great exercise then and now... "The Great" Joe Rollino gets in a deadlift workout in a shot taken a few decades back. Joe learned how to rip playing cards and bend horse shoes as a protege of Warren Lincoln Travis. Joe recently celebrated his 103rd birthday and is as feisty as ever.

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Jack Walsh's Bridging Feat

Jack Walsh's Bridging Feat

The great strongman Jack Walsh from New Jersey performed some very unique feats of strength over the years. Here he holds 300 pounds in the wrestler's bridge position -- he claimed to have once held 520 pounds like this!

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Vasily Alexeev's Unusual Training

Vasily Alexeev's Unusual Training
The Russian Champion Vasily Alexeev is one of the greatest weightlifters who ever lived.

One of Alexeyeev's most unusual training techniques was to practice his cleans in waist-deep water. This famous shot was taken of Alexeev as he trained in the Don River in Mother Russia.

Unconventional... but certainly effective:

Alexeev set the first of his 80 world records in 1970 and was undefeated for the remainder of his career which also included two Olympic Gold medal winning performances (1972, Munich and 1976, Montreal)

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Armand Tanny's Favorite Exercise: The One Arm Clean

Armand Tanny's Favorite Exercise: The One Arm Clean
Armand Tanny (brother of Vic Tanny) was a very successful bodybuilder in the late 40's and 50's, and a regular at the original Santa Monica Muscle Beach scene.

Tanny competed in many major bodybuilding contests and won the Pro-Mr. America in 1950. His favorite exercise was one you don't often see these days: the one arm clean.

Its hard to tell how heavy the bar is loaded to in this shot -- I'd say at least 225 or so, and you sure won't find any bodybuilders who could do that these days.

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William Boone

William Boone was a well-known lifter in the 1930's and 1940's who became tremendously strong training by himself in the back yard with nothing more than a set of squat racks and some rusty weights. He also liked to perform his overhead pressing with a specially made 10-foot olympic bar, shown right.

William Boone

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John Y. Smith and a Unique Barbell

John Y. Smith

Gotta love some of the unique and usual weights that many of the strongmen found to lift. Here's a rare shot of the great Oldtime strongman John Y. Smith as he shoulders an unusual barbell, in his later years. Smith was a very good bent-presser (with a lift of 275 lbs. at a bodyweight of just 160 lbs.) so that is probably what he is getting ready to do.

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Pudgy Stockton

Pudgy Stockton

There has never been, nor will there ever be anyone like Pudgy Stockton. -- A pioneer for women in strength training, as you can see here she was power and grace in action. Pudgy promoted the first women's weightlifting contests and also had her own column "Barbelles" which ran in Strength and Health Magazine for ten years. Here, Pudgy Stockton clean and jerks 135 pounds (at a bodyweight of just 118 pounds) on the sands of the original Muscle Beach Santa Monica, California.

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The Rolandow Barbell

The Rolandow Barbell
The Rolandow Barbell once belonged to the Swiss Strongman G.W. Rolandow who would bent-press it each night in his performance. This barbell has been lifted by many famous strongmen, including Eugen Sandow.

The Rolandow Barbell has had many famous owners over the years. It was purchased by Professor Attila, then Sig Klein (as shown). The Rolandow Barbell can currently be seen in the York Barbell Company Museum in York, Pennsylvania.

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The York Big 12 Special

The York Big 12 Special
This is the weight set that helped put a lot of muscle on a lot of people - The York Big 12 Special as advertised on the back of the June, 1952 issue of Strength and Health Magazine.

That's Jack Delinger (Mr. America, 1949) on the left, and John Farbotnik (Mr. America, 1950) on the right.

This set included 240 pounds of barbell plates, long barbell bar, short dumbbell/swingbell bar, health boots, a head strap for building neck strength, wrist roller, kettlebell handles, collars and four York training courses (York Dumbbell course 1 & 2, Leg Development and Swing Bar Training.)

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German Strongman Karl Moerke

German Strongman Karl Moerke
Karl Moerke was a German Strongman in the early 1900's. At a bodyweight around 250 pounds at a height of only 5'2 Moerke was quite the powerhouse.

He could deadlift 650 pounds, jerk 375 pounds (shown here), and had a 19-inch neck. It was Moerke whom Milo Steinborn defeated to win the German Heavyweight Weightlifting Championship.

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The York Olympic Barbell

The York Olympic Barbell
If there's one thing that every Strongman needs, it's a quality barbell. Here's a look at a York Olympic Set circa 1939. Kind of amazing that the barbell hasn't changed much since it was invented in the early 1900's -- and equally amazing that a century later it's so difficult to purchase a quality set. (Note the "Deep Dish" plates.)

