John Davis

John Davis

The great John Davis snatching his personal best of 330-1/2 pounds at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki.

---

Pete George

Pete George

Akron, Ohio's Pete George on the cover of the March, 1956 issue of Strength and Health Magazine.
Over his career, George won five World Championships (1947, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1955) and three Olmpic Medals (Silver: 1948 games London, England; Gold: 1952 Games, Helsinki, Finland; Silver: 1956 games Melbourne, Australia).

He set three world records and his best lifts were as follows:

Press: 122.5 kg

Snatch: 127.5 kg

Clean and Jerk: 164.5 kg

---

Doug Hepburn - 1953 Heavyweight World Champion

Doug Hepburn - 1953 Heavyweight World Champion

Doug Hepburn's final lift to win the 1953 Heavyweight World Weightlifting Championship held in Stockholm, Sweden. (defeating John Davis) The lift pictured here was a 363-pound clean and jerk -- the highest of the contest. Doug's other lifts of the day were a 371-pound press and a 297-pound snatch for a total of 1031 pounds.

---

Dave Sheppard Training at The York Gym

Dave Sheppard Training at The York Gym
One of the greatest gyms of all time was the old York gym on Broad street. An untold number of champions trained there, among them Dave Sheppard, shown here practicing his high pulls with 360 pounds.

Sheppard used a wide grip, as if snatching, and pulled the weight high enough to touch his chest lightly on each rep. This was one of the key exercises that allowed him to snatch 316-1/2 pounds at a bodyweight of 190 pounds.

John Davis looks on as he waits his turn to lift.

---

Chuck Vinci

Chuck Vinci
Chuck Vinci was another great olympic weightlifter from York, Pennsylvania. Though he stood only 4'11" and weighed 123 pounds, he could clean & jerk well over 300 pounds and snatch 220+.

Vinci was a Two-time Olympic Gold Medalist (1956 and 1960), Seven-time world Senior National Champion (1954-1956,1958-1961) and set Twelve World Records during his career.

---

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.

---

Osmo Kiiha

In addition to publishing "THE IRON MASTER" John "Osmo" Kiiha is a former World-Class Olympic Lifter who competed in the 1968 Senior Nationals in the 198 pound class. His bests lifts were: Total: 985, Press: 333, Clean & Jerk: 418, Snatch: 286. Here he is getting ready to incline press a pair of 150 pound dumbbells.

Osmo Kiiha

Also, check out Osmo's IRON MASTER dumbbells here.

---

Weightlifting Champion John Davis

Weightlifting Champion John Davis

John Davis was one of America's greatest Olympic weightlifting champions. Throughout his career he won two gold medals: 1948(London) and 1952(Helsinki) He was also a Senior World Champion in 1938, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1950, and 1951. His best Olympic lifts were: Press - 342 Pounds Snatch - 330-1/2 Pounds Clean & Jerk - 402 Pounds

He also excelled in a number of other lifts, deadlifting 705 pounds, squatting 525 pounds eight times in succession, curling 215 pounds, chin himself with either arm multiple times, a right-hand lift of 8 pounds on a Weaver Stick in the Forward Lift style and one of the few men in history to Clean and Jerk the Apollon Wheels

---

Doug Hepburn

Doug Hepburn was born in Vancouver B.C. on September 16th, 1927. He was of average height and build and took up weight lifting to bulk up.

Soon it became apparent that Doug wasn't so average after all --- he began to progress very quickly in his training.

Although he had a slight handicap (a club foot) that did not stop him from becoming one of the most powerful men in history. He became a Senior World Champion in 1953 and set eight World Records during his career.

Here's a look at some of his best lifts: Right Hand Military Press - 175 Pounds Two Hands Press (Off Rack) - 440 Pounds Behind Neck Press - 350 Pounds Two Hands Curl - 260 Pounds Bench Press - 580 Pounds Jerk-Press (Off Rack) 500 Pounds Two Hands Snatch - 297-1/2 Pounds Two Hands Clean & Press - 381 Pounds Squat - 760 Pounds Two Hands Deadlift - 705 Pounds

Doug Hepburn

---

Abbye "Pudgy" Stockton

Pudgy Stockton

If there ever were a "bar belle" it was Abbye "Pudgy" Stockton. (She aquired the nickname "Pudgy" as a child and it stuck.) "Pudgy" weighed 115 pounds at a height of 5'2" and, as you can see, was quite the physical specimen -- especially impressive at a time when weightlifting for either gender was frowned upon. She and husband Les Stockton were well known at the first "Muscle Beach" at Santa Monica, California where they primarily worked on acrobatics and gymnastic feats for the crowds.

Aside from being a frequent contributor to Strength and Health Magazine, Pudgy also helped organize the very first weight lifting contect for women through the AAU. In that contest, Stockton pressed 100 pounds, snatched 105 pounds, and clean and jerked 135 pounds.

---

Schemansky Stalks the Bar...

Norb Schemansky
From the late 1940s to mid-1960s, Norb Schemansky was America's most successful Olympic Weightlifter and the first weightlifter to medal in four Olympic Games, (despite missing the 1956 games.)

Do you think he means business in the shot above?

Here's a look at Norb Schemansky's achievements over the course of his career:

Olympic Champion - 1952 Olympic Games, Helsinki

Silver Medal - 1948 Olympic Games, London

Bronze Medal - 1960, Rome, 1964, Tokyo

World Champion (1951, 1953, and 1954)

1955 Pan American Games Heavyweight Champion

Silver Medal - Senior World Championships (1947, 1962, 1963)

Bronze Medal - Senior World Championships (1964)

And best career marks:

Press - 415 lbs.
Snatch - 363 3/4 lbs.
Clean and Jerk - 445 lbs.
Total - 1200 lbs. (400-335-445)

In addition to his weightlifting exploits, he also famously cleaned, then thrice jerked the Apollon Wheels.

---

Oldtime Dumbbell Training With John Grimek

Oldtime Dumbbell Training With John Grimek
Here's a nice little dumbbell workout by John Grimek:

1. Two Hands Snatch w/dumbbells
2. Upright Rowing Motion
3. Side Bends
4. Shoulder Shrug
5. Lateral Raise
6. Dumbbell Swing

Grimek was using a pair of adjustable York Dumbbells but feel free to use a solid pair if that's what you have. You can find out more about some of the ways that Grimek trained in The Mark Berry Bar-Bell Courses

---

Karl Swoboda: Austrian Strongman

Karl Swoboda
An Austrian by birth, Karl Swoboda was one of the early strength "Giants" -- literally. Swoboda eventually reached a bodyweight of over 400 lbs. He owned his own restaurant and did plenty of lifting back in the "bier garden."

Of course, his tremendous strength also matched his great bodyweight. Here's a look at some of his best marks:

Two Arm Jerk: 441 pounds

Two Arm Continental Press: 359-1/2 pounds

Right Arm Military Press: 154-1/4 pounds

Two Arm Continental Press w/Dumbbells: 286 pounds

Left Hand Snatch: 158-1/2 pounds

Right Hand Snatch: 169-3/4 pounds

You can read more about Karl Swoboda in Physical Training Simplified by Mark Berry and The Truth Abut Weight Lifting by Alan Calvert

---