Monday, February 08, 2010
John B. Gagnon, of Caribou, Maine, is a strongman that you do not hear much about but laid claim to some very impressive feats which are as follows:
Finger Lift – 794 pounds One Hand Lift – 1,111 pounds Two Hand Lift – 1,575 pounds Two Hand and Knees Lift – 2,195 pounds Neck Lift – 1,317 pounds Harness Lift – 2,689 pounds Teeth Lift – 627 pounds One Arm Lift – 924 pounds Two Arm Lift – 1,248 pounds Back Lift – 4,170 pounds Total – 16,650 pounds lifted in only 25 minutes
Labels: Back Lift, Challenge Feats, finger lifting, Harness Lift, John B. Gagnon, Neck Lift, One Finger Lift, Performing Strongman
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, August 28, 2009
Not much is known of Gottfried Huber, the early weightlifter/strongman/wrestler from the Austrian state of Tirol. What little is remembered is that he specialized in feats of gripping power and finger lifting. Consequently, he was also a champion in the sport of Fingerhakeln (finger hooking), a test of strength in which you you try to pull your opponent across a table with your middle finger only.
Labels: Austrian Strongman, finger lifting, Finger Strength, Fingerhakeln, Gottfried Huber, Strongman
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, August 18, 2009
Stanley "Stanless Steel" Pleskun from South Brunswick, N.J has been quietly performing amazing feats of strength for years. He can lift over 600 pounds with one finger, break chains, drive nails, lever sledge hammers and, incredibly, bend a penny with his bare hands. Stanless attributes his great strength to the ability to harness the power of his own mind.
Labels: Chain Breaking, Coin Bending, finger lifting, Mental Strength, Mind Power, Nail Driving, Oldtime Strongman, Sledge Hammer Leverage, Stanless Steel, Steel Bending, Steel Bending Strongman
All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
Monday, June 08, 2009
| Originally hailing from Ashtabula, Ohio, Adolph Nordquest began his performing strongman career in Buffalo, New York in 1901. A year later he moved to New York City to study and train under Professor Attila. Due to Nordquest's similarities to one of Attila's former students he was dubbed the "American Sandow." Teaming with another great strongman, Otis Lambert, Nordquest performed very successfully in music halls and vaudeville for the next decade and a half. When his performing career came to an end, Nordquest focused very intently on his strength training, so much so that he briefly held the world deadlift record with a lift of 638 pounds. He was also very good at finger lifting. His brother Joe Nordquest was also a famous strongman with many records to his credit. | Adolph Nordquest |
Labels: Adolph Nordquest, American Sandow, Deadlift, Deadlift Training, Eugen Sandow, finger lifting, Joe Nordquest, Oldtime Strongman, Performing Strongman, Professor Attila, Vaudeville
All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
Monday, June 01, 2009
It's not often that one of Hermann Goerner's records is broken, let alone broken by over 100 pounds (!) but that is exactly what you are witnessing here. John McLoughlin, a 198 pound lifter from the German American A.C. in New York City is shown here deadlifting 411 pounds with the middle fingers of each hand.
This lift broke Goerner's old record of 308 pounds which he set back in the 1920's. I can say from experience that this type of lifting ain't exactly a walk in the park.
Labels: finger lifting, Finger Strength, Hermann Goerner, John McLoughlin, Single Finger Lifts, The Middle Finger Deadlift
All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Finger Lifting | Finger 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. |
Labels: Adolph Nordquest, finger lifting, Finger Strength, Grip Feat, John Y. Smith, One Finger Lift, Ottley Coulter, strongman lift, Warren Lincoln Travis
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, September 07, 2007
Strongman Stunts Made Easy by George F. Jowett | This training booklet, along with five others, appeared sometime around 1930 and George Jowett claimed to have sold hundreds of thousands of them all over the world. Like much of Jowett's writings, the material is surprisingly timeless, of course, this booklet is devoted specificaly to feats of strength -- the Bent Press, lifting a human being, finger lifting, steel bending, how to tear a deck of cards etc. In what should also not be a surprise, George Jowett describes the training for each feat in great detail. |
Labels: Bent Press, Deck of Cards, finger lifting, George Jowett, Human Lift, Mail Order Course, Oldtime Strongman, Steel Bending, Strongman Stunts Made Easy
All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
Welcome to the Strongest Blog on the Net!
This is THE PLACE where you will find interesting bits of Iron Game history, lore and training tips from the strongest men of all time.

John B. Gagnon
Gottfried Huber
Stanless Steel
Adolph Nordquest
The Middle Finger Deadlift
Finger Lifting
Strongman Stunts Made Easy