Charles Rigoulot Wrestling Poster
Here’s a rare show bill from back in December of 1946 when Charles Rigoulot took on the British champion Anaconda in a catch wrestling bout at the Palais de la Mutualite (which is still around, by the way). The undercard featuring Andre Drapp, a wrestler with a very…
371 Pounds Overhead with One Hand!
Arthur Saxon has a legitimate claim for the greatest strength feat of all time with his bent press of 371 pounds (he was said to have unofficially done 385 pounds.) Either way, it’s a tremendous feat, to lift more weight overhead with one hand than most people can…
Tom Magee’s Wheelbarrow
Tom Magee is a Canadian powerlifting champion who also competed in a number of televised strongman contests in the 80’s. Above, a rare shot of Tom hoisting 2700 pounds on a wheelbarrow while winning the le Delfi Mark Ten Challenge held at Verdun Auditorium in Montreal…
Barbed Wire Barbells
This photo is probably from around WWI but unfortunately we have no other details of who it is or how it came to be. It does however, reinforce one important principle of training success: never miss a workout, even if you have to make a barbell out of a fence post…
Indian Clubs, 1890
No idea of the details of this gent but this photo likely dates to around 1890 or so. One thing is for sure though, you can still go a long way with nothing more than a pair of Indian clubs and a pullup bar.
Tom Sharkey
A look at the great boxer Tom Sharkey, circa 1898, at the time he held the world heavyweight title. Not sure if Sharkey ever even lifted a weight but he certainly did train as evident by his series of physical culture lessons that he authored for The Police Gazette…
Madame Yucca
Mary Anna Carson was known as Madame Yucca in various circuses in the late 1800’s. One of relative few performing strong women, Yucca was also billed as “The Female Sandow,” “The Female Samson,” or “The Female Hercules” — take your pick. Yucca was, however, the real…
Williams Moor-Znamensky
Williams Moor-Znamensky , also known as Alexander Vladimirovich Znamensky, and pictured here with an awesome globe dumbbell , was another great (but somewhat little known) circus strongman, wrestler, and weightlifter from early 20th century Russia . Moor-Znamensky is…
The Ed Block Hand Exerciser
Ed Block was a long-time trainer for the (then) Baltimore Colts football team. In his years of service, he noticed that many of his football players experienced injuries to the fingers, hands, and wrists which prevented them from playing their best. Furthermore, he…
Peter Cortese: Anvil Lifting
Peter Cortes, of Boston, Massachusetts was stricken with double pneumonia as a child and it necessitated the removal of one of his lungs. He was not expected to live very long there-after but he not only beat the odds but also became a champion weight lifter. His…
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