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Arthur Saxon's 2-Hands Anyhow Lift

The undisputed King of the "2 Hands Anyhow" Lift was Arthur Saxon. First he bent-pressed a 336 pound barbell with his right arm, then he reached down and lifted a 112 pound Kettlebell in the other. The total poundage was 448 pounds lifted overhead - a feat that will never be broken in this style.

Arthur Saxon's 2-Hands Anyhow Lift

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Wilbur Miller Stalks The Bar

To get the most out of training, there should be a certain attitude of confidence in all you do... Here's Wilbur Miller a few moments before pulling a heavy deadlift. Is there any question at all whether he will make this lift?

Wilbur Miller Stalks The Bar

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The Barbell Row

The Barbell Row

If you want to be a great overhead presser, you must build the pulling muscles as well. Here weightlifting Champ Doug Hepburn demonstrates one of the very best upper-body builders -- the rowing exercise (so named because it resembles rowing a boat.) You'll find this exercise recommended by all of the great strength training authors.

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Wilbur Miller: Leg Press

Wilbur Miller: Leg Press
Wilbur Miller was a very strong lifter in the 1960's who probably didn't get as much recognition as he deserved.

Here's an impressive feat: This picture was taken on one of the lifting platforms in the Ridge Avenue York Gym. A group of lifters placed this 500 pound barbell onto Wilbur Miller's feet and he commenced to "leg press" it. Yikes!

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The One-Arm Deadlift

L.A. Chappell deadlifts 448-1/2 pounds with one arm in the 1920's. He would go on to lift over 500 pounds in the same manner. The one-arm deadlift is a fantastic grip developer and a worthy addition to your training program. Note: the cambered bar.

The One-Arm Deadlift

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John Grimek: Military Press

When you see that the many of the strongest men who ever lived all trained with the same exercise, you ought to start paying attention. This picture was taken at the Los Angeles Athletic Club on December 22nd, 1941. Grimek and the York Gang toured the country promoting weightlifting. At these exhibitions, Grimek performed military presses with 290 pounds.

John Grimek: Military Press

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Squatting With Doug Hepburn

Squatting With Doug Hepburn
Like many of the greatest strength athletes of the last hundred years, Doug Hepburn credits heavy squatting as the foundation of his great strength.

That's twelve 45-pound plates on the bar and Doug makes it look easy.

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Milo Steinborn's Orange Avenue Gym

Milo Steinborn's Orange Avenue Gym
Henry "Milo" Steinborn was a 5'8" 205 lb German wrestler and strongman who became the first man to ever squat 500 lbs. In fact, his world record squat of 553 lbs. (set during the 1920's) would not be officially bested until the early 1950's by Doug Hepburn.

It was Milo who popularized the heavy deep knee bend as one of the most productive training lifts for anyone interested in building real strength.

In 1952, Milo opened the Orange Avenue Gym down in Orlando, Florida, which makes it the oldest weightlifting gym in America. Along with plenty of weights and barbells, Milo's Gym had a wrestling ring and other physical training equipment.

It was here that Milo taught a young Jim Flanagan how to get strong.

I was fortunate enough to visit the Orange Avenue Gym on a trip back in 2003 -- it still had some of Milo's original training equipment.

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Charles Rigoulot's Unique Globe Barbell

Charles Rigoulot's Unique Globe Barbell
The great French Weightlifter Charles Rigoulot used to train with a very unusual globe barbell -- at 8 feet, it was much longer than a "normal" barbell (which gave it quite a bit of "whip"), not to mention that he was using shot-loaded equipment long after shot-loaded globes went out of style.

Given this setup, he was a master of catching the weight "on the bounce" which allowed him to break a number of records -- and I bet that barbell was a heck of a lot of fun to lift with.

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Paul Anderson

Paul Anderson
Paul Anderson began as a skinny teenager with a pair of dumbbells and a stack of Strength and Health Magazines.

Soon, he was scouting out junkyards for heavier weights to lift and by the time he went to college, his lifts were near the American Records. But it wasn't until Bob Peoples taught young Paul Anderson the value of the Squat and deadlift that his strength really took off.

Paul Anderson eventually squatted 1206 pounds, benchpressed 627 pounds, one-arm pressed 380 pounds, and push-pressed an incredible 600 pounds. His Guinness Book of World Records back lift of 6,270 pounds still stands.

He also won the gold medal at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and in all, broke 18 American records, 8 world records, and retired unbeaten and unchallenged.