Tag: Thick-Handled Equipment

Thomas Inch Dumbbell REPLICAS

Posted on Monday, September 8th, 2014 by John Wood

In the late 90’s, the Staver Foundry of Virginia, Minnesota produced replicas of the famous Thomas Inch challenge dumbbell. These solid globe dumbbells weighed 172 pounds but the handle is slightly thicker (2.47″ vs. 2-3/8″ on the original.)
172 Pounds may not seem like much of a challenge to lift but the thick handle makes it nearly impossible.

Thousands of athletes have tried to lift the Inch Dumbbell but only a few have succeeded. You’ll need a very strong grip if you want to add your name to the list. There IS a secret to lifting the Inch Dumbbells, something that we’ll cover on another occasion…

(NOTE: we do not have Inch Dumbbell replicas for sale.)

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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 Brooklyn Strongboy” Charles Phelan

Posted on Friday, February 21st, 2014 by John Wood
“The Brooklyn Strongboy” Charles Phelan was the American Professional Lightweight Champion and also performed a strongman act for many years at Coney Island and around the New York area. Notice the outstanding show weights: the unusually large kettlebell and the thick-handled globe dumbbell.

Charles Phelan was a protege of Warren Lincoln Travis and eventually taught much of what he knew to Vic Boff.
Phelan told jokes between feats of strength, also billing himself (quite uniquely, I might add) as “The World’s Most Entertaining Strongman.” Phelan only weighed 140 lbs, but could backlift 2500 lbs.

German Kettlebell Club, 1903

Posted on Thursday, April 26th, 2012 by John Wood

German Kettlebell CLub, 1903
A look at a German kettlebell club from the turn of the last century and a selection of their awesome equipment.  German strength athletes were particularly fond of juggling their kettlebells, hence “German” kettlebells had much larger and more pronounced handles.  Also of note is the fact that most of the barbells have thick handles.