Oldtime Strength Blog - www.oldtimestrongman.com

Raoul le Boucher

Posted on Tuesday, April 13th, 2021 by John Wood

Raoul le Boucher (The Butcher) as he looked in later 1901 as the heavyweight wrestling champion of France. This shot was taken in Paul Pons’ gym in Paris. The vast majority of the images of famous strongmen and wrestlers were taken here in the early 20th century as it was essentially the center of the “strongman” world in the day.

Pons had an untold number of globe barbells and dumbbells to train with, plus a sandpit floor so that the globes would not be damaged should they be dropped. Look closely and you’ll also see a poster in the background for “The 4 Cliftons” a traveling troupe of acrobats.

When Ya Gotta Add Weight

Posted on Tuesday, April 13th, 2021 by John Wood

Don’t know the full store here but when ya gotta add weight, oftentimes you’ll need to be resourceful. Unfortunately we have no further details on this chap.

German Kettlebell Jugglers

Posted on Tuesday, April 13th, 2021 by John Wood

A team of German kettlebell jugglers. German kettlebells were notable because of their square handle which was more conducive to throwing and catching.

Axle Öfverstén

Posted on Tuesday, April 13th, 2021 by John Wood

Another look at the great Swedish strongman Axle Öfversténlifting an excellent globe barbell. Of note is the extremely thick handle on the other globe barbell pictured. This picture dates to 1889.

Jack LaLanne’s Hand Stand

Posted on Tuesday, April 13th, 2021 by John Wood

Jack Lalanne was always a big proponent of hand balancing. Here’s Jack holding a perfect hand stand while Happy, the white German Shepherd, looks on (and does a balance of his own!)

Georges Letto – Chain Breaking

Posted on Tuesday, April 13th, 2021 by John Wood

We managed to find a rare image of Georges Letto breaking a chain. Like many strongmen of the day, Letto also did some professional wrestling on occasion.

Don Booth

Posted on Friday, April 9th, 2021 by John Wood

Weightlifter Don Booth, captain of the Denver Central YMCA weightlifting team, demonstrates the form that helped him with a silver medal in 165-pound class in the 1962 National YMCA Championships. Denver Central YMCA, meet director of the Rocky Mountain AAU Championships looks on.

In his career, Don Booth won 28 State Olympic Weightlifting Championships in all and six Regional championships (notably being the only person in the United States to win two regions in the same year.) At 38 years of age, Booth weight back to college to finish his degree, and, became the world’s oldest competitive college weight lifter. At he 1972 Pennsylvania state championships, Booth totaled 855 pounds in the press(260), snatch(255), and clean and jerk(340), good enough for second place in the 181-pound class!

Steve Reeves Doing Wrist Curls

Posted on Friday, April 9th, 2021 by John Wood

There are dozens — perhaps hundreds — of different exercises for the various muscles groups. But when it all comes down to it, all you really need is a handful of basic exercises to get the job done. If you want to build wrist strength and forearm size, it’s tough to beat the basic dumbbell wrist curl, as demonstrated here by Steve Reeves.

The Teeth That Pack Power

Posted on Friday, April 9th, 2021 by John Wood

We’ve covered Joe Ponder before. Here’s Joe lifting a 570-pound Ford race car engine in his usual manner (with his teeth). This was in preparation for a “Ripley’s Believe It Or Not” feature, circa 1984. While this is most certainly an extreme case, more moderate teeth lifting — and subsequently strengthening the neck and jaw — does have its merits.