Dimensions

• Height: 5ft 8in
• Weight: 365 lb
• Wrists – 8.2 inches
• Chest – 60 inches
• Waist – 47.4 inches
• Thighs – 33 inches
• Calf – 23 inches
• Neck – 22 3/4 inches
• Biceps – 21 1/2 inches

Notable Lifts

• One-handed snatch: 188 ¹⁄₂ pounds (85.5 kg)
• One-handed press: 273 pounds (124 kg)
• Back lift: 4,336 pounds (1,967 kg)
• One finger Lift: 553 lb (251 kg)
• At 19 years old, he lifted a rock from ground up to his shoulder, officially weighted at 514 pounds

Louis Cyr is considered by many to be “The strongest man who ever lived”. From a young age he demonstrated legendary feats of strength that mimic those of biblical legend Samson. Louis’s career had started early in his life, and only grew as he got older. Though he died at a relatively young age, he was still able to best all the strongmen of the time in various feats of strength, and was the undisputed strong man of the 19th and 20th century.

(A young Louis with his famous Cyr dumbbell, which weighed nearly 274lb)

Cyr was born in Saint-Cyprien-de-Napierville, Quebec, Canada. He began developing extraordinary strength at an early age. While Louis’ father was of average proportions, his mother was almost Amazonian, recorded as weighing 265 pounds at 6’1″. From the age of 12 Cyr worked in a lumber camp during the winters and on the family’s farm the rest of the year. Discovering his exceptional strength at a very young age, he impressed his fellow workers with his feats of strength. Louis started his strong man career at the age of 17, after some publicity came about due to an incident when the young Louis was reported to have lifted a farmer’s heavily laden wagon out of the mire in which it had become stuck. He was matched in a contest against Michaud of Quebec, who was recognized as Canada’s strongest man of the time. Cyr beat him in tests of lifting of heavy stones by hoisting a granite boulder weighing 480 lb

(Louis (center) poses in a photo with his wife Melina(right) and his daughter Emiliana(left), 1894)

In 1878 the Cyr family immigrated to Lowell, Massachusetts in the United States. In Lowell Cyr changed his name from Cyprien-Noé to Louis, as it was easier to pronounce in English. Again his great strength brought him fame. At 17 years old he weighed 230 pounds (104 kg). He entered his first strongman contest in Boston at age 18, lifting a horse off the ground; the fully grown male horse was placed on a platform with 2 iron bars attached enabling Cyr to obtain a better grip. The horse weighed at least ³⁄₄ short ton In 1882, while working as a logger, Louis married his girlfriend Melina. The following year he and his wife returned to Lowell, hoping to capitalize on his fame there. A tour of the Maritimes was organized, and while it may have benefited the organizer, Cyr gained no profit financially. He then began touring Quebec with his family in a show they called “The Troupe Cyr”.

(Louis preparing to restrain two of Queen Victoria’s horses as part of a demonstration in Ottawa, 1891)

Perhaps his greatest feat occurred in 1895, when he was reported to have lifted 4,337 pounds (1,967 kg) on his back in Boston by putting 18 men on a platform and lifting them. One of his most memorable displays of strength occurred in Montreal on 12 October 1891. Louis resisted the pull of two draught horses (two in each hand) as grooms stood cracking their whips to get the horses to pull harder, a feat he again demonstrated in Ottawa with Queen Victoria’s team of draught horses during her royal visit. Cyr was also credited with side pressing 273.75 lb with one arm (the right), a lift witnessed by Britain’s great champion Tom Pevier, who described it more like a ‘Jerk Press.’ The dumbbell, a huge thick handled one, was lifted to the shoulders with two hands, before the single-handed overhead move. Cyr’s dumbbells were often so unwieldy that many respectable strongmen were unable to lift them off the floor, let alone lift them over head.

(Monument of Louis in Montreal, Canada)

By 1904 Cyr’s health began to fail due to excessive eating and inactivity. At the time, he weighed 400 pounds. He slimmed down as best he could for his last contest of strength, with Hector De Carrie. Cyr retained his title and retired unvanquished. Cyr died on November 10, 1912, in Montreal, of chronic nephritis and was interred at St-Jean-De-Matha. Great homage was paid by all of Canada, with immense crowds attending the funeral and floral tributes coming from all over the world.

