Tag: Heavy Athletics

Vince Gironda Tossing The Caber

Posted on Wednesday, June 19th, 2019 by John Wood
Here’s something you don’t see every day: “The Iron Guru” Vince Gironda tossing the caber. Vince was, of course, well-known in bodybuilding circles but he had other talents as well. In the early 1970’s he used to get a gang together every Saturday morning to practice tossing the caber and other heavy events in order to represent Vince’s Gym at the annual Los Angeles Highland Games held at Corsair Field at Santa Monica City College.

Strength From The Highlands: Scottish Hammer Throwing

Posted on Thursday, June 16th, 2016 by John Wood
The Scottish Hammer is an event in traditional Highland Games Heavy Athletics. The ‘Hammer’ itself is a length of rattan or wood with a weighted spherical head. There are actually two different types of Scottish Hammer records kept: heavy and light. For Men, the heavy hammer weighs 22 pounds and the light hammer weighs in at 16 pounds.) For Women, the heavy hammer is 16 pounds and the light hammer is 12 pounds.

The Hammer is wound around the body and thrown from a standing position. An interesting modern development is that athletes now wear boots with long spikes in them to anchor themselves to the ground which allows them to generate more rotational force.

The current World records are as follows:

Men’s Heavy Hammer: Daniel McKim: 132′ 2.75″
Men’s Light Hammer: Daniel McKim: 157′ 7.25″

Women’s Heavy Hammer: Valerie Adams: 99′ 1″
Women’s Light Hammer: Shannon Hartnett: 120′ 1″