Monday, December 21, 2009
Joe ZimmermanJoe Zimmerman and his brother Dick were Bob Hoffman's neighbors in York, Pennsylvania and they hung around the York Barbell Company office doing crazy feats of strength. Here's Joe performing a hand stand on some boxes -- which is tough enough by itself -- but he is also lifting the 202-pound Louis Cyr Dumbbell in his teeth at the same time!
Labels: Bob Hoffman, Feat, Hand Balancing, handstand, Jaw Strength, Joe Zimmerman, Louis Cyr Challenge Dumbbell, York Barbell Company
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Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Warren Lincoln Travis Run Over by Car! "Warren Lincoln Travis Run Over by Car!" ~ don't worry folks, it's all part of the show. As part of his act, Warren Lincoln Travis did, in fact, let a car run over his body. This rare picture of WLT in action was taken in 1915 at Coney Island.
Labels: Car, Coney Island, Coney Island Strongman, Feat, Performing Strongman, Warren Lincoln Travis
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Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Balancing FeatBalancing Feats are always impressive but I do not recommend trying this one (or anything close to it!) Here Samuel Jenkins accomplishes something dangerous, impressive and quite possibly stupid at the same time ~ balancing precariously on two chairs atop a New York apartment building, circa 1923.
Labels: Balance, Balance Feat, Feat
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Friday, August 28, 2009
Frank "Iron-Jaw" DilksFrank "Iron-Jaw" Dilks, of Bridgeton, New Jersey was an aptly named strongman. Here he goes for a stroll, pulling a brand new fire engine purchased by the city down the block with his teeth. This particular fire engine which was manufactured by the Stutz Fire Engine Company of Indianapolis, Indiana, weighed in at seven and a half tons.
Labels: Feat, Feats of Strength, Frank Dilks, Jaw Strength, Pulling Feat, Teeth Lifting
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Sunday, May 24, 2009
The Mighty Atom Escapes!Back in the Summer of 1939, The Mighty Atom Joseph Greenstein attempted an amazing (and quite dangerous) feat. He would be chained to a chair with a car traveling at 40 miles per hour spaced out far enough to give him two minutes of lead time. If the Atom couldn't break free of the chains in time the speeding automobile would run right over him. Pic magazine was on hand with a photo crew to document the action, and, as you can see, the Atom made it - barely.
Labels: Chain Breaking, Feat, Joseph Greenstein, The MIghty Atom
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Tuesday, May 19, 2009
The Tomb of HerculesPakistani strongman Professor A. N. Shaikh shows how it's done in the Tomb of Hercules feat. The combined weight of this motorcycle and two men were estimated to weight around 700 pounds or more. This feat is a lot more difficult than you might think.
Labels: Classic Strongman Feats, Feat, Professor A. N. Shaikh, Supporting Feat, The Tomb of Hercules
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Monday, April 27, 2009
Tearing a Mini-Deck of CardsPlenty of people can tear a regulation deck of cards but it's a whole new ball game with a mini-deck. Dennis Rogers can do this feat with ease, as well he should since his fingers are about as strong as a set of pliers.
Labels: Card Tearing, Classic Strongman Feats, Dennis Rogers, Feat
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Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Joseph Vitole's Record Teeth LiftA look at Joseph Vitole's world record teeth lift of 550 pounds which he accomplished in 1922. Vitole was a student of Earle E. Liederman and weighed only 150 pounds at the time.
Labels: Earle E. Liederman, Feat, Jaw Strength, Joseph Vitole, Neck Strength, Strength Feat, Teeth Lifting
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Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Arthur Saxon: Master of The Bent Press'The Iron Master' Arthur Saxon shows his form on the Bent Press. These pictures are well over a hundred years old but Saxon's incredible upperbody strength, especially in terms of back development, is quite evident.
Labels: Arthur Saxon, Barbell, Bent Press, Feat
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Monday, January 19, 2009
| Dennis Rogers can rip a deck of cards faster than anyone on the planet, he can also easily drive nails through wooden boards with his bare hands. One day he had an idea: why not combine these two elements into one amazing feat? The result was to drive a nail through a full deck of cards, a feat never before imagined, let alone completed, by any other strongman. Needless to say this feat goes over huge when performed in front of an audience. |  Naildriving Through a Deck of Cards |
Labels: Deck of Cards, Dennis Rogers, Dennis Rogers Nail Driving, Feat, Nail Driving, Strongman Dennis Rogers
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Thursday, January 15, 2009
Madame Yucca - The Female HerculesA rare poster featuring Madame Yucca as perforoming in the Forepaugh and Sells Brother Circus. The Female Hercules was shown lifting various globe weights overhead, harness liftnig several animals including an elephant and even lifting an anvil with her teeth. Note the use of kettlebells for one and two arm lifts. The poster dates from 1898.
