Monday, February 22, 2010
 The Zimmerman Brothers | Joe and Dick Zimmerman were a couple of tough farm boys who liked lifting weights who also just so happened to be in the right place at the right time: Bob Hoffman was their neighbor in York, Pa. Needless to say, Bob took a liking to them, partially because they were always doing crazy feats of strength like this one. That's Joe is on the bottom, supporting a barbell loaded to 485 pounds. Dick, bodyweight of 130 pounds, is on top while also holding a 50-pound dumbbell in each hand. As a finale to this particular act, Dick jumped down onto Joe's stomach, still holding the bells! The Zimmerman Brothers also performed more traditional feats like teeth lifting, bar bending, hand balancing, and chain breaking. |
Labels: Bob Hoffman, Dick Zimmerman, Hand Balancing Feat, Joe Zimmerman, The Zimmerman Brothers
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Thursday, January 28, 2010
Hand BalancingI don't know if there has ever been a strength athlete as well-rounded as Sig Klein. He was a champion in pretty much every area of strength training that you could imagine. Here's Sig performing a very interesting hand balancing feat. You also gotta love Sig's taste in equipment as well.
Labels: Balance Feat, Globe Barbell, hand balancer, Hand Balancing, Hand Balancing Feat, Sig Klein
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Tuesday, September 01, 2009
Professor Leo StevensThanks in large part to Professor Attila, New York City was a hotbed of strongman activity during the early 20th century. One of his pupils was Professor Leo Stevens who is shown here balanced precariously on a few chairs with a heavy barbell strapped around his neck at the same time. Professor Stevens was sickly for most of his life and took up regular physical (at 46 years old!) to cure his ills - it looks like it worked.
Labels: Hand Balancing, Hand Balancing Feat, Neck Strength, New York Strongman, Professor Attila, Professor Leo Stevens
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Sunday, August 16, 2009
Joe Tonti: The World's Strongest Upside-Down ManMany strongmen pulled cars, some even pulled cars with their teeth, but no strongman ever pulled a car like Joe Tonti. The Midland, Pennsylvania strongman could pull a car... with his teeth... backwards... while walking on his hands!
Labels: Car Pulling, hand balancer, Hand Balancing Feat, Joe Tonti, Teeth Lifting
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Bill LillyWilliam Lynwood "Bill" Lilly was a great strength athlete, strongman, hand balancer, acrobat, weightlifter and Muscle Control expert from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Like many strength stars, he began physical training while engaged in gymnastics, excelling in the pommmel horse, horizontal bar and parallel bars. At the age of 19 in January of 1925, he bought his first barbell and began systematic weight training in addition to his gymnastic pursuits.
At a bodyweight of around 150 pounds, he was able to achieve the following lifts:
Lilly also practiced Muscle Control daily.Squat: 340 lbs. Stiff-Leg Deadlift: 300 lbs. Barbell Curl: 118 lbs x 6
Labels: Bill Lilly, Hand Balancing, Hand Balancing Feat, One Arm Planche
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Wednesday, June 17, 2009
A Unique FeatI don't know who these guys are or anything about them but I will say that this feat is quite impressive. In all my years, I have never seen this feat performed anywhere else. They certainly make it look pretty easy although it's a lot more difficult that it looks.
Labels: Balance Feat, Bodyweight Feat, Hand Balancing Feat, Unique Feat
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Friday, May 29, 2009
Bert Elliot ~ Hand Balancing FeatWhen you think about it, this is one hell of a strength feat: Weightlifting and strongman champ Bert Elliott supports his friend Cliff Graham in a hand stand position, then slowly presses him to lockout. It's one thing to do this with a barbell but with a human being, perfectly balanced the whole time? Simply an amazing display of strength and skill by both athletes.
Labels: Bert Elliott, Cliff Graham, Hand Balancing, Hand Balancing Feat, Press
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Monday, May 18, 2009
Clevio MassimoClevio Massimo, known as the "Modern Hercules" certainly earned his nickname. He 'leg pressed' eight men in the Tomb of Hercules position, held a 210 pound barbell around his neck while in a hand stand, bent nails and was also a very good wrestler. Here he presses a tremendous kettlebell.
Labels: Clevio Massimo, Hand Balancing Feat, handstand, Kettlebell, Leg Press, Modern Hercules, The Tomb of Hercules
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Wednesday, May 06, 2009
| Hand Balancing was part of Doug Hepburn's regular training program. He figured the the increased blood flow to the upper body while in the inverted position would be good for building his pressing strength. Given his track records, there certainly may be something to that. Here's Doug as the 'bottom man' in a unique feat: that's a 205 pound barbell and a 170 pound man he's holding overhead. This picture is more impressive than it may appear when you consider how they got in that position in the first place - a feat in itself. This picture was taken just after Doug established a new world record in the press with a lift of 353 pounds. |  Doug Hepburn ~ Hand Balancing |
Labels: Doug Hepburn, Hand Balancing, Hand Balancing Feat, Press
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Wednesday, April 22, 2009
 Bob Jones | Who else? The incomparable Bob Jones balancing skillfully on his thumbs on a set of Indian clubs. Bob would begin this feat with an Indian club under each finger and then flick them away one by one until he was left on his thumbs. (Which is why the clubs are scattered beneath him.) With so many "lifting" records portrayed on this site it may be easy to overlook this one but if you want a good example of a feat which will never be duplicated, this would be it. It's difficult enough to hold a handstand, let alone on the thumbs, let alone balanced on Indian clubs. |
Labels: Balance Feat, Bob Jones, hand balancer, Hand Balancing Feat, Indian Clubs, Thumb Strength
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Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Jimmie PayneJimmie Payne was one of Jack LaLanne's good friends and training partners at the original Muscle Beach scene in Santa Monica, California. Payne's background in hand balancing served him well, first as a lifting champion, then as a physique title holder (He competed in the Pro Mr. America four times) and finally as a stage athlete. He and his lovely partner Cindy Layne performed across the country as "Payne and Layne."
