J.C. Tolson's Challenge Ringweight

J.C. Tolson's Challenge Ringweight

The great strongman J.C. Tolson had a Challenge Weight with which he would perform his favorite feat. He could lift this 90-pound ringweight overhead with the little finger of one hand only! Thousands of strongmen tried to duplicate this feat yet failed. Tolson could do it with ridiculous ease.

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Louis Cyr's Weights

Louis Cyr's Weights

A rare picture of some of Louis Cyr's weights. Note the Ring Weight in the foreground and the fact that most of these classic weights have thick handles. You can tell a lot of strength was built with these weights.

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The Young Apollo

The Young Apollo
The Young Apollo -- A.K.A. Paul Anderson (yes, really) from Australia performed many unusual feats during his colorful career. He was fond of the Human Link Feat, letting a car run over him and pulling railroad cars with his teeth.

Here's The Young Apollo supporting 540 Pounds in pretty much every imaginable way.

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The Muscle Out

The "Muscle Out" is an oldtime lift where a weight is held at arms length to the front or side of the body. Generally a block weight or ring weight was used. This lift is quite a test of shoulder strength. If you can accomplish this feat with a 56-pound weight, like the French gentleman on the right, you are indeed strong.

The Muscle Out

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Louis Cyr Strikes a Classic Pose

Louis Cyr Strikes a Classic Pose
This picture was taken in the late 1800's, a time when the subject of a photograph had to stand still for long periods of time -- which means the globe dumbbell that Louis Cyr is holding aloft here is likely just a prop.

Cyr did, however, did possess the ability to move such huge weights.

He once jerked a 132 pound dumbbell for 36 reps and his bent press of 273 pounds beat Eugen Sandow's mark. Also note the rather impressive Ring Weight.

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Oldtime Strongman Lift: The Muscle Out

The "Muscle Out" is an oldtime lift where a heavy weight is held at arms length to the front or to the side. Doing 50-60 pounds is impressive; many of the oldtime strongmen worked their way up to holding 80-90 pounds in this manner. Kettlebells were often used for this lift, as were 56 pound ring weights, as demonstrated on the right by a young Thomas Inch.

Thomas Inch

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Ring Weights

The Ring Weight is a relative of the Kettlebell and was very popular in the training and performance of many of the Oldtime Strongmen.

You'll often see them sitting in the foreground of pictures of Oldtime Gyms.

The Ring Weight shown below belonged to The Young Mighty Apollon aka J.C. Tolson.

The Young Mighty Apollon's Challenge Ring Weight

His challenge was to lift it overhead using nothing but your little finger... a tremendous feat of tendon strength. Thousands of well-known athletes tried and failed, save "The Young Mighty Apollon" who could perform the feat with inhuman ease.

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