Canadian Strongman Archives - Page 2 of 2

“Old Joe” Taylor

Posted on Sunday, September 15th, 2013 by John Wood

“Old Joe” Taylor of Hamilton, Ontario does a bit of Neck Training. He was the only man in the whole city able to perform the feat shown here: lifting a 250-pound block of stone with his neck in this manner. “Old Joe” was 70 years old at the time, stood 5’6″ and weighed only 118 pounds. We’ll cover a few of Joe’s other amazing strength feats at a later date. Also: note the Grimek picture on the wall of old Joe’s Gym.

The Great Antonio

Posted on Monday, June 3rd, 2013 by John Wood

The Great Antonio

One of the more colorful Canadian Strongmen was “The Great Antonio” who lived most of his life in Montreal. Antonio was known to pull several city buses at once, sometimes with his hair and could lift a truck. The photo above is unfortunately cropped, otherwise you’d be able to see the other dozen or so people that Antonio is supporting hanging on the telephone pole on his shoulder.

Antonio also certainly lived up to his “Grand” nickname, usually tipping the scales somewhere between four and five hundred pounds at a height of 6′ 6″. He also toured Japan as a professional wrestler.

Louis Cyr’s Barrel Lifting Feat

Posted on Tuesday, May 8th, 2012 by John Wood

Louis Cyr Barrel Lifting

On May 8th, 1896, the great Canadian strongman Louis Cyr performed several amazing feats of strength, among them lifting and shouldering a 433 lb. barrel with one hand. The barrel was filled with a mixture of water and sand and the feat took place at Saint-Louis Hall in Chicago, Illinois.

Louis Cyr “The Canadian Colossus”

Posted on Thursday, November 3rd, 2011 by John Wood

Louis Cyr Circus Poster

The great Canadian Strongman, Louis
Cyr traveled and performed with The
John Robinson Circus during the 1898 season. According to records, Cyr’s measurements at the time
were as follows:

* Width across shoulders: 27 inches
* Neck: 23 inches
* Forearm: 19 inches
* Bicep: 21.5 inches
* Waist: 52 inches
* Thigh: 29-3/4 inches
* Calf: 24 inches
* Chest: 59.5 inches

John Robinson’s challenge was whether
any man could equal or better any one of Cyr’s feats… With numbers like a backlift of 4300 pounds and a one-arm Jerk of 254 pounds, needless to say, the
money was very safe.

Doug Hepburn

Posted on Wednesday, October 12th, 2011 by John Wood

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 very apparent that Doug wasn’t so average after all…Although Hepburn had a slight handicap (a club foot) that did not stop him from becoming one of the most powerful men in history. Hepburn became a Senior World Champion in 1953 and set eight World Records during his career.

Here’s a look at his best lifts:

Right Hand Military Press: 175 lbs.
Two Hands Press (Off Rack): 440 lbs.
Behind Neck Press : 350 lbs.
Two Hands Curl: 260 lbs.
Bench Press: 580 lbs.
Jerk-Press (Off Rack): 500lbs.
Two Hands Snatch: 297-1/2 lbs.
Two Hands Clean & Press: 381 lbs.
Squat: 760 lbs.
Two Hands Deadlift: lbs.