Mr. Gallacher fully deadlifted the Inch Dumbbell THREE times that night and was awarded the Special Plaque by Thomas Inch himself. As you should well know, the famous Thomas Inch Dumbbell weighs 172 pounds and has a 2-3/8th inch diameter thick handle making it a tremendous grip challenge for anyone who attempts to lift it. This challenge weight defied thousands of athletes until Mr. Gallacher came along. As luck would have it, Mr. Gallacher called my office a few years back and I got a chance to speak with him at length about the special training which allowed him to lift The Inch Dumbbell.
We have featured many unusual feats of neck strength in our blog and here is another very impressive one to add to the mix: George Challard was a laborer from the Woolwich borough of London who possessed an unusual level of neck strength, as you can see shown here, letting a friend bend a stout piece of iron ’round his throat. Don’t try this one at home, folks.
The clubs with which Mr. Harrison commenced weighed about seven pounds each; he has advanced progressively until he can now wield with perfect ease two clubs. each weighing 37 pounds, and his heaviest weighing 47 pounds.
The effects of this exercise on the wielder’s measurements are as follows: round the chest 42-1/2 inches, the upper arm 15 inches, and the forearm 14 inches.
At the same time, his shoulders have increased immensely, and the muscles of his mid-section which were weak when he first used the clubs, are now well-developed and powerful. In short, all the muscles of the trunk have been improved by this exercise.”
Professor James Harrison
As Featured in The Illustrated London News
August 14th, 1852
Professor Harrison of London was a well-known gymnastics and physical culture teacher who was honored by Queen Victoria for his physical prowess. It was watching Professor Harrison expertly swing his heavy “war clubs” which inspired Sim Kehoe to bring club swinging back to America and promote it on a wide scale.
A record crowd of 20,000 people were in attendance (which also caused the largest traffic jam ever recorded up to that time.) Unfortunately the match did not end decisively… less than a minute after opening bell Madrali dislocated his elbow after being “thrown” by Hackenschmidt and could not continue. Though not ideal, this victory put Hackenschmidt’s name on the map in the wrestling world and increased his fame considerably.
Also, fortunately, Madrali’s injury was not serious and he was back wrestling again three months later. In 1905, Madrali made up for this defeat by winning the wrestling championship of southern France defeating “The German Oak” Ernest Siegfried. As evident in this rare picture taken from around that time, “The Terrible Turk” was also clearly a big fan of kettlebell training.