Sledge Hammer Leverage Archives - www.oldtimestrongman.com

Murl Mitchell’s Hammers

Posted on Monday, August 13th, 2018 by John Wood

Interesting thing happen around here on a pretty frequent basis… Over a year ago I put up this post of Mr. Murl Mitchell of Los Angeles who was shown levering these unusual sledge hammers in an old issue of Strength and Health Magazine. A few months later I was contacted by Marilyn and Marjorie, his two daughters, who informed me that they were still in possession of Murl’s Hammers.

I asked for a recent picture of the hammers and asked if it would be OK to post it (shown on the right.) Marilyn and Marjorie said sure, their Dad would have gotten a kick out of being included among so many strength greats. Murl used to load up these hammers with buckshot until they were the desired weight. He was using well over 20 pounds in each hand back in the 1940s. They were proud of their Pop!

Marjorie informs me that Murl was good friends with many of the York Gang and they used to stop by and visit frequently when on the west coast. In addition to his hammer exploits, Murl won the 1945 California lightweight weightlifting championship and placed second in the 123-pound class in the 1945 senior nationals. Murl also had some heavy axes that he had specially made for levering, which I will feature at a later date.

Hammers, Maces, and Clubs

Posted on Sunday, December 3rd, 2017 by John Wood

Sometimes you will need unusual training equipment if you want to build unusual strength — Here’s a look at a few of my favorite pieces: You’ll see a few unique sledge hammers and various tools along with some vintage Indian Clubs. The two hammers in the foreground have brass and copper heads, respectively which, quite curiously, have a much different feel than traditional steel hammers. The larger hammer just beyond those came off a tank, it was used to wack the treads back in line out in the field. Kinda cool, huh? Most of the time I’ll use this equipment for leverage training like Slim The Hammer Man.

Sledge Hammer Training

Posted on Thursday, June 18th, 2015 by John Wood

Sledge hammer training has always been a very popular way of building forearm and wrist strength among many oldtime strongmen. Based on the leverage principle the sledge hammer makes a very efficient workout tool as it can provide a great deal of resistance without the need for a lot of weight. Here, Murl Mitchell of Los Angeles, tests his wrist strength with a pair of very interesting looking sledge hammers. Look closely and you’ll see that Mr. Mitchell is wearing glasses which he just slightly and gently tapped before levering the hammers back to the vertical position. It was said that these hammers weighed 25 lbs. apiece — Superb. Mitchell also placed second at the Sr. Nationals Weightlifting Championships in 1945 in the 123 lb class with a 470 lb. total.