Work Cited

Weider, B. 1976. The Strongest Man in History: Louis Cyr, “Amazing Canadian.”” Translation of Louis Cyr, l’homme le plus fort du monde. Vancouver: Mitchell Press.

Debon, Nicolas. 2007. The Strongest Man in the World: Louis Cyr. Toronto: Groundwood Books.

(Commemorative stamp from the 1992 Barcelona Olympics)

Dimensions

• Height: 4ft 10in
• Weight: 62kg (137 lb)

Notable Lifts

• Snatch: 152.5 kg (1988, WR)
• Clean & Jerk: 190.0 kg (1988, WR)
• Total: 342.5 (1988, WR)

(Süleymanoğlu straining to pull a snatch during the 1988 Seoul Olympic games)

Biography

Süleymanoğlu was born as Naim Suleymanov in Ptichar, Kardzhali Province, Bulgaria to an ethnic Turkish family. His father was a miner who stood only five feet tall, while his mother was four-foot-seven. He won championships in his teens and may have competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics had Bulgaria not joined in a boycott by the Eastern Bloc.

In the 1980s, Bulgaria’s government implemented a program called the Revival Process which required ethnic minorities to adopt Slavic names and barred their languages. As a result, Süleymanoğlu changed his name to Naim Suleimanov in 1985. In 1986 the Bulgarian government changed it to Naum Shalamanov. As Naim protested against his name change the government agreed on changing his name back to Naim Suleimanov but as a protest against name changing of the Turkish minority in Bulgaria, Naim defected to Turkey.

While on a trip to the World Cup Final in Melbourne in 1986, Suleimanov escaped his handlers, and after several days in hiding, he defected at the Turkish Embassy in Canberra. After making his way to Istanbul, he changed his name back to Süleymanoğlu.

(Footage of Naim preforming his world record lifts at the 1988 Olympics)

In order for him to compete at the 1988 Seoul Olympics the Bulgarian government had to agree to release his eligibility to Turkey. The Turks paid Bulgaria $1.25 million for his release. At the Olympics, his main competition was his old teammate from the Bulgarian team, Stefan Topurov. He came out for the snatch portion of the competition after all other athletes had finished and made three consecutive lifts, setting world records in his last two attempts. In the clean and jerk portion, Topurov completed a 175.0 kg clean and jerk after Süleymanoğlu, with his next two lifts Süleymanoğlu set two more world records and won his first Olympic gold. His last lift was a 190.0 kg clean and jerk was 3.15 times his bodyweight, which is the highest ratio clean and jerk to bodyweight of all time. Using the Sinclair Coefficient his performance at the 1988 Seoul Olympics was the most dominating weightlifting performance of all time.^[9] His total was high enough to win the weight class above his. He retired at the age of 22, after winning the world championship in 1989. However, he returned in 1991 before winning a second Olympic gold medal at Barcelona in 1992.

The 1996 Olympic Games were to be his swan song and he retired after winning a third consecutive Olympic gold medal in Atlanta at the 1996 Olympic Games. That competition was noted for the rivalry between him and Greece’s Valerios Leonidis, with the arena divided into partisan Turkish and Greek crowds. At the end of the competition they were the very last competitors remaining as they traded three straight world-record lifts; Süleymanoğlu managed to raise 187.5 kg and then Leonidis failed in his attempt to lift 190 kg, which guaranteed him the silver medal. Announcer Lynn Jones proclaimed “You have just witnessed the greatest weightlifting competition in history,” according to Ken Jones in the London Independent.

(Naim’s third failed attempt to lift 145 in the snatch at the 2000 Sydney Olympic games)

Süleymanoğlu made another comeback in a late attempt to earn a fourth gold medal at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, which would have been an Olympic record, but failed three attempts at 145 kg and was eliminated from the competition. He was awarded the Olympic Order in 2001. In 2000 and 2004, he was elected member of the International Weightlifting Federation Hall of Fame.

(Thousands came and mourned the death of Turkey’s most iconic Athlete)

On 25 September 2017, he was admitted to a hospital due to liver failure. On 6 October, a liver transplantation was made when a liver donor was found. On 11 November, he had surgery due to a hemorrhage in the brain and a subsequent edema. He died on 18 November 2017. He was interred at the Edirnekapı Martyr’s Cemetery in Istanbul. Süleymanoğlu had inspired the country of Tukey to resist the communist regime, and demonstrated his most impressive feats of strength while off the weightlifting platform. While he was not awarded any medals for his acts of bravery, he is instead rewarded with a legacy that will echo throughout the halls of time.