Labels: Adam Forepaugh, Anvil Lifting, Circus, Circus Poster, Feat, Globe Barbell, Globe Dumbbell, Harness Lifting, Madame Yucca, Sells Brothers Circus, Strongwoman, Teeth Lifting
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Friday, January 09, 2009
Signor Lawanda - The Iron Jawed ManSig Lawanda, The Iron Jawed Man, was an early circus performer whose signature feat was to use his teeth to lift a barrel on which two men sat - an incredible feat of neck strength. He famously appeared with P.T. Barnum
Labels: Barrel, Circus Strongman, Feat, Iron Jawed Man, Jaw Strength, Neck Strength, P.T. Barnum, Signor Lawanda, Teeth Lifting
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Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Elephant LiftingStrongman Joe Ragusa shows one way to lift an elephant: via back lift. Ragusa regularly performed this feat in nightclubs and television shows.
Labels: Back Lift, Elephant, Feat, Joe Ragusa, Odd Object Lifting, Oldtime Strongman Exercise, Supporting Feat
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Monday, September 15, 2008
Professor Anthony BarkerProfessor Anthony Barker was a great Oldtime Strongman in the New York Area in the late 1800s and early 1900s. He was also very proud of his fine head of hair - hair pulling or lifting was a favorite method of several oldtime strongmen for demonstrating strength and they could withstand quite a pull with no ill effects.
Labels: Anthony Barker, Feat, Hair Pulling, New York Strongman, Professor Anthony Barker
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Sunday, July 27, 2008
The Mighty Atom - A Different Kind of Horseshoe BendingMany of the Oldtime Strongmen bent horseshoes but nobody could do it like The Mighty Atom - Yow! The cool thing is, Slim The Hammer Man still has the Mighty Atom's bending post in his Dungeon Gym.
Labels: Feat, Horseshoe Bending, Steel Bending, The MIghty Atom, Unusual Strength
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Thursday, June 26, 2008
Hip LiftMr. Roy L. Smith demonstrates a Hip Lift of a train axle weighing 2250 pounds. Smith did not begin to lift weights until he was over 30 years of age, but using MILO Barbell methods he put on over 40 pounds of muscular bodyweight and was featured in the MILO Barbell Company advertisements.
Labels: Alan Calvert, Exercises, Feat, Hip and Leg Strength, Hip Lift, Leg Strength, Milo Barbell Company, Roy L. Smith, Train Wheel
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Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Rolandow Jumping The BarbellOne of the signature feats of the great strongman G.W. Rolandow was jumping back and forth over a loaded barbell. This barbell was loaded to 130 lbs. but his record was over 200 lbs. Note that he is only able to hold the barbell with three fingers while performing this stunt.
Labels: Feat, G.W. Rolandow, Globe Barbell, Jumping Feats
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Friday, June 13, 2008
 Mac Batchlelor Plays the Violin | Mac Batchelor was a man of many talents...Besides Arm Wrestling and Bending Bottlecaps he could also play the violin... Of course, like any strongman, he added his own unique twist, that's a pair of 50-pound Milo Kettlebells hanging from his right arm. |
Labels: Feat, Mac Batchelor, Milo Kettlebell, Oldtime Strongman Feat, Violin
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Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Bert Elliott's 276 Pound Bent PressBert 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.
Labels: Barbell, Bench Press, Bert Elliott, Feat, Pat Casey, Russian Olympic Set
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Friday, May 09, 2008
Louis Cyr's BackliftA rare woodcut of the great Louis Cyr's famous backlift. Cyr astonished the world with a lift of 4337 pounds!
Labels: Backlift, Feat, Heavy Partial Movements, Louis Cyr, Oldtime Strongman Feat, Supporting Feat
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Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Joseph VitoleAt a bodyweight of only 150 pounds, Joe Vitole broke the World's Record with a teeth lift of 550 pounds. Needless to say, teeth lifting builds incredible neck strength. While you may not necessarily want to include teeth lifting in you routine, you should unquestionably be training your neck.
Labels: Feat, Joseph Vitole, Neck Strength, Oldtime Strongman, Oldtime Strongman Feat, Teeth Lifting
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Thursday, April 10, 2008
| 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 |
Labels: Feat, Globe Barbell, Jack Bier, Kettlebell, Neck Bridge, Oldtime Strongman Feat, Sig Klein, Strongmanism, Supporting Feat
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Wednesday, April 09, 2008
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?
