Louis Cyr’s Barrel Lifting Feat
On May 8th, 1896, the great Canadian strongman Louis Cyr performed several amazing feats of strength, among them lifting and shouldering a 433 lb. barrel with one hand. The barrel was filled with a mixture of water and sand and the feat took place at Saint-Louis Hall…
Gustav Fristensky ~ The Bohemian Hercules
Czechoslovakian-born Gustav Fristensky was known professionally as “The Bohemian Hercules” — and he was aptly named. Fristensky once ran the 100 meter dash in 14 seconds, which isn’t bad, but consider that it was also while carrying an extra 90 kg in his hands….
Ed Hennig
Ed Hennig, from Cleveland, Ohio, is a rather amazing figure in Indian Club lore — first up, he won the very first Olympic Gold medal in Indian Club Swinging at the 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis Missouri. In this event (contested for the first time), each athlete was…
Peak Muscle Maker
“Peak Muscle Maker” was a nifty bodybuilding magazine out of the UK. The first issue appeared in June of 1969 and they came on a semi-regular basis for the next few years — there were 28 issues in all, although none but the first one were dated. Here’s the Volume II,…
Mac Batchelor
Mac Bachelor was well-known for his feats of grip strength but he was a fine all-around strength athlete. Here’s ‘Big mac’ getting in an impromptu “odd object” workout while working at his tavern in California. Mac’s thick bone structure is evident, it should come as…
Bosco!
Bosco was Harry B. Paschall’s super strongman cartoon character whose exploits thrilled and entertained readers of Strength and Health Magazine for years. Bosco also starred in Paschall’s four great training books: Muscle Moulding, The Development of Strength,…
The 2-Hands Anyhow
A step-by-step look at the 2-Hands Anyhow. It has been said that this lift is the ultimate test of strength, endurance and agility: it is the method by which the greatest weight has ever been lifted overhead with one hand, the complete lift lasts 12-15 seconds, and it…
Odd Object Lifting in Ancient Japan
Barrel lifting goes back a little farther than Dnosaur Training… The Japanese painter Hokusai is best-known as author of the woodblock print series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji and his most recognized print The Great Wave of Kanagawa. Among his many drawings was…
Harold Sakata
You might recognize him by his most famous movie role as the villain ‘Odd Job’ in the James Bond movie ‘Gold Finger”, but Harold Sakata was also a great Olympic weightlifter, sometimes-bodybuilder and professional wrestler. Sakata got his start reading Strength and…
IRON MASTER Dumbells
Another look at one of Osmo Kiiha’s great IRON MASTER dumbbells. This one looks well used because of all the deadlifts and shrugs I did with it (and its mate) back in high school.
FREE OLDSCHOOL STRENGTH TIPS