Works Cited

“Biography of Naim Süleymanoğlu”. www.sports-reference.com. Retrieved August 7, 2014.

“Weightlifting Hall of Fame”. International Weightlifting Federation. Archived from the original on 2008-09-13. Retrieved 2008-08-07.

“Naim Suleymanoglu”. www.olympic.org.

“Champion Turkish weightlifter Süleymanoğlu dies at 50”. Hürriyet Daily News. Retrieved 19 November 2017.

Naim Suleymanoglu – A Third Gold Medal – Leonidas, World, Competition, and Jones – JRank Articles. Sports.jrank.org. Retrieved on 2014-08-10.

Dimensions

• Weight: 225 – 235lbs (102.1 – 106.6kg)

• Arms: 22″
• Chest: 57″
• Waist: 34″
• Thighs: 28.5″
• Calves: 20″

Notable Lifts 

• Clean and press – 264 lb (120 kg)
• Snatch – 243 lb (110 kg)
• Clean and jerk – 298 lb (135 kg)
• Squat – 545 lb (247 kg)
• Bench press – 520 lb (240 kg)
• Deadlift – 710 lb (320 kg)

(Arnold posing in the warmup room at the 1974 Mr. Olympia competition)

Biography

While Arnold may not be known as a strength athlete, he is still seen as the spark that ignited the flame of gym culture around the world. Many strength athletes will say that Arnold has been their inspiration, whether it was his godlike physique, his charisma, or simply his success in the sport of body building, Arnold Schwarzenegger had inspired millions around the world to hit the gym in the pursuit for bodily perfection.

(A 19 year old Arnold Deadlifting 616 pounds at the German powerlifting championships, 1966)

Arnold had started his career off as a powerlifter, placing second in his first national competition. It was clear from a young age that Arnold was destined to do great things, however he was more interested in pursuing bodily perfection than he was at being powerlifter. As a result, Arnold began his career as a bodybuilder. Soon after his powerlifting debut, Arnold went on to win Mr. Europe in 1966.

(Arnold posing at the 1975 Mr. Olympia contest)

Arnold had one goal in mind, to be the best bodybuilder to have ever lived. During the peak of his carreer, Arnold was unstoppable. His prime came in the years 1970 – 1975, Where Arnold had won six consecutive Mr. Olympia Titles, the highest title a bodybuilder can earn. Arnold then retired from the sport, but came back in 1980, where he won his seventh Mr. Universe title. After his amazing comeback, Arnold then solidified himself as the best bodybuilder of the time.

(Arnold being sworn into Governor of California, 2003)

Besides his impressive bodybuilding carrer, Arnold has accomplished so much with his life. Not only did he star in some of Americas biggest blockbuster movies including Terminator and Predator, but he also become Governor of California in 2003 until 2011. But before Arnold could do any of this, he had to first move to America and learn English. When Arnold had first moved to America, he was living in an attic space above a gym, where after training for the day, he would spend his evenings studying English. Arnold had come to America with nothing, yet he never gave up on his dream of becoming a star in America.

(Statue of Arnold outside of the Greater Columbus Convention Center)

What I think makes Arnold Such a inspiration to many across the world is the fact that has accomplished so much in his life in many different fields. It really makes one think: “How many lifetimes do I have to live just to accomplish one of these feats.”. Arnold is the perfect example of how handwork and determination are key to ones successes, that no matter how difficult something may seem, you must always keep working toward your dream. Possessing a mindset and drive like Arnolds can lead a person to have a legendary life, that will inspire others and be remembered throughout time.

Sources

“Arnold Schwarzenegger – The Greatest Bodybuilder EverLeave a Reply.” Arnold Schwarzenegger – The Greatest Bodybuilder Ever – IllPumpYouUp.com, 15 Oct. 2004, www.illpumpyouup.com/articles/arnold-schwarzenegger-the-greatest-bodybuilder-ever.htm.