Labels: Dumbbell, Dumbbell Exercise, Dumbbell Jerk, Feat, Jack Walsh, Jerk, Oldtime Strongman, One Arm Lift
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Monday, February 18, 2008
| How did the oldtimers train with Kettlebells? The answer might surprise you. In his book The Textbook of Weightlifting, Arthur Saxon lists a few of the different exercises he used: the crucifix, one arm press, and several grip and forearm exercises. Of course, kettlebells also worked pretty well for Combination feats just like this one. (I think that's Kurt Saxon being pressed overhead.) |  Arthur Saxon |
Labels: Arthur Saxon, Crucifix, Feat, Human Lift, Kettlebell, Kettlebell Feat, Kurt Saxon, Muscle Out, Oldtime Strength Equipment, Overhead Support, Supporting Feat, The Textbook of Weightlifting
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| George Eiferman was the 1948 AAU Mr. America and 1962 IFBB Mr. Universe winner and was particularly well-known for his chest development. On of the ways in which he built such a deep and impressive chest was regular trumpet playing. Eiferman used to like to show off a bit too and was fond of playing the "Hawaiian War Chant" on his trumpet with one hand while holding a loaded barbell overhead with the other. -- Talk about core strength. He regularly performed this feat at Muscle Beach. |  George Eiferman |
Labels: AAU, Breathing Exercises, Chest Development, Feat, George Eiferman, IFBB, Mr. America, Mr. Universe, Muscle Beach
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Saturday, February 16, 2008
| It was said that the great Louis Cyr could pretty much lift whatever he wanted -- this photograph, however, was obviously staged. On May 7, 1896 Louis Cyr is credited with several impresive lifts, and among them was a one-hand Jerk of 254 lbs. Of course, lifting rocks is an altogether different animal. |  Louis Cyr |
Labels: Feat, Louis Cyr, Odd Object Lifting, Overhead Press, Rock Lifting
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Friday, February 15, 2008
 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! |
Labels: Barbell, Feat, Jack Walsh, Oldtime Strongman Feat, Wrestlers Bridge
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Friday, February 08, 2008
Armand Tanny's Favorite Exercise: The One Arm CleanArmand 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.
Labels: Armand Tanny, Barbell, Bodybuilding, Feat, Golden Age Bodybuilder, Mr. America, Muscle Beach, One Arm Clean, Pro Mr. America, Vic Tanny
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Tuesday, February 05, 2008
| The great strongman G.W. Rolandow was very well known for his traditional feats of strength and the oldtime equipment that bears his name but he also excelled at feats of jumping. Shown here, he could hold a 75 pound globe dumbbell in each hand and jump over a table that was 36 inches high and 25 inches wide. He could also turn a somersault holding dumbbells in each hand. |  G.W. Rolandow |
Labels: Feat, G.W. Rolandow, Globe Dumbbells, Jumping Feats, Oldtime Strongman Feat, Somersault
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Friday, February 01, 2008
Archie VanderpoolThe Mysterious Mr. Vanderpool performs a pretty unusual feat of supporting strength... With his back against a stone wall, Archie braced his legs against a car driven at full throttle for 52 seconds. -- The tires were worn to ribbons!
Labels: Archie Vanderpool, Feat, Supporting Feat
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Wednesday, January 30, 2008
| The "side press" is a looser version of the dumbbell press - contrast the picture on the right with the one here. Because it's a bit of an "anyhow" lift, much more weight can be used than a strict dumbbell press. You should be able to press well over a hundred pounds in this manner. Paul Anderson could side press over 300 pounds with ridiculous ease. |  The Dumbbell Side Press |
Labels: Dumbbell Press, Dumbbell Exercise, Exercise, Feat, Paul Anderson, Press, Shoulder Exercise, Side Press
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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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Monday, January 14, 2008
The Mighty Atom - Nail BitingThere are several good steel benders in the world right now but here is a feat we are unlikely to see again any time soon: The Might Atom could actually bite through nails. As Bob Hoffman and other members of the York Gang look on, "The Atom" bites a nail in half during one of his appearances at the York fair.
I don't know for sure but I wouldn't be surprised if this ended up being the bitten nail that can seen in the The York Barbell Hall of Fame.
Labels: Bob Hoffman, Feat, Joseph Greenstein, Nail Biting, Oldtime Strongman Feat, The MIghty Atom, York Barbell Hall of Fame
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 John Davis | Can you curl like John Davis? -- In Dinosaur Training, Brooks Kubik looks at John Davis' curling ability in detail. John Davis, as reported in an article in The Iron Master by Osmo Kiiha, could curl 215 pounds at a bodyweight of just 193 pounds. -- That's 1.11 times bodyweight, a staggering feat of strength. Here's John Davis curling 205 pounds in damn good form. |
Labels: Barbell Curls, Bicep Strength, Dinosaur Training, Feat, John Davis, Oldtime Strongman Feat, Osmo Kiiha, The Iron Master
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Friday, January 04, 2008
Milo and The BullMilo of Crotona was one of the greatest athletes of antiquity, winning the wrestling title in the ancient Greek Olympiad six times.
