Tuesday, July 14, 2009

  • John Y. Smith


  • John Y. Smith, shown above bent pressing a 185 lb. dumbbell, was another great strongman who was small in stature but large in strength. He was 5'7" and weighed around 165 lbs. in his prime yet could perform feats such as a right hand one-arm deadlift of 450 pounds (435 lbs. with the left), a hand and thigh lift of 1640 pounds and a press with a pair of dumbbells totaling 225 pounds. Smith was also a lifelong lifter, even winning the New England's Strongest Man Contest at 60 years of age.

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    Tuesday, July 14, 2009

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    Friday, April 03, 2009

  • New England's Strongest Man Contest 1926


  • One of the first strongman contests in this country was "New England's Strongest Man" contest, which was sponsored by the Boston Globe in 1926. The contest consisted of four lifts:

  • Two hands continental jerk
  • Two hands continental press
  • Two hands dead lift
  • Right and left hands dead lift


  • When the dust settled John Y. Smith was the winner by 15 pounds. He was sixty years old at the time.

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    Friday, April 03, 2009

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    Sunday, January 11, 2009

  • Finger Lifting

  • Finger LiftingFinger LiftingFinger Lifting is always popular due to the fact that a person can truthfully prove he can lift more with one finger than another can lift with both hands.

    Beyond a doubt, the greatest men in the world on this exercise who can handle the greatest poundages are Warren Lincoln Travis, Adolph Nordquest, John Y. Smith and Ottley R. Coulter, who, at 132 pounds could out lift many heavyweights.

    All four men here owe most of their success in this lift to their knowledge of muscular leverage and know just how to apply their muscular power.

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    Sunday, January 11, 2009

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    Friday, February 01, 2008

  • John Y. Smith and a Unique Barbell

  • John Y. SmithJohn Y. SmithGotta 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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    Friday, February 01, 2008

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    Monday, December 10, 2007

  • Oldtime Strongman John Y. Smith

  • Oldtime Strongman John Y. SmithJohn Y. Smith John Y. Smith was a great strongman in the New England area in the early 1900's.

    Among his many impressive feats were a right hand bent-press of 275-1/2 pounds (which broke Louis Cyr's mark) and a left hand bent-press of 248 pounds (Which stood as an American record for many years.)

    It was said that Smith's hands resembled "Iron Claws" due to his extensive training with Thick Bars.

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    Monday, December 10, 2007

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