Dimensions

• Height: 5ft 6in
• Weight: 220

Notable Lifts

• Squat – 1019 lbs (equipped)
• Bench press – 584 lbs (eqquipped)
• Deadlift – 901 lbs (raw) 
• Total: 2463.6 lbs (equppied) 

(Coan deadlifting in the 1990 IPF championships)

Biography

Ed Coan is the very definition of a big man in a small package. At only five feet six inches tall and weighing only 220 pounds, Coan was putting up numbers that not only shattered the records in the 220 pound weight class, but the all time world records at the time, outlifting men who outweighed him by over 100 pounds. Coan had started his career strong in 1984, winning the International Powerlifting Championships, which he then would continue to win for eleven straight years. Throughout his active career in international powerlifting competition Ed Coan has set over 71 world records in powerlifting. He became the lightest person to cross the 2,400 lb. barrier in the powerlifting total when he set an all-time powerlifting record total of 2,463 pounds.

(A young Ed Coan in his first international coemption meet, 1984)

Ed Coan was a sensation from the start. Coan had wandered out of gym in Chicago and had immediately started breaking world records, lifting numbers that seemed impossible, even by someone in a heavier weight class. Coan’s best result in a raw, drug tested international competition is 1,035 kg (2,282 lbs) in the 100 kg weight class at the 1994 IPF Senior World Championships. establishing a new world record at the time.

In December of 1998, Ed had shocked the world with a performance of the century when he set a record with a 2463 pound total, becoming the lightest man to total over 2400 pounds. His competition bests where a 1003 pound squat, 573 pound bench, and 901 pound deadlift. Even by todays standards, with more modern equipment and more compressive lifting gear, his record still stands in the 220 pound weight class. Over his career Coan earned world titles in four different weight classes and regularly outlifted men much bigger than himself.

(Coans squat accident during a competition, 2002)

In 2002, while preforming a 970lb squat in competition, Coan had torn his ACL while descending with the weight. He was flung from out under the bar and it was clear that something had went wrong. But Coan was more concerned with the other men competing that day: ” Move me out of the way so someone else can lift”. A normal person would have taken their time getting off the platform, or better yet, wait until paramedics arrived to take him off on a gurney. However Ed is no normal man. He cares about the sport of powerlifting so much that he would rather be dragged off the platform in a hurry so that another lifter may lift, rather than have everyone surround him worried about his well being.

(Andrey Meeting his idol, 2014)

Though Ed Coans Competitive career may have ended, his influence as lifter is still very real. Today Coan is still acknowledged and regarded as a legend in the world of powerlifting, considered by many to be the greatest of all time. Coan spends much of his time mentoring young lifters coming into the sport. Ed’s influence is felt all over the world, and by strength athletes at all levels. Andrey Malanichev is one of these lifter who admires Ed. Although Andrey holds the title of the heaviest total ever lifted by a man, he still refers to Ed as the greatest. “Superstar, You’re a Superstar!” Andrey says as he bows down to Coan. Acts such as this from other legends of a sport go to show how huge of an impact and inspiration that Ed Coan has had on the sport of Powerlifting.

Sources

“Ed Coan.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 27 Sept. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Coan.

HQ, Breaking Muscle. “Friday Flicks: Powerlifting Legend Ed Coan.” Breaking Muscle, 5 Sept. 2018, breakingmuscle.com/uk/fitness/friday-flicks-powerlifting-legend-ed-coan.

“Ed Coan.” Weight Lifting, Weight Training, Bench Press & Bodybuilding, www.criticalbench.com/Ed-Coan.htm.

(Eddie Flexing his Muscles, showing of his sheer mass)

Dimensions

•  Height: 6ft 3in
•  Weight: 410 lbs

Notable Lifts

In Competition:

• Deadlift with straps and suit 500 kg (1,102 lb; 79 st)– world record
• Rogue Elephant Bar Deadlift with straps – 465 kg (1,025 lb; 73.2 st)
• Axle press – 216 kg (476 lb) strict press – world record
• Log lift – 213 kg (470 lb) strict press – British record, done at Europe’s Strongest Man 2018

Gym lifts (all raw):

• Squat – 405 kg (892.9 lb)
• Bench press – 300 kg (661.4 lb) and 265 kg (584 lb) for 6 reps 
• Leg press – 1,000 kg (2,204.6 lb) for 10 reps

(Eddie deadlifting 455 kg (1,003 lb) during Europe’s strongest man, 2015)

Biography 

Eddie hall grew up in the rough part of the neighborhood, in the skeleton of a once wealthy city. Besides the finical burden that being a strongman has, Eddie has overcome many other personal and external obstacles that where put in his way of becoming the strongest man to have ever lived. This week, we take a look at one of strongman’s greatest success stories, Eddie “The Beast” Hall.

