Big Paul

Big Paul

Big Paul shows why he's called "Big Paul" - That's 420 pounds overhead.

---

Paul Anderson's Silver Dollar Squat

Paul Anderson's Silver Dollar Squat

One of Paul Paul Anderson's greatest feats was squatting with over 1200 pounds -- but it wasn't with a traditional barbell, it was with $25,000 worth of silver dollars at his strength show in Las Vegas. There was a standing challenge that anyone who could duplicate the feat could keep the money -- needless to say the money was safe.

---

Elwood Holbrook - Master of the Bent Press

Elwood Holbrook - Master of the Bent Press
Elwood Holbrook took 4th at the 1941 AAU Mr. America Contest AND took home the "Best Arms" award (He had also competed in the afternoon's weightlifting contest where he finished 6th with a 715-pound total in the 165-pound class.)

While Holbrook was a very talented strength athlete and equally good at bodybuilding as well as weightlifting, his real gift was the bent press -- he won the national Bent-Press Championship in a contest held by Sig Klein.

Holbrook was also one of the few men to bent press the famous Rolandow Dumbbell - a feat which he did on his first try and without a warmup.

Here's a shot of a 48-year old Elwood Holbrook bent-pressing 240 pounds -- 75 pounds above his bodyweight. That unique dumbbell belonged to Paul Anderson.

---

Paul Anderson "A Wonder of Nature"

Paul Anderson "A Wonder of Nature"
The great Paul Anderson warms up before a weightlifting exhibition at Dynamo Stadium in Russia, circa 1955 (at the height of the Cold War), as Bob Hoffman, Tommy Kono and other members of the York Gang look on.

At the time, the World record in the Olympic press was 330-1/2 pounds, set by the Russian champion, Medvedev. In front of a crowd of 15,000 people on a rainy day, Paul Anderson pressed 402-1/2 pounds.

The Russian crowd gave Anderson a standing ovation and rightfully began calling him "Chudo Prirody," which means "a wonder of nature."

---

Paul Anderson Squats 660 Pounds

Paul Anderson Squats
A young Paul Anderson squats with 660 pounds in an exhibition at the 1952 Mr. World bodybuilding contest (Won by Jim Park)

Doug Hepburn bested it shortly afterwards with 665 pounds but Paul Anderson followed that up with a squat of 714-1/2 pounds and from there it was off to the races.

Eventually Paul Anderson squatted with 1200 pounds, a feat that has yet to be broken in the manner which it was originally performed.

---

The Dumbbell Side Press

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

---

Paul Anderson Winning the 1956 Melbourne Olympics

Paul Anderson Winning the 1956 Melbourne Olympics
With this lift, Paul Anderson won the Gold Medal in the heavyweight class at the 1956Olympic Games held in Melbourne, Australia.

It sure didn't come easy...

Big Paul was suffering from an ear infection at the time which caused him to lose his balance and stagger once he had the weight overhead, thus missing several lifts he would normally make with ease.

Here's how he ended the day:

Press - 369 pounds

Snatch - 319 pounds

Clean and Jerk - 413 pounds

Though he totaled, 1101 pounds, it was far from his best. Still, it was a gold medal winning performance, and one that cemented his name in the history books.

---

Squatting With Paul Anderson

Squatting With Paul Anderson
If there ever were a man who was born to squat, it was Paul Anderson.

"Big Paul" often had a hard time finding bars which could hold enough weight so he had to improvise. He built this "barrel barbell" from a design pioneered by his friend Bob Peoples.

Paul would also train the squat in an unusual way:

He would dig a pit in the back yard and load up the bar to for over his normal full-squat max, then he would do partial movements, filling in the hole with dirt an inch at a time for each successive workout until he was working with a full movement.

---

Paul Anderson Backlift

Paul Anderson Backlift
Paul 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.

---

Nail Driving With Paul Anderson

Nail Driving With Paul Anderson
Paul Anderson accomplished many things in his life including an Olympic Gold Medal and World Records in just about every lift he tried but I bet you didn't know he was also an expert nail driver too...

When he traveled around for speaking engagements the quickest way to get an audience's attention was to perform an unusual feat of strength -- and a man driving a nail through a wooden board with his bare hand sure fits the bill!

There have been many excellent nail drivers throughout strongman history but I will cover them at another time.

---

Paul Anderson's Wheels

Paul Anderson's Wheels
What do you do when a normal barbell doesn't hold enough weight for your squat workouts? Paul Anderson's solution was this set of wheels which helped him build a set of 33" thighs.

---

Paul Anderson

Paul Anderson
Paul Anderson began as a skinny teenager with a pair of dumbbells and a stack of Strength and Health Magazines.

Soon, he was scouting out junkyards for heavier weights to lift and by the time he went to college, his lifts were near the American Records. But it wasn't until Bob Peoples taught young Paul Anderson the value of the Squat and deadlift that his strength really took off.

Paul Anderson eventually squatted 1206 pounds, benchpressed 627 pounds, one-arm pressed 380 pounds, and push-pressed an incredible 600 pounds. His Guinness Book of World Records back lift of 6,270 pounds still stands.

He also won the gold medal at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and in all, broke 18 American records, 8 world records, and retired unbeaten and unchallenged.

---

The Strength of Paul Anderson

The Many Strength Feats of Paul Anderson
Back 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:

Squat: 1185 lbs. Bench Press: 625 lbs. Deadlift Record without Straps: 780 lbs. Deadlift Record with "Hooks": 820 lbs. Clean & Press: 485 lbs. Clean & Jerk: 485 lbs. Snatch: 375 lbs. Push Press: 545 lbs. Back Lift: 6270 lbs. Dumbbell Side Press: 240 lbs. x 40 / 300 lbs. x 11

Paul Anderson Deadlifting

---