Tag: Neck Strength

The Amazing Samson ~ Girder Lifting

Posted on Wednesday, September 19th, 2012 by John Wood

The Amazing Samson Girder Lift!

Here’s a Human Chain” feat of a whole different sort. That’s “The Amazing Samson” Alexander Zass suspended in mid-air while also lifting a 500-pound iron girder in his teeth. That’s a pretty awesome feat no matter how you slice it, one that we have never seen equaled before or since.
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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
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.

The Mighty Atlas

Posted on Wednesday, August 8th, 2012 by John Wood
The Mighty Atlas - Anvil Neck Strength
You’ve probably seen the old feat of strength where a strongman puts an anvil or a large stone slab on his chest and lets someone hit it with a sledge hammer… but I guarantee you haven’t seen this feat before though, — “The Mighty Atlas,” Morris Shapiro, a professional wrestler from Brooklyn, New York, teeth-lifting an anvil while someone else whacks said anvil with a sledge hammer.

Now that’s impressive!

The Mighty Atlas often demonstrated feats of strength before his matches, bending iron bars, snapping chains, ripping phone books etc. He learned the secrets of strength from his father who was a strongman in the Russian Circus in Minsk.

Great Beckett “The Five-Plank Marvel”

Posted on Thursday, April 5th, 2012 by John Wood

The Great Beckett: The Five-Plank Marvel

We specialize in bringing you content that you won’t find anywhere else, and here’s a great example: pictured above you’ll find Great Beckett “The Five-Plank Marvel.” How did he get this nickname? His act consisted of hammering a large nail through (count’em) five thick wooden planks… then pulling out the nail with his teeth. Needless to say, the strength of neck, jaw, gums and teeth required for this performance is prodigious.
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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
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.

The Neck Helmet

Posted on Monday, March 19th, 2012 by John Wood

The Neck Helmet

If you want to look strong (not to mention also be strong) then you had better train your neck. This fellow, a football player at the University of Tennessee-Martin, named Hunter Carter had some help from Mother Nature in that department but he also did quite a bit of work with a Neck Helmet shown here. You’ll find him featured in the July, 1976 issue of Muscular Development Magazine in an article on neck training by Carl H. Giles.

Speaking from experience, a neck helmet trains the head and neck muscles in a unique manner and is an excellent choice though it is not without its disadvantages. To build the strongest possible neck a variety of equipment and techniques can and should be used, including plate-loaded neck machines, manual resistance, neck straps, jaw and teeth lifting, isometrics, and head stands (this list is by no means exhaustive). Keep in mind that building the strength and size of the neck is like developing any other muscle group, incorporate the overload principle, train progressively and recover properly and your collar size will inevitably increase.

The Hammer Strength 4-Way Neck Machine

Posted on Thursday, February 2nd, 2012 by John Wood

The Hammer Strength 4-Way Neck Machine

Everyone should train their neck, but neck strength is especially important if you play football. The Hammer Strength neck machine is the best one I have ever used — and I’ve tried ’em all.

Use this machine strictly with no monkey business and you’ll go up a few collar sizes in no time. I recently got one from a local high school who said they were getting rid of it because “they didn’t need it any more” ~ oh brother.

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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
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.

The Great Spadoni

Posted on Friday, January 13th, 2012 by John Wood
The Great Spadoni balances a dog cart on his chin

“The Great Spadoni,” aka Paul Krause from Germany, was one of the great masters of lifting, balancing and juggling heavy weights, a discipline known as jongleurs de force.

One of his best known feats is pictured at the right:

To begin, he was driven upon the stage in a full-sized dog cart. He then dismounted, removed the wheels — which were then set spinning on pivots fixed to the points of the shafts — lifted the dog cart in his arms and finally balanced the whole affair on his chin.

The balance aspect alone is certainly impressive (to say the least!), but the amount of whole-body strength involved in getting the cart into position in the first place and the level of neck strength necessary to keep it aloft, may be even more so.

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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
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.

Sig Klein’s Neck Training

Posted on Thursday, December 15th, 2011 by John Wood

Sig Klein Neck Training

You’ve got to hand it to the oldtimers, they didn’t neglect training any area, a lesson that a lot of people could stand to learn today. Here’s the great Sig Klein using a neck developer of his own design.  Interestingly, he also recommended a specific breathing pattern while training the neck — the neck muscles actually do also assist in respiration which is part of the development procedure.
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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
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.

Globe Barbell Bridge by John Hajnos

Posted on Thursday, December 1st, 2011 by John Wood
John Hajnos, the Navy Hercules, accomplishes a bridge with a heavy globe barbell — VERY impressive. I wonder where that great barbell is today?
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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
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.

John Hajnos ~ The Navy Hercules

Posted on Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011 by John Wood

John Hajnos, The Navy Hercules, balances a fellow officer in a chair clenched between his teeth

John J. Hajnos, originally from California, became a professional strongman after serving in the Navy in World War I. He performed a number of traditional feats but his most well-known is pictured here, supporting a fellow officer (in this case J.F. Kaska, who weighed 175 pounds) seated in a chair clenched between his jaws – an incredible test of balance as well as neck/jaw strength. Hajnos was a student of Lionel Strongfort’s “Strongfortism” system and actually once defeated Warren Lincoln Travis at an impromptu contest held at Coney Island.