(Eddie during his swimming days as a teenager, 2003)

Hall was born on 15 January 1988 in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire. As a teenager, he was a successful competitive swimmer and rugby union player. In 2008, he began working as a mechanic. He trained and competed as a bodybuilder and entered the strongman circuit. In 2010, Eddie had a chance to compete in the England championships organized by Elite Strongman because of injury. Hall making it into the 2010 finals, which he won on his first attempt by half a point.

(Hall dropping a 220 kg (484 lb) log onto his neck after passing out mid lift, 2015)

In 2015, Hall nearly broke his neck while attempting to lift a 220kg (484 lb) up over his head. Hall had gone through the warm ups with no problems. His first and second attempts went up smoothly and were successful. On his last attempt, he gets the log to his shoulders and presses it with speed, and at first it looks as though the log will go up with no problem. Suddenly, Eddie begins to stumble, with nearly a quarter ton over his head and drops the log onto his neck, which then rolls over his head, and then catapults him back against the wall. Hall had passed out during the most dangerous part of the lift and it nearly cost him his life, but that didn’t stop Eddie and his quest to become the worlds strongest man, and shock the world with his feats of strength.

(Eddie lifting an all time world record of 500kg (1,1002 lb) during Europe’s strongest man, 2016)

A little over a year after the log press accident, Eddie hall shocked the world In July 2016 when Hall had done the impossible. Hall had proclaimed that he would lift half a metric tone (500kg or 1,1o2 lb), which would make him the first man to have ever lift such a weight. Many critics laughed at him saying it could not be done, but when Eddie had begun to move the earth from under his feet so that he could lift the bar, a 10,000 person crowd erupted as they had just witnessed a piece of human history. The lift however took a huge toll onto Eddies body. The 500 kg lift made Hall pass out, and he had been bleeding from his mouth, nose and ears, an attempt that Hall said nearly killed him.

(Eddie barely standing over his opponents, Hafthor Bjorsson (left) and Brian Shaw (right))

In 2017, Halls life long dream of becoming the Worlds strongest man came true. He had bested the Icelandic giant Hafthor Bjorosson and Americas Brian Shaw to win the title of the World’s Strongest Man competition. Moments after his victory, Hall announced his plans to to retire from the strongman. It was no secret that the weight that Eddie was maintaining was taking a huge toll on Eddies health, and Eddie knew that he could not stay at the weight he was and live for very long. Since he retired, Eddie has lost over 50 lbs and is still making gains in  he gym, with a new goal in mind of bench pressing 700 lbs.

Sources

English, Nick. “Eddie Hall Is Losing Almost 2 Pounds Per Week – Will He Do Bodybuilding?” BarBend, 13 Dec. 2018, barbend.com/eddie-hall-weight-loss/.

Sport, Telegraph. “Britain’s Eddie Hall Defeats Game of Thrones Star The Mountain to Be Crowned World’s Strongest Man.” The Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group, 28 May 2017, www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/2017/05/28/britains-eddie-hall-defeats-game-thrones-star-mountain-crowned/.

Jack de Menezes @JackdeMenezes. “World’s Strongest Man Athlete Nearly Dies Breaking World Record.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 12 July 2016, www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/eddie-hall-nearly-died-after-passing-out-following-new-deadlift-world-record-of-500kg-a7132306.html.

