Tuesday, March 02, 2010
John Davis at Muscle BeachJohn Davis was among the many famous visitors to Muscle Beach during its heyday. This picture was probably taken during the period of time when Davis spent some time out on the West Coast training at Yarick's Gym. Looks like around 300 pounds on the bar.
Labels: Clean and Jerk, Ed Yarick's Gym, John Davis, Muscle Beach, olympic weightlifter
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Thursday, January 07, 2010
Josef StrassbergerAs a super-heavyweight, the great German Weightlifter Josef Strassberger won the Gold Medal at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympc Games. He came back four years later to beat his winning total although it was only good enough for Bronze at the 1932 Los Angeles Games. Strassberger set six World Records during his career including his best press of 300 pounds which he accomplished in 1935.
Labels: 1928 Olympics, 1932 Olympics, Bronze Medal, German Weightlifter, Gold Medal, Josef Strassberger, olympic weightlifter, Press
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Monday, December 14, 2009
Louis HostinShown here is the French weightlifter Louis Hostin, who won the Gold Medal at the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. Hostin also won the Silver medal at the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam (where the above photo was taken).
Labels: 1928 Olympics, 1932 Olympics, 1936 Olympics, Berg-Hantell, French Weightlifter, Gold Medal, Louis Hostin, olympic weightlifter
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Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Carlo GalimbertiCarlo Galimberti was one of Italy's greatest weightlifters. As a middleweight, he won Gold at the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, and followed that up with a Silver Medal in Amsterdam in 1928 and another in Los Angeles, in 1932. He also competed, but did not place, at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.
Labels: 1924 Olympics, 1928 Olympics, 1932 Olympics, 1936 Olympics, Carlo Galimberti, Italian Weightlifter, olympic weightlifter
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Monday, October 05, 2009
Hans HaasHans Haas, the Austrian weightlifter, was the second man to do a double bodyweight clean & jerk in international competition. He accomplished this mark in winning the Gold Medal in the lightweight class at the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam. Hass came back four years later to win the Silver medal at the 1932 Games in Los Angeles.
Labels: 1928 Olympics, 1932 Olympics, Austrian Strongman, Clean and Jerk Record, Hans Haas, olympic weightlifter
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Friday, October 02, 2009
Gennady IvanchenkoGennady Ivanchenko, the great Russian weightlifter, was the first light heavyweight ever to surpass the 500 kg total. This shot is from a training session prior to the 1971 Sr. European Championships in Budapest, Hungary (where he unsurprisingly took gold).
Labels: Back Development, Gennady Ivanchenko, olympic weightlifter, Russian Weightlifter
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Thursday, August 20, 2009
Waldemar BaszanowskiWaldemar Baszanowski, the great Polish weightlifter, competed in four Olympic Games and took home Gold twice, at the 1964 Games in Tokyo, and the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. He also won five Wold Championships: 1961, 1964, 1965, 1968, and 1969 and set twenty five World Records over the course of his career. Today, Baszanowski is the President of the European Weightlifting Federation.
Labels: 1964 Olympics, 1968 Olympics, Gold Medal, olympic weightlifter, Polish Weightlifter, Waldemar Baszanowski, World Record
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Monday, August 10, 2009
Dave AshmanThe great lifter Dave Ashman gets in a few squats with 565 lbs. at a training session at Muscle Beach. Like many successful lifters, Ashman ascribed much of his full body power to focusing on the squat. - When you can squat 500+ in sunglasses no less, you know you're really doing something.
Labels: Dave Ashman, Muscle Beach, olympic weightlifter, Squat
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Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Training at The York GymYears ago, lifters didn't argue about what was "functional" and what wasn't... they didn't worry about working their white fibers or red fibers... and they sure didn't jump over any little plastic hurdles...
What they DID do was to pick a few basic exercises and focus on just getting strong. Here's the great lifter Chuck Vinci training at the Old York Gym. Vinci is shown bench pressing over 300 lbs. while weighing only 125 lbs (at a height of 4' 11"). At the time this picture was taken, at the Pan American Games, Vinci had recently broken Vilkhovsky's world record snatch with a lift of 223 lbs.
The spotters are Yas Kazuhara and Dave Sheppard.
Labels: 300 Bench Press, Chuck Vinci, Dave Sheppard, olympic weightlifter, Upper Body Exercise, Yas Kuzuhara, York Gym
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Thursday, July 23, 2009
Yuri Vlasov in TrainingHow does a World Champion Olympic weight lifter build upper-body strength? The great Russian lifter Yuri Vlasov used the bench press (among other exercises) in his program back in the 50s and 60s. Of course, by the looks of things he sure didn't mess around like the gym lifters of today.
"Getting stronger" and plenty of technique work were part of the game back then. It seems to have worked quite well for Mr. Vlasov, who set 34 Weightlifting World Records during his career... Maybe the bench press isn't so bad after all?
Labels: Bench Press, olympic weightlifter, Russian Weightlifter, Yuri Vlasov
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Thursday, June 04, 2009
Pete GeorgeTo build real power, you have to handle heavy weights. Here the great Olympic Weightlifter Pete George practices his Continental lifting with around 400 pounds. He got the bar to his chest but missed the jerk. Not bad considering he weighed only 165 pounds at the time.
