Globe Barbell Archives - www.oldtimestrongman.com

When Ya Gotta Add Weight

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

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

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.

Milo Steinborn’s Orange Avenue Gym

Posted on Tuesday, April 30th, 2019 by John Wood

Henry “Milo” Steinborn was a 5’8″ 205 lb German wrestler and strongman who became the first man to ever squat 500 lbs. In fact, his world record squat of 553 lbs. (set during the 1920’s) would not be officially bested until the early 1950’s by Doug Hepburn. It was Milo who popularized the heavy deep knee bend as one of the most productive training lifts for anyone interested in building real strength.

In 1952, Milo opened the Orange Avenue Gym down in Orlando, Florida, which makes it the oldest weightlifting gym in America. Along with plenty of weights and barbells, Milo’s Gym had a wrestling ring and other physical training equipment. Milo is flanked here by his sons Dick (left) and Henry (right).

It was here that Milo taught a young Jim Flanagan how to get strong. I was fortunate enough to visit the Orange Avenue Gym on a trip back in 2003 — it still had some of Milo’s original training equipment.

Alfons Dobiczek

Posted on Thursday, April 4th, 2019 by John Wood

Alfons Dobiczek, from Ruda Slaska, Poland, won the Polish light-heavyweight lifting championships once and came in second on two other occasions. Here he is around 1920 with a selection of his training equipment.

Carl Busch

Posted on Wednesday, April 3rd, 2019 by John Wood

Another look at Carl Busch as he performs a Crucifix lift with a pair of German Kettlebells. At one time Busch had an act where he wrestled a bull (Busch always won.)

Unknown Strongman #9

Posted on Saturday, March 9th, 2019 by John Wood

Another entry in our unknown strongman series. Like all of them, this fellow has great equipment AND is a snappy dresser.

Georges Theurillat

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

Here the little-known french weightlifter Georges Theurillat performs a support (?) with an excellent globe garbell weighing in at 360 French Livres. That’s roughly 388 pounds. Note the sand-pit floor (which was more forgiving to the globe barbells if dropped) and the cannon on the wall (which was indeed for lifting.)

Rigoulot’s Custom Globe Barbell

Posted on Wednesday, December 5th, 2018 by John Wood

A look at Charles Rigoulot’s custom barbell and the modern reproduction made by Andy Jackson. In over six decades, I do not believe that either of these pictures have ever been compared side-by-side, except in this post. I wonder if we will ever see a barbell of this type ever again?

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.