(Andrey Posing for a photo in his gym)

Dimensions

• Height: 6 ft
• Weight: 340 lbs

Notable lifts

• Best Squat: 1,069 lb (Raw w/Wraps) @ Big Dogs (2016)
• Best Bench: 584 lb @ Boss of Bosses 2 (2015)
• Best Deadlift: 892 lb @ GPA World Championship (2013)
• Best Total: 2,513 lb (WR  Raw w/Wraps) @ Big Dogs (2016)

(Andrey squatting 1,069 at Big Dogs, 2016)

Biography

This week, we will be taking a look at one of favorite strength athletes of all time, Andrey Malanichev. Not recognizing the name Malanichev in the world of powerlifting is a sin. Andrey has set the bar to an exceptionally high standard in his career, all while remaining exceptionally humble. This giant, who was born in Moscow on January 10, 1977, grew up in Russia and had began his weight training career at fourteen with a makeshift bench, a crow bar, and old T.V. dishes that he used as plates. He would later enter his first gym at sixteen and be coached by Russia national head coach of powerlifting, Andrey Chuprin.

(Andrey dropping 682 lbs onto his chest after losing his grip on the Bench Press, 2010)

Andrey had experienced a lot of success in his early in his career, as he soon became one of the best lifters in Russia and begun to break world records and take world titles. However in 2010, his career, and his life, almost came to an end. While preforming a 682 lb bench press, Andrey had lost his grip and the bar had fell hard onto Andrey’s chest. His coach had told him that he needed to drop out of the competition and be rushed to the hospital, Andrey protested and went on to dead lift a staggering 881 pounds before going to the hospital, where he later found out he had fractured multiple ribs during the accident. After that day, Andrey had sworn off lifting in gear, which he blamed for causing him to drop the bar, and decided to pursue the art of raw powerlifting, or powerlifting without the aid of supportive equipment such as a squat suit or bench shirt. 

(Andrey’s WR performance at Big Dogs in 2016)

Most Scientists say that a human reaches their max athletic performance at 25 and from there only begin to decay overtime, But Andrey proved them wrong. In 2016 at the age 39, Andrey not only put the best performance of his life, but the best performance that the entire powerlifting world had ever seen. Andrey had had not only broke two world records, including a 1,069 lb squat, but set a huge milestone in the sport after totaling a world record weight of 2,513 lb, becoming the first and so far only man in powerlifting to ever lift such a weight.

(Video of Andrey’s training philosophy)

What I love most about Andrey is his humility. Though Andrey is a bit of a celebrity in Russia, he goes unrecognized in the international sports world, where only other strength athletes know who he is. In a video featuring a joint trainign session with Kirill Sarychev, who held the former world record bench press at 738 lbs, Kirill attempts to hype up Malanichev infront of the camera man: “What Bad things can be said about our champion Andrey? Too Strong? Too Famous? He is what man envies!”. The Humble Malanichev replies “What envy? I take the train like everyone else!”. The lack of recognition doesn’t effect Andrey in the very slightest, as Andrey is the embodiment of what a sportsman should be. A person who does not better themselves in a sport for the glory, or the money, but rather to push the limits of themselves and what the human body is capable of, as well as inspire and encourage the younger generations to break his records. Andrey says in the video with Sarychev: “As we are speaking, the man who will break my records is already alive and training, but that is okay, this sport would be boring if no one could break records, after all that is what the crowds want to see, records being broken, and legends being born!”.

References

SARYCHEV, KIRILL. “(Eng Voice over) Sarychev, Malanichev, Konstantinov. Joint Workout & Pancake Battle.” YouTube, YouTube, 16 July 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpw99Plj0Xg&t=447s.

“Andrey Malanichev Answers Questions from Fans.” Lift Unlimited – Lift.net, 6 Feb. 2017, www.lift.net/2014/02/19/andrey-malanichev-answers-questions-from-fans/.

“Andrey Malanichev (M).” OpenPowerlifting, www.openpowerlifting.org/u/andreymalanichev.

(Paul Holding his famous wagon wheel bar, with which he used to train squat with. The wheels where welded to the bar, which in total weighed 660 pounds)

