Ernest Cadine Archives - www.oldtimestrongman.com

Ernest Cadine (Dead)Lifts The Apollon Wheels

Posted on Thursday, March 28th, 2019 by John Wood

Only a handful of legendary strength athletes were able to lift The Apollon Wheels overhead, but several strongmen were able to give it some air time in other ways. Here is a little known shot that few people have seen of Ernest Cadine deadlifting the Apollon Wheels in a pair of wingtips and in his street clothes. Look close, yes, he did have a mixed grip. I wonder if he was in the act of dropping the weight just as this photo was taken or of it’s just a defect in the film — we’ll never know for sure, but Cadine was certainly no slouch in the lifting department.

Ernest Cadine

Posted on Monday, August 6th, 2018 by John Wood

Another great shot of the champion French Weight lifter Ernest Cadine at the conclusion of a heavy one-arm snatch. Even though the quality of this old picture is not perfect, Cadine’s incredible muscle density is evident.

It’s not hard to see why he won the gold medal at the 1920 Olympic Games, likely around the same time this picture was taken.

Note the cannon on the wall behind him. Yes, it was used specifically for lifting purposes.

Cadine’s Leverage Bells (?)

Posted on Sunday, October 18th, 2015 by John Wood

Now here’s a curious one: We have several rare shots of the great French weightlifter Ernest Cadine with these interesting pieces of equipment. You could make the case that they have the trappings of kettlebells but they appear to be used more like dumbbells with an unusual twist. The counterweight can be adjusted along the handle to increase or decrease the resistance but the resulting torque of holding them in place must be tremendous which means even curls, presses or other basic movements would be terrific grip developers. Cadine was certainly no slouch in the forearm department. We’ve never seen these advertised so they must have been for his own personal use.

Cadine’s Arms

Posted on Tuesday, July 14th, 2015 by John Wood

Another look at the great Ernest Cadine, circa 1915, and I’d say further proof that impressive physical development is certainly possible without drugs. Cadine never downed a single protein shake yet you won’t find a better set of arms, even a hundred years later.

Cadine’s Leverage Feat

Posted on Tuesday, March 3rd, 2015 by John Wood

Here’s an interesting feat achieved by the great French weightlifting champion Ernest Cadine in 1934: lifting a dozen pool cues by their tips. You can try this one at home.

Ernest Cadine

Posted on Thursday, January 19th, 2012 by John Wood

The French weightlifter Ernest Cadine with a classic globe barbell

Ernest Cadine was a French Weightlifter who won the Light-Heavyweight Gold medal at the 1920 Olympic Games held in Antwerp, Belgium. His winning total was 295 kg (649 lbs.) though the contested events were very different then: the one-arm snatch, the one-arm clean and jerk and the two arm clean and jerk. His performance in these lifts was 70 kg, 90 kg and 135 kg respectively. He also set six World Records over his competitive career.

In 1925, Cadine performed a one-arm swing with 90 kilos which was actually greater than his own bodyweight. Cadine could also right hand snatch 211 pounds and one-hand deadlifted the famous Apollon Wheels.

Also of note is the sand-pit floor — you’ll see this feature a lot in old school physical culture gyms as it made it so globe barbells and dumbbells were not damaged if they were ever dropped.