It was said that he built his great strength by carrying a newborn calf on his back each day. As the calf grew larger, so did Milo's Strength. After many days of this, Milo was able to carry a full grown bull on his shoulders -- and thus progressive resistance exercise was born.
Labels: Ancient Greece, Feat, Milo of Crotona, Olympics, Progressive Resistance Exercise, Strongman Feat, Supporting Feat
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Tuesday, December 18, 2007
 The Iron Cross | Much of the origins of strength training and physical culture come from gymnastics. The Iron Cross as performed on gymnastic rings, is one of the most impressive gymnastic feats. It takes a great deal of strength and plenty of skill to perform The Iron Cross properly. |
Labels: Feat, Gymnastic Feat, Gymnastic Rings, Gymnastics, Gymnatic Exercise, Iron Cross, Physical Training
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Sunday, December 09, 2007
Paul Anderson BackliftPaul Anderson's 6270 pound record backlift stands alone as the heaviest weight ever lifted by a human being and certainly one of the greatest strength feats of all time. This is not a picture of Anderson's record lift but one of many backlifts he performed in front of crowds as he traveled the country giving speeches. Including the human weight and weight of the platform, this is probably close to a ton and "Big Paul" makes it look easy.
Labels: Backlift, Feat, Human Weight, Paul Anderson, Platform, Strongman Feat
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Tuesday, December 04, 2007
The Double Bent WrenchIt's hard enough to bend a wrench one time but Dennis Rogers can bend one twice... It's a very tough feat that takes incredible grip strength to accomplish.
Labels: Bending, Bending Feat, Bent Wrenches, Dennis Rogers, Double Bent Wrench, Feat, Strongman Feat, Wrench Bending
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Sunday, November 04, 2007
The Richard K. Fox Heavyweight Strongman Championship Belt Warren Lincoln Travis, wearing his Championship Belt | Richard K. Fox was the publisher of "The Police Gazette" a 19th century magazine which reported on boxing, wrestling and feats of strength that might interest the public. It was Richard K. Fox who introduced the idea of the "Championship Belt" to the United States -- bestowing "The Police Gazette" championship belt to Jake Kilrain (and won shortly afterwards by John L. Sullivan in a greuling 75-round bare knuckle match.) The idea was simple -- whomever wanted the belt had to win it in a challenge match. Richard K. Fox also created a similar belt for the "Heavyweight Strongman Champion" of the world, with the first "title holder" being Louis Cyr whom Fox had managed on several tours of England. |
The Richard K. Fox Heavyweight Strongman Championship Belt now resides at the York Barbell Company Hall of Fame in York, Pennsylvania.
Labels: Boxing, Challenge Weight, Feat, Louis Cyr, The Police Gazette, Warren Lincoln Travis, York Barbell Hall of Fame
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Thursday, November 01, 2007
Bill Pettis: 23-1/4 Inch ArmsThere were a lot of big guys during the 1970's West Coast Bodybuilding Scene -- but none bigger than Bill Pettis.
He's not a name you see mentioned much because he had no interest in competing - just building the biggest and strongest arms he possibly could.
Looks like he succeeded.
As reported by Iron Man Magazine in 1975, his workouts were legendary -- 100 sets of arm work, standing triceps curls with 315 pounds on the bar, 180 pound curls and endless sets of pushups to "flush gallons of blood through the great muscle mass and get an extreme pump."
On several occasions his entire workout consisted of 3000 or more pushups (which took him five hours!)
Among his other lifts you can also add a 475 bench press and a squat with 620 pounds.
Labels: Bench Press, Bill Pettis, Bodybuilding, Curl, Feat, Pushups, Squat, Tricep Curls
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Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Pat Povilaitis: Baseball Bat Break Over HeadDo NOT try this at home! Pat Povilaitis is a trained professional, plus he is a little crazy which helps when he does something like this. Yes, that's a genuine Louisville Slugger. You can catch some of Pat's other crazy strength feats in 336 Pounds of Fury
Labels: 336 Pounds of Fury, Bat Break, Feat, Pat Povilaitis, Strongman Feat
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Wednesday, August 22, 2007
The Many Strength Feats of Paul AndersonBack in the mid-1940's, Paul Anderson started lifting weights to get bigger for football and just kept growing. He eventually became one of the strongest men of all time while establishing many strength records and winning the Gold Medal at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia.
Paul Anderson was also a Senior World Champion and a 2-time Senior National Champion in Weightlifting. He set nine World Records and Eighteen American records during his career and retired undefeated.
He was also incredibly strong in what would eventually become the three Power Lifts: the squat, bench press and deadlift.
Here's a look at some of Paul Anderson's record lifts:
| |  Paul Anderson Deadlifting |
Labels: Backlift, Deadlift, Feat, Paul Anderson, Paul Anderson Deadlift Record, Squat, Strongman, weightlifting
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