Dimensions

Height: 5 feet 10 inches

Weight: 360 pounds

Chest: 58 inches

Bicep: 22.5 inches

Waist: 45 inches

Thigh: 36 inches

Calves: 20 inches

Notable Lifts

• Olympic weightlifting
• Clean and press: 185.5 kg (408.5 lbs) on 1955-10-16, in Munich at the 1955 World Championships
• Snatch: 152.5 kg (335 lbs) on 1956-06-02 in Philadelphia at the 1956 Senior Nationals
• Clean and jerk: 199.5 kg (440 lbs) on 1956-06-02 in Philadelphia at the 1956 Senior Nationals
• Total: 533.5 kg (181.5/152.5/199.5) / 1175 lbs (400/335 /440) (clean and press + snatch + clean and jerk) on 1956-06-02 in Philadelphia at the 1956 Senior Nationals
• Unofficial lifts
  Lift included in the Guinness Book of World Records (1985 edition)
  Backlift: 6,270 lb (2,840 kg) (weight raised slightly off trestles; done June 12, 1957, in Toccoa, Georgia)
  → listed as the greatest weight ever lifted by a human being
• Powerlifting
  Guinness also listed Anderson’s best powerlifts
  Done in small exhibitions
  Squat: 930 lb (420 kg) raw
  Bench press: 628 lb (285 kg) raw
  Deadlift: 820 lb (370 kg) raw

Biography

(Anderson pressing a show girl overhead with one arm)

Anderson was born in Toccoa, Georgia, on October 17, 1932. He began his early weight training on his own in his family’s backyard to increase his size and strength so that he would be able to play on the Toccoa High School football team, where he earned a position as first-team blocking back. He used special homemade weights that his father created out of concrete poured into a wooden form. Anderson later attended Furman University for one year on a football scholarship before moving to Elizabethton, Tennessee with his parents. There he met weightlifter Bob Peoples, who would greatly influence him in squat training and introduce him into weightlifting circles. At the age of nine-teen, Paul Anderson was already breaking world records in Power Lifting and showed that he was capable of being the strongest there ever was.

(Paul lifting 402.5 pounds overhead in Russia, 1955)

In 1955, at the height of the Cold War, Anderson, as winner of the USA National Amateur Athletic Union Weightlifting Championship, traveled to the Soviet Union, where weightlifting was a popular sport, for an international weightlifting competition. In a newsreel of the event shown in the United States the narrator, Bud Palmer, commented as follows: “Then, up to the bar stepped a great ball of a man, Paul Anderson.” Palmer said, “The Russians snickered as Anderson gripped the bar which was set at 402.5 pounds, an unheard-of lift. But their snickers quickly changed to awe and all-out cheers as up went the bar and Anderson lifted the heaviest weight overhead of any human in history.

(Anderson preforming a 330 pound snatch at 1956 Melbourne Olympics)

In 1956, Anderson won a gold medal in a long, tough duel in the Melbourne, Australia Olympic Games as a weightlifter in the super-heavyweight class, while suffering from a 104 °F or 40 °C fever, with Argentine Humberto Selvetti. The two competitors were tied in the amount of weight lifted, but because Anderson, who weighed in at 304 pounds, was lighter than Selvetti, who weighed 316 pounds. Anderson was awarded the gold medal, the last gold medal to be earned by an American athlete competing in the super heavyweight division.

(Statue Of Paul Anderson holding his Famous 408.5 pound press, in the Paul Anderson Memorial Park)

In 1961, Anderson and his wife Glenda founded the Paul Anderson Youth Home, a home for troubled youth in Vidalia, Georgia. They both helped to build and support the Home with an average of 500 speaking engagements and strength exhibitions per year—not withstanding the chronic congenital kidney disease that eventually killed him at age 61. He would perform stunts such as hammering a nail with his bare fist and raising a table loaded with eight men onto his back. Anderson has been immortalized at the Paul Anderson Memorial Park, which features a large statue of him performing his world record overhead barbell lift of 408.5 pounds.

Videos

Paul Andersons T.V. and movie appearances.

Homemade Training footage of Anderson

Full Documentary of Paul Anderson and his career.

Cites

“History of USA Weightlifting – Motivation & Muscle.” Motivation and Muscle Podcast, 23 Feb. 2013, motivationandmuscle.com/stories/history-of-usa-weightlifting/.

Siem, Brooke. “How Paul Anderson Became One of History’s Strongest Humans.” BarBend, 2 May 2016, barbend.com/how-paul-anderson-became-one-of-historys-strongest-humans/.

Morais, Dominic G, and Jan Todd. “Lifting the Iron Curtain: Paul Anderson and the Cold War’s First Sport Exchange.” Digital Commons @ Trinity, digitalcommons.trinity.edu/busadmin_faculty/55/.

“The Strongest Man in Recorded History: A Documentary on the Life of Paul Anderson.” YouTube, YouTube, 10 Sept. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qfnHtzNbHk&t=3s.