He was no slouch in 'normal' lifts either, accomplishing a straight-arm pullover with 160 pounds, deadlifting 500 pounds for 8 reps and a standing press with a pair of 115-pound dumbbells.
Labels: Hand Balancing, Hand Balancing Act, Hand Balancing Feat, Jack LaLanne, Jimmie Payne, Muscle Beach, Pro Mr. America, Santa Monica California
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Friday, April 03, 2009
| Incredible handbalancing feats were a common sight at the original Muscle Beach in Santa Monica, California. Here's what I'm talking about: Starting at the top is professional hand balancer Gene Miller, Jack Lalanne, Deforest "Moe" Most, the Original Sports Director of Muscle Beach, and at the bottom is weightlifting and bodybuilding champ Harold Zinkin. This feat that is even more impressive than you might realize. Most people can't get into a full back bend position in the first place, Zinkin does so while supporting 400+ pounds. This picture was taken in 1944. |  Handbalancing on Muscle Beach |
Labels: Gene Miller, Hand Balancing, Hand Balancing Feat, Harold Zinkin, Jack LaLanne, Moe Most, Muscle Beach, Santa Monica California
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Monday, March 30, 2009
The Jackson Trio... Easily one of the most amazing photographs ever taken. Jarley Smith, Jewell Waddek, and Jimmy "Muscles" Jackson were known professionally as the "Jackson Trio" as they traveled the country performing on the Vaudeville circuit.
On August 21st, 1934, with the newsreel cameras rolling, the trio balanced precariously on a ledge of the Paramount building overlooking Times Square while this famous picture was taken. While in New York, the trio always trained at Sig Klein's Gym!
Labels: Hand Balancing, Hand Balancing Act, Hand Balancing Feat, Jarley Smith, Jewell Waddek, Jimmy Jackson, Sig Klein's Gym, The Jackson Trio, Vaudeville
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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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Thursday, February 05, 2009
Pudgy StocktonAt the original Muscle Beach here's the great Pudgy Stockton supporting a 180-pound man in the hand-to-hand balancing and a 165-pound man doing a hand stand on her knees. Pudgy practiced a number of different types of training, weightlifting, hand balancing and acrobatics.
Labels: Hand Balancing, Hand Balancing Feat, Pudgy Stockton
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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 29, 2009
Joe NordquestJoe Nordquest the famous strongman from Ashtabula, Ohio, performed a number of unusual strength feats during his career. This was all the more amazing since he did it all on one leg, having been in a train accident as a child. Nordquest's feats include: a left-arm bent press of 277-1/2 pounds, balanced on one hand while holding a 100-pound dumbbell in the other and a 388-pound 'shoulder bridge' press. Judging by the picture it's not difficult to see how he was able to move such weights. His brother Adolph was also a great strongman.
Labels: Adolph Nordquest, Bridge Press, Hand Balancing Feat, Joe Nordquest
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Wednesday, June 18, 2008
 Bob Jones | If you could travel back in time and ask Bob Jones what his toughest hand balancing feat was, he might tell you this one... but he did it! Most of the time hand balancers balance on a solid, stable surface such as a table, or parallettes. That's a decidely "unstable" base, a free-swinging length of pipe hung by a couple ropes. |
Labels: Balance, Balance Feat, Bob Jones, Bodyweight Feat, hand balancer, 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
Friday, April 18, 2008
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.
Labels: Carnival Strongman, Circus Strongman, David Willoughby, George Jowett, Hand Balancing, Hand Balancing Feat, Muscle Control, Oldtime Strongman Exercises, Ottley Coulter, Vaudeville
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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, April 08, 2008
The Press-UpThe 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.)
Labels: Balance, Bodyweight Exercise, Bodyweight Feat, Exercise, Hand Balancing, Hand Balancing Feat, Intemediate Handbalancing Move, Parallettes, Press-Up
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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, March 28, 2008
| Bob Jones again shows why he was one of the greatest hand balancers who ever lived... a one-arm planche while simultaneously holding a 55-pound dumbbell in the other hand. You won't be seeing this one again any time soon... |  Bob Jones |
Labels: Bob Jones, Bodyweight Feat, Dumbbell, Hand Balancing, Hand Balancing Feat, One Arm Planche
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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, February 01, 2008
 The One-Hand Balance | "The experience gained in learning a one-hand balance can play a very important part in your gymnastics program, both in practice and in competition. For the feeling and coordination necessary to balance on one hand will increase your gymnastic ability on all other apparatus. In competition, a one-hand balance can be used to advantage in your free calisthenics or parallel bar routine. In free calisthenics, a one-hand balance on the floor is rated high in difficulty and will bring you points if you hold it for at least three counts, holding your other hand to your side and using good form." |
Labels: Bodyweight Feat, Bodyweight Training, Calisthenics, Gymnastics, 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
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
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