Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Les WilloughbyLes Willoughby, the great light-heavyweight British weightlifter, is shown here about to perform the 2-dumbbell press, one of the seven best power building exercises.
His best performance in this lift was a press of 230 pounds for two reps. He could also press 245 lbs., snatch 242-1/2 lbs. clean & jerk 330 pounds and just may have done some squatting in his day.
Labels: British Champion, British Strongman, Dumbbell Press, Leg Development, Les Willoughby, Snatch, Two Dumbbell Press
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Sunday, November 01, 2009
David ProwseA look at David "Darth Vader" Prowse at the time when he was the Heavyweight lifting champion of Britain. On this particular occasion, he was going to attempt to lift 700 pounds to break his own deadlift record of 678 pounds but the stage he was on was deemed unsafe for supporting such a heavy weight. Prowse lifted 530 pounds and performed several other feats of strength as an exhibition instead. Wag Bennett and John O' Farrel are shown judging on either side.
Labels: Barbell, Barbell Deadift, British Strongman, David Prowse, Deadlift, Wag Bennett
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Friday, May 01, 2009
Edward Aston: Britain's Strongest ManEdward Aston ran off and joined the circus at 17 years old and never looked back. Among his other feats, in 1909 he did a one-hand swing with 162-1/2 lbs. beating Thomas Inch's record. A year later he defeated Maxick to take the title of "Britain's Strongest Man", which he held until the early 1930's.
Labels: Britains Strongest Man, British Strongman, Circus Strongman, Dumbbell Swing, Edward Aston, Maxick, Thomas Inch
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Thursday, March 26, 2009
Staff Sgt. MossStaff Sgt. Moss Alfred Moss joined the British Army at 16 years old but did not begin serious weight lifting until 25. After only six months of training he was able to lift 162 pounds overhead with one hand. Aside from many traditional strongman and weightlifting feats, Moss was also very adept at gymnastic feats.
Labels: British Strongman, Gymnastics, Staff Sgt Moss
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Thursday, March 12, 2009
The Back-Press AnyhowThe anyhow lifts are so named since you get to lockout anyhow you can. Sometimes the results may look a little unusual but they get the job done. Shown in the Back-Press Anyhow performed by the British strand pulling champion Derek Rogers. The Back-Press Anyhow was part of a series of three competitive strand pulling exercises often referred to as the "strength set."
Labels: Anyhow Lift, Back Press, British Strongman, Chest Expanders, Competitive Strand Pulling, Strand Pulling, Strand Pulling Contests, Strand Pulling Exercises, Strength Set, The Back Press Anyhow
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Thursday, February 26, 2009
 Bill Hunt | Bill Hunt of Darwen, England was a magnificent hand balancer with many amazing feats to his credit. Here's one that you sure will not see every day: his most daring feat. Bill climbed to the top of a six-foot tall ladder, assumed the handstand position at the very top then jumped down and landed on a table beside it, all while still maintaining the handstand position! |
Labels: Bill Hunt, British Strongman, hand balancer, Hand Balancing, Hand Balancing Feat
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All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Thomas Inch: Two hands Anyhow The great British strongman Thomas Inch was well known for his Grip Strength and his famous Challenge Dumbbell but he was also a great all around strength athlete.
Here is Mr. Inch half-way through a Two Hands Anyhow lift, one of his specialties. The barbell was first taken to the shoulders, jerked, then switched to the right hand. The kettlebell at his feet, which weighed 90 pounds, was then brought overhead with the left hand.
Labels: British Strongman, Grip Strength, Kettlebell, Kettlebell Lift, Thomas Inch, Two Hands Anyhow
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Tuesday, February 17, 2009
W.A. PullumIt's not hard to see why W.A. Pullum was the The 9 Stone Amateur Champion Weightlifter of The World. In this classic picture his incredible tendon thickness is quite evident. Pullum's greatest feat was a two-hands anyhow lift of 272 pounds. Note the many championship medals pinned to his chest, Pullum established over 200 records during his career. Also further proof that you don't have to be big to be impressive, Pullum tips the scales at only 126 pounds at a height of 5'5".
Labels: 2 Hands Anyhow, British Strongman, Oldtime Lift, Strongman, W.A. Pullum, weightlifter
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Friday, October 24, 2008
Thomas InchThe first thing that comes to mind when most people hear the name Thomas Inch is "Grip Strength" but there was so much more to the man than that.
He was a champion strand puller, a boxer, a great all-around lifter whose numbers even exceeded Sandow's in several lifts, an entrepreneur, a publisher and one of the first of the mail-order muscle barons. He was also one of the first, if not the first to introduce plate-loaded barbells and dumbbells.
