Charles Phelan and His GIANT Kettlebell

Posted on Wednesday, December 5th, 2018 by John Wood
How about that kettlebell? Charles Phelan billed himself not as the World’s strongest man but the World’s most entertaining strongman as he told jokes between his strength feats while he performed at Coney Island. He weighed only 140 pounds but held five world records: a one-finger lift of 506 pounds, 700 pounds with two fingers, a hand and thigh lift of 1125 pounds, a hip lift of 1600 pounds and a backlift of 2500 pounds. Phelan was taught how to be a strongman by Warren Lincoln Travis and was a good friend of Vic Boff.

Roy Smith’s Hip Lift

Posted on Wednesday, October 4th, 2017 by John Wood
Roy Smith Jr., from New York City, was an ardent Milo Barbell system pupil and “barbell man.” His favorite movement was the Jefferson lift, and steady practice of this lift gave him tremendous lower body strength. Here, Mr. Smith is just about to perform a “hip-lift” of 2250 pounds with this train car axle, a weight he succeeded in lifting a full inch off the ground. You can read more about Mr. Smith in Super Strength by Alan Calvert.
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Author: John Wood. All contents, including images and text, copyright © 2005-2021 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc. Not to be reproduced without permission. All rights reserved. We will most likely grant permission but please contact us if you would like to repost. IMPORTANT: Equipment and books, courses etc. pictured in blog posts are generally not available for sale unless specifically noted.