We either read or watch strong men and women on the tube and wonder first if this is ever possible and second that each one of these individuals must be on or have been on steroids at one point in their career.
We know about Arnold Schwarzenegger and his claim to fame through bodybuilding and started at the age of fifteen and won Mr. Universe at age 20, then won Mr. Olympia seven times.
As a youngster he played several sport and was naturally influenced by his Father and eventually took up his chosen sport.
When asked about his profession and age he responded to a question asking if he was 13 or 14, so replied “I actually started weight training when I was 15, but I’d been participating in sports, like soccer, for years, so I felt that although I was slim, I was well-developed, at least enough so that I could start going to the gym and start Olympic lifting.”
Long before Arnold we remember the legends of Hercules and how they shaped the ancient Olympic Games where wrestling matches were used to determine the strongest man alive.
As the years went by there were several methods of detmining the strongest man grew more sophisticated, from the advent of Highland games to Olympic weightlifting.
Since 1977 the presumed strongest men in the world have gathered annually to compete in the World’s Strongest Man competition (WSM) to determine who’s No. 1, with similar contests being held by the International Federation of Strength Athletes (IFSA) and at the Arnold Sports Festival.
Powerlifting fans might mentioned Coan is, pound for pound, the strongest man who’s ever lived or that the far larger Andy Bolton is the overall strongest.
Fans of the WSM competition might point to three-time winner Bill Kazmaier or five-time winner Mariusz Pudzianowski.
All of the men listed above have a legitimate claim to being history’s strongest man, but really just one can claim ultimate strength, and we’ve decided who that person is.
Dr. Terry Todd is not only the United States’ first national powerlifting champion (1964 and ’65) but was also the first man to total 1,600, 1,700, 1,800, and 1,900 pounds.
He is the creator of the Arnold Strongman Classic, one of the most renowned strength historians in the world, and along with his wife are the directors of the world’s largest collection of physical fitness and strength memorabilia, the Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports at the University of Texas at Austin.
He (Todd) points out that during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, strength athletes didn’t train so as give performances on an irregular basis.
The strength they displayed for gawking crowds was raw and untrained—and it was their performances that made them stronger, nothing systematic.
In this light, we attempted to recognize not just recorded strength but potential strength as well. Call it a metaphysical leveling of the playing field.
So if you are up to getting in shape and competing in various levels of the sport, well all I can say is “time to hit the gym”
Oh yea – on a side note – you have to be committed to do this or don’t think about taking this up!!
Power lifting can get pretty intense, which is why a lot of bodybuilders and athletes use steroid alternatives such as SARMs (selective androgen receptor modulators) to get an extra boost of energy. If you’d like to try SARMs for yourself, you can buy SARMs online.
As always, remember to fully research any supplements before you start taking them.
