Horseshoes at Slim's Place

Horseshoes at Slim's Place

In Slim's Dungeon Gym you'll find every brand of horseshoe known to man. What would you expect from a man who bent horseshoes for a living? Nothing impresses an audience more than bending steel by hand.

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Slim The Hammer Man's Gym

Slim The Hammer Man's Gym
A unique look into part of Slim the Hammer Man's "dungeon" gym. Slim has been performing for over 50 years and there's a lot of history on those walls - event posters, pictures of The Mighty Atom, memorabilia, famous strongmen and friends, bent horseshoes and nails, chains, and, of course, his famous sledge hammers.

...That's the Mighty Atom's coat on the chair in the foreground.

Yes, it's even more amazing to see it in real life but if you can't make it to Pottstown, PA, you can still check it out for yourself here.

And, like I said, this is only part of Slim's place.

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Another Look at the Iron Shoe Exerciser

The Iron Shoe Exerciser
Another look at the "Iron Shoe." There's nothing better than an Iron Shoe for building "short-range" strength and learning how to bend horseshoes.

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The Iron Shoe Exerciser

The Iron Shoe Exerciser

The Iron Shoe exerciser was a great oldtime piece of training equipment which has roots going back pretty far into strength history. As you may notice by the design, it is "horse shoe" shaped -- which is meant to mimic an actual horse shoe, the bending of which was a great oldtime feat and a mark of great strength. The "iron Shoe" provided a method of progressive resistance in some of the positions needed for horseshoe bending and trained the body, especially the grip and forearms in a very unique manner.

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John Grunn Marx Horseshoe Bending

John Grunn Marx was well known as a strongman who could bend and break horseshoes. Many oldtime strongmen faked their feats but this photo proves that John Grunn Marx really did understand how to bend horseshoes. The technique shown in this photo is how to actually bend horseshoes as demonstrated by Pat Povilaitis in 336 Pounds of Fury

John Grunn Marx

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John Grunn Marx: Horseshoe Breaker

John Grunn Marx, known as "The Luxembourg Herculese," broke three horseshoes in the short span of 2 minutes and 15 seconds at an exhibition in Paris around 1905. He was also very proficient at lifting thick-handled equipment and was said to be able to bend coins.

John Grunn Marx: Horseshoe Breaker

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Horseshoes Bent by The Mighty Atom

Horseshoes Bent by The Mighty Atom
The Mighty Atom bent these horseshoes and iron bar at the 1962 York, Pennsylvania Interstate Fair. That year marked his 42nd consecutive appearance at that particular fair.

These bent horseshoes are currently on display at the York Barbell Company museum in York, Pennsylvania.

It takes quite a bit of grip and forearm strength to be able to accomplish that strength feat. To see footage of horseshoes being bent by modern Strongman Pat Povilaitis, you'll want to check out 336 Pounds of Fury.

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Joseph Greenstein aka "The Mighty Atom"

Joseph Greenstein aka "The Mighty Atom"
Joseph Greenstein aka The Mighty Atom twisted horseshoes, drove nails through boards with his bare hand, broke chains, bent iron bars, BIT nails in half, he even held back an airplane with his hair...

Find out more about the Might Atom from his #1 student Slim The Hammer Man

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The Hand Bent Horse Shoe

Siegmund Breitbart

Many of the Oldtime Strongmen were strong enough to bend their own horseshoes by hand. On the left you'll see see a piece of square stock hand-bent by the famous Oldtime Strongman Siegmund Breitbart. Notice that it has bent on the edge, not the side, which is how you can tell this piece of steel has legitimately been bent by hand.

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The Mighty Stefan

The Mighty Stefan
Steve "The Mighty Stefan" Sadicario is undoubtedly the most talented man in Strength-Show Business! "Mighty" keeps the great strongman feats of the past alive, but he adds a bit of his own personal style.

The Mighty Stefan tears phonebooks, breaks chains, twists horseshoes, bends steel bars, sings opera -- and he raps... in Yiddish!, no less.

You may have seen The Mighty Stefan on the MTV "White Rapper" TV show a few months back where he wowed all the judges by bending a nail while spittin' his crazy rhymes. Steve also EM-CEEs the Association of Oldtime Barbell and Strongmen (AOBS) Annual Dinner and Reunion each year and does a fantastic job.

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Pat Povilaitis: The Human Vise

Pat Povilaitis - The Human Vise
Pat Povilaitis is the current link in the long line of Strongmen going all the way back to the Mighty Atom.

"The Human Vise" (as he is professionally known) bends nails and horseshoes, rips phonebooks, lifts stones, rips decks of cards and closes the #3 Iron Mind hand Gripper... sometimes all at the same time!

You can catch Pat Povilaitis in action along with his mentor Dennis Rogers in 336 Pounds of Fury

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