Labels: Barbell Lift, Continental, Continental and Jerk, Olympic Weightlifing Exercise, olympic weightlifter, Pete George
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Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Bill GoodThe great American Weightlifter Bill Good circa 1934. The Reamstown, Pennsylvania native was a seven-time National weightlifting Champion (1930-1935, 1937) and competed in the 1932 and 1936 Olympic Games. He was also the owner and namesake of The Good Dumbbell which he famously hip lifted on many occasions.
Labels: 1932 Olympics, 1936 Olympics, Bill Good, Hip Lift, National Champion Weightlifter, olympic weightlifter, The Good Dumbbell
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Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Louis AbeleLouis Abele, lifting out of the Lighthouse Boy's Club in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was a three-time Sr. National Silver medalist and briefly held the American Record in the press. He would also have lifted at the 1940 Olympic games although unfortunately they were canceled. Had he been born a few years earlier Abele would probably be a lot more well-known since he was in his prime right around the same time as Steve Stanko and later John Davis.
Abele was adamant about the incredible strength benefits of heavy, high-rep squatting (something which is pretty evident in the picture.) His best marks were: 400 lbs. x 18, 450 lbs. x 10, 475 lbs. x 7 and 500 lbs. x 3.
Labels: John Davis, Leg Strength, Louis Abele, olympic weightlifter, Press, Squat, Squatting, Steve Stanko
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Monday, May 11, 2009
Ike BergerA shot of Ike Berger cleaning and jerking 325 pounds to set the world record and win the Gold Medal in the featherweight class at the 1958 Senior World Weightlifting Championships. Berger was known for his flawless technique in all three lifts.
Labels: Clean and Jerk, Ike Berger, olympic weightlifter, Senior Nationals, World Record
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Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Fred LoweThe great Olympic Weightlifter Fred Lowe was said to have the absolute greatest leg development of any strength athlete in any sport - ever. That would be a pretty tough point to argue otherwise. Fred only weighed 165 pounds so you can bet those legs could generate a lot of power. He is STILL the lightest man to ever clean and jerk over 400 pounds. Here's Fred on the way to winning gold in the 1972 Senior Nationals.
Labels: Clean and Jerk, Clean and Jerk Record, Fred Lowe, Leg Development, olympic weightlifter, Senior Nationals
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Sunday, February 15, 2009
Harold SakataYou might recognize him by his most famous movie role as the villain 'Odd Job' in the James Bond movie 'Gold Finger" , but Harold Sakata was also a great Olympic weightlifter, sometimes-bodybuilder and professional wrestler.
Sakata got his start reading Strength and Health Magazine and, as a teenager, won many local lifting contests on his native Hawaii. After a stint in the Army, Sakata had a chance to focus on his training and he set a Hawaiian record in the clean and jerk as well as won the Mr. Hawaii bodybuilding title.
His weightlifting totals were such that he was able to compete in the Senior Nationals, where he finished second to Stan Stanczyk at the 1948 Senior Nationals. His finish at the Nationals qualified him for a spot at the 1948 Summer Olympics where he finished second, winning the Silver Medal, again, to the eventual champion Stanczyk. The two would go on to become lifelong friends.
After his weightlifting career, Sakata traveled the country as the pro-wrestler Tosh Togo.
Labels: 1948 Olympics, Harold Sakata, Mr. Hawaii, olympic weightlifter, Pro Wrestler, Stan Stanczyk, Tosh Togo
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Saturday, January 24, 2009
Stan StanczykThe great Olympic lifter Stan Stanczyk was the first lifter to win three successive World titles in three different weight classes. Lifting for the York Barbell Club, he won five in all. He also won six Senior National titles, a Gold Medal at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, England, a Gold at the 1951 Pan-American Games and a Silver Medal at the 1952 Helsinki Games.
Stanczyk set eight word records during his lifting career. He was also a fairly good bodybuilder, placing very respectably in the few contests he entered. Once his competitive weightlifting career ended Stanczyk moved to Miami and opened a bowling alley. He was as meticulous with his bowling as he was with weightlifting, he kept track of every game he ever bowled (lifetime average of 190!)
Labels: 1948 Olympics, olympic weightlifter, Stan Stanczyk, World Champion, York Barbell, York Gang
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Saturday, January 10, 2009
| Tony Terlazzo was one of America's greatest Olympic weight lifters. Lifting for the York Barbell Club, Terlazzo was a Gold medal winner in the 60 kg class at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, set seven world records, won two world championshios and achieved an unprecedented 13 Senior National weightlifting titles. His best clean and jerk was 144.5 kg in the lightweight class. |  Tony Terlazzo |
Labels: 1936 Olympics, Clean and Jerk, Gold Medal, Muscletown USA, National Champion Weightlifter, olympic weightlifter, Tony Terlazzo, World Champion
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Thursday, January 08, 2009
Gary ClevelandGary Cleveland, 2-time Senior National Champion weightlifter, York Man, strength author an all-around nice guy does a few weighted dips to build his pressing strength. Gary placed 5th in the 82.5 kg class at the 1964 Olympic games held in Tokyo, Japan. Cleveland was a very good presser.
He went on to write a number of training articles for several different publications and also self-published a successful newsletter called the Avian Movement Advocate which was devoted to many different facets of strength training, philosophy and physical culture.
Labels: 1964 Olympics, Avian Movement Advocate, Dips, Gary Cleveland, olympic weightlifter, Strength Author, Weighted Dips, York Barbell Club t-shirt
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All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
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