(Björnsson on the set of Game Of Thrones as Gregor Clegane AKA: “The Mountain”)

Dimensions

Height: 6ft 9in

Weight: 440lb (competition weight)

Notable Lifts

• Strongman
  Tire deadlift – 460 kg (1,014 lb) raw with wrist straps
  Deadlift – 474 kg (1,045 lb) Elephant bar, raw with wrist straps (Arnold Strongman Classic 2019, World Record)
  Log press – 213 kg (470 lb) (Europe’s Strongest Man 2018)
  Log carry – [5 steps] 650 kg (1,433 lb)
  Keg toss – 7.15 m (23 ft)
  Keg toss – 8 kegs in 16.35 seconds over 16ft wall (World’s Strongest Man 2014). Strongman record.
• Powerlifting
  Set at competitive meets:
  Squat (with wraps) – 440 kg (970 lb) (Thor’s Powerlifting Challenge 2018)
  Bench press – 250 kg (551 lb) (Thor’s Powerlifting Challenge 2018)
  Deadlift – 410 kg (904 lb) (Thor’s Powerlifting Challenge 2018)
  Total – 1,100 kg (2,425 lb) (Thor’s Powerlifting Challenge 2018)

Biography

Though he is mostly known for his role in the hit T.V. show Game Of Thrones as “The Mountain”, he is more concerned with his life as a professional strongman. This mythical man, who stands at a staggering six-foot-nine-inches tall and weighs in at well over four hundred pounds, and whos name translates to “Ocean God” is certainly the stuff of legends. Today, we will dive into the world of Iceland’s very own Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson.

(Hafthor In 2004)

Born in Reykjavík on November 26th 1988, this Icelandic superstar had started off his Athletic career in 2004 as a Basketball player for Iceland’s Division I team, Breiðablik. He transferred to Premier League in 2006, helping to promote his team to the Premier League but his career was cut short in 2008 due to a recurrent ankle injury. He subsequently began his strongman career.

(Björnsson carrying the Husafell Stone at Iceland’s strongest man, 2011)

I didn’t take long before Björnsson found success. After only a few years of training, the mountain had won the title of Iceland’s strongest man in 2011, and has kept that title ever since. Since then, Björnsson has only added hundreds of trophies, medals, and world records to his expanding resumé. His most successful year in the sport came in 2018, when he became the first person to have won the Arnold Strongman Classic, Europe’s Strongest Man and World’s Strongest Man in the same calendar year.

(Björnsson triumphantly lifting his first WSM trophy over his head, 2018)

“Iceland is full of strong men, its in our genes. We’re all Vikings after all. But a man like Hafþór comes once in a thousand years and his legacy will long after he is gone, he’s close to not only be the strongest man in Iceland’s history, but the worlds.”.  Words like these are well respected when they come from fellow Viking and four time worlds strongest man, Magnús Ver Magnusson. Magnusson had taken the mountain under his wing early in his career after seeing him compete. Magnusson now trains The Mountain in same gym that he himself once trained in and now looks after, the same gym that was once owned by Iceland’s first strongman super star, Jón Páll Sigmarsson, who also boasts four world strongest man titles.

(Hafþór and his wife, Kelsey Henson, at the 2019 premiere of Game Of Thrones)

Outside the world of strongman, Hafþór has conquered many other milestones and challenges in his life. Hafþór is the embodiment of what it means to be a strong man, not just the physical aspect but also the strong will. In 2017, the day before Europe’s strongest man, The Mountain had been rushed to the hospital and diagnosed with Bells Palsy, a very rare condition in which the muscles on one side of ones face becomes weak or paralyzed. It didn’t slow him down however, as the next day he competed at Europe’s Strongest man, and won. The next year, Hafþór married his long time girlfriend, Kelsey Henson, and the two of them are raising a daughter together. When asked what motivates him in the gym, Hafþór had this to say: “I just want to make my family proud, they mean the world to me.”. We can expect great things from Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, His golden years of lifting are still ahead of him, where he will try to earn more world strongest man titles and break more records to try and solidify himself as the strongest man to have ever walked on this earth.

Extra Videos

Hafþór has teamed up with Sodastream to raise awareness of the harm plastic bottles have on the environment.

Hafþór also started his own brand of Vodka

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