Labels: British Strongman, Grip Strength, Strand Pulling, Thomas Inch
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All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
Sunday, September 07, 2008
 Bert Assirati | With teachers like George Hackenschmidt, Alan Mead and William "Apollo" Bankier, Bert Assirati was destined for greatness as a strongman and as a wrestler. And great he was... Assirati's best marks read like a Ripley's Believe-it-Or-Not feature: Press on Back: 400 lbs. Right Hand Press: 160 lbs. Left Hand Press: 145 lbs. Two Arm Curl: 180 lbs. Crucifix: 90 lb. dumbbells x 2 Clean and Jerk: 380 lbs. Overhead Press: 285 lbs. Squat: 550 lbs. x 10 One-Leg Squat: 200 lbs. Assirati was also an accomplished hand balancer. |
Labels: 1 Leg Squat, Bert Assirati, British Strongman, British Wrestler, Clean and Jerk, Crucifix, Curl, hand balancer, Military Press, Overhead Press, Squat
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All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
David Prowse Lifts The Dinnie StonesFor over a century the only man to lift the famed Dinnie Stones was Donald Dinnie himself. The, in 1964, British strongman David Prowse came along and changed history.
To this day, the 6'7" Prowse is still the tallest man to lift the 785-pound stones (totalled together.) Prowse went on to play Darth Vader in a little film called Star Wars.
Labels: British Strongman, Challenge Weight, David Prowse, Dinnie Stones, Donald Dinnie, Famous Stones, Stone Lifting
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All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
Friday, August 08, 2008
Launceston ElliottAlready a strength star in his teens when he won the British national Championships, in 1896, Launceston Elliott traveled to Athens, Greece to represent England at the very first modern Olympic Games. Elliot had been trained by Eugen Sandow and bared quite a resemblance to his mentor, and, as I have mentioned before, things were a bit different back then -- in weightlifting they contested two events: the "one-hand lift" and the "two-hands lift" (i.e. the "clean and jerk.")
In the first contest, the "two hand lift" Launceston tied with Viggo Jensen of Denmark when each lifted 111 kg (244-1/2 pounds). The Gold medal, however, was awarded to the Dane because the judges thought he lifted the weight "in much better form" than his English competitor.
In the one-hand event, Elliot lifted 71 kg to the Dane's 57 and thus Britain's first Olympic Gold Medal winner was crowned!
At those games Elliott also competed in the 100 m dash, wrestling, and rope climbing although he was not as successful in the other events as he was in weight lifting. After his Olympic success, he returned home to England, won the first major physique contest ever held and toured the country as a performing strongman.
Labels: 1896 Olympics, British Strongman, Clean and Jerk, Launceston Elliott, Olympic Games, Olympic Lifting, Olympics, Viggo Jensen, weightlifting
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All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
Friday, January 25, 2008
Edward Aston, Britain's Strongest ManEdward Aston was The World's Middle-weight Weightlifting Champion, British Heavy-weight Champion Weightlifter, and Britain's Strongest Man from 1911-1934 (Retiring undefeated.)
Here Aston demostrates his unique version of the "clean pull" - note the position of the elbow. -- This simple adjustment in technique will allow you to "pull" up to 15% more weight!
Labels: Art of Expander Pulling, Britains Strongest Man, British Champion, British Strongman, Clean Pull, Edward Aston, Globe Barbell, Oldtime Strongman Feat, Upper Body Exercise
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All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Bert Assirati Does a One-Hand Handstand, circa 1948While many hand balancers experts are of the smaller, "gymnastic-type" physique, there were actually several larger strength athletes who could perform hand balancing feats with ease.
The great Canadian Champion Doug Hepburn was a great hand balancer, as was the famous British strongman and Professional wrestler Bert Assirati, (shown here.)
At a young age, Bert was taught how to do all manner of hand balancing feats by an ex-circus performer. You can certainly tell by this picture that he has power to spare.
Labels: Bert Assirati, British Strongman, Doug Hepburn, Feat, Hand Balancing, Hand Balancing Feat, One Hand Balance
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All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
| W.A. Pullum was a great British Strongman who set scores of strength records during his competitive career. Like many Oldtime Strongmen, Pullum had his own strength challenge. Using the special thick-handled globe barbell shown here, a lifter had to do a "One Hand Anyhow" with a poundage equal to 1-1/2 times his own bodyweight and simultaneously lift a kettlebell loaded a third of the barbell poundage with the other hand. Pullum used to perform this "double-bodyweight" feat twelve times per week but in all his years, his "challenge" was never accepted. |  Pullum's Challenge Barbell |
Labels: British Strongman, Challenge Weight, Globe Barbell, Kettlebell Lift, Oldtime Strongman Feat, Pullums Challenge Barbell, Two Hands Anyhow, W.A. Pullum
www.oldtimestrongman.com
All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
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