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We've always been fascinated by feats of strength. Lifting heavy weights has an almost superhuman quality to it. Pushing the boundaries of how much force we are able to generate allows us to dream and believe that, maybe, we're capable of more than we originally thought.
Indeed, physical strength can be trained, but only a few genetically-blessed individuals are able to achieve the top. While nowadays we have a wide range of professionals in the area, a couple of centuries ago things were not quite the same. Even so, there were those who excelled.
Browse through the following gallery and learn more about the strongest men of all time.
Thrax might not have been the most successful Roman emperor, but he sure was strong! At 8.6 ft (2.62 m), legend has it that he would crush rocks with his bare hands and pulled wagons on his own.
William Bankier was a strongman and performer who had his own show. He was also known as "Apollo, the Scottish Hercules."
One of the most famous parts of his acts involved lifting an elephant using a harness!
He went on to open a wrestling academy and write a book called 'Ideal Physical Culture: And the Truth About the Strong Man' in 1900.
Dinnie is regarded by some as the greatest Scottish athlete of all time, having participated in an estimated more than 11,000 competitions, including 16 Highland Games.
One of Dinnie's most famous feats of strength include carrying the Dinnie Stones (lifting stones with a combined weight of 733 lbs/332 kg) barehanded for a distance of just over 17 ft (5.18 m).
Paul Anderson is one of the greatest in the world of strength sports and indeed one of the strongest humans in history.
Considered by many the father of powerlifting, Anderson also had a very successful career as an Olympic weightlifter. The American won gold at Melbourne 1956.
The Georgian "Wonder of Nature" impressed the world with numerous feats of strength, including a Guinness World Record for the heaviest weight ever lifted by a human, with his back lift of 6,270 lbs (2,840 kg).
Other impressive records include an official 335 lb (151.95 kg) snatch, a 440 lb (199.58 kg) clean and jerk, and a reported 1,200 lb (544.31 kg) squat.
Born in London, England in 1879, Saldo later became a strongman and a performer. One of his feats involved holding a platform while a car drove over it!
Francisco was a Portuguese-born American soldier in the American Revolutionary War. He became known for his stature and bravery.
Legend has it that he carried a 1,100-lb (498 kg) cannon on his shoulders during the 1780 Battle of Camden.
Better known as "Apollon the Mighty," the French strongman was famous for his grip strength. He made a career out of his strength as a performer, weightlifter, and wrestler.
Born in 1888, in Quebec, Canada, Delamarre didn't have an impressive height for such a strong man (just over 5.5 ft/1.65 m). But Delamarre could reportedly bend a quarter just using two fingers.
When Delamarre died in 1955, his autopsy showed that he had double tendons and an abnormally thick spine, nearly double the size of that of most men.
Louis Cyr was a French-Canadian strongman who performed a number of strength feats, including restraining two horses at the same time.
Other feats included his shifting a platform with numerous men standing on top, totaling a weight of 4,300 lbs (19,504 kg)! To this day, Louis Cyr is still considered one of the greatest strongmen of all time.
Bill Kazmaier is a true living legend in the sports of powerlifting and strongman. "Kaz" then moved on to wrestling and is now a sports commentator, but strength sports aficionados will always remember him for his lifts.
One of the greatest powerlifters of all time, Ed Coan is known for setting over 70 world records in the sport. With a best total of 2,463.6 lbs (1,117.5 kg) including squat, bench, and deadlift, Coan is indeed a powerlifting legend!
You might know him best for his wrestling career, but Henry had a hugely successful career as both a weightlifter and a powerlifter, and still holds multiple records to this day.
With four World’s Strongest Man titles under his belt, this Icelandic man dominated the sport in the 1990s.
In 2016, British strongman Eddie "The Beast" Hall made history by deadlifting a world-record 500 kg (1,102 lbs). This record was only beaten in 2020 by Hafthor Bjornsson, who deadlifted 501 kg (1,105lbs).
Better known as Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane from 'Game of Thrones,' the Icelandic powerhouse started his career in basketball. Thor then started competing in strongman events, and the rest is history!
The Polish five-time World’s Strongest Man champion is among the strongest athletes in the world. Pudzianowski later became an MMA fighter.
The American strongman is one of the greatest strength athletes of all time. In 2011, the four-time World’s Strongest Man champion became the first man to win the Arnold Strongman Classic and the WSM titles in the same year. He repeated the feat in 2015.
The Georgian weightlifter is currently the best athlete in the sport, regardless of weight class. Lasha Talakhadze will go down in history as one (if not the) greatest weightlifter of all time.
The Lithuanian strongman is probably the world's strongest athlete in this day and age. "Big Z" has four World's Strongest Man titles, and finished second six times.
Not to mention other titles, including eight Arnold Strongman Classic wins!
Sources: (History) (TheRichest) (TheSportster) (Fitness Volt)
The strongest men of all time
From ancient Rome until present day
LIFESTYLE Strength
We've always been fascinated by feats of strength. Lifting heavy weights has an almost superhuman quality to it. Pushing the boundaries of how much force we are able to generate allows us to dream and believe that, maybe, we're capable of more than we originally thought.
Indeed, physical strength can be trained, but only a few genetically-blessed individuals are able to achieve the top. While nowadays we have a wide range of professionals in the area, a couple of centuries ago things were not quite the same. Even so, there were those who excelled.
Browse through the following gallery and learn more about the strongest men of all time.