Pole Climbing Archives - www.oldtimestrongman.com

Pole Climbing – George Hackenschmidt

Posted on Monday, March 5th, 2018 by John Wood

An incredibly rare snapshot from the training of George Hackenschmidt. In addition to lifting, road work, and wrestling practice, Hack also liked to climb telephone poles to build his upper-body strength. “Hugging” the telephone pole built the perfect kind of strength for throwing and grappling. His training partner Dr. Roller looks on in amazement.

Jack Kanner

Posted on Wednesday, June 18th, 2014 by John Wood

Jack Kanner

Jack Kanner was a boxing and wrestling promoter in the Denver, Colorado area from the 1920’s through the 1960’s. Ol’ Jack didn’t just sit in the stands and eat popcorn either: to stay in shape, he often liked to climb the poles of the playground structures at the park around the corner from his house. Here’s Jack in the middle of a workout on March 13, 1959. Jack was 61 years of age at the time and clearly a great example to us all.