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If you had to bet on 1 all time body builder/ weight lifter in their prime


Ga96

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12 hours ago, ChimpGrip said:

Remember all those guys! Kaz was crazy. My favorites are Magnus Samuelsson, Phil Pfister and Brian Shaw (met him twice).

Brian Shaw… for sure another American dominant strongman.  

Pfister had a nice little run in the WSM. Brute strength.  
 

Magnus yea, legendary strongman.  

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2 minutes ago, dan in daytona said:

What do you young kids know ?  Steroid chemical boys don't count !  Steve Reeves, the original Hercules - 1958, is the correct answer. At the 4:08 second mark of the video Arnold Schwarzenegger lays down the truth. 

 

Agreed. How about Louis Cyr though?

Didn’t have anything like this for a physique but was allegedly super strong. Lived well before the invention of performance-enhancing drugs. 

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Joe Weider and the movie Pumping Iron got my interest in lifting as a teenager, like many I’m sure.  Started with the plastic coated barbell set   in friend’s basement, like many I’m sure 😂.  

I had a fun summer job in West Orange NJ in college working as a spotter and cleaning up weights etc.  at a nice facility with tennis, pool and a superb gym.  

Got to lift for free and often with a good friend early in the am before I began my shift.  
 

There were a few US Olympian trainees who worked out there.  Some guy who maybe weighed 140 lbs in an old baseball uniform wet was doing sitting military presses with 135 as a warm up as if it was just the 45 pound bar.  Ridiculous strength.  
 

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Based on the subject title I am shocked that no one mentioned Franco Columbo. Mr. Olympia winner and one of the strongest men in the world at under 200lbs. Coleman in his prime was a beast but he was on so much juice/GH and God knows what else that he is paying the price now. Another Bodybuilder that was incredibly strong was Casey Viator.

If were talking just weightlifter/powerlifter pound for pound I would say Ed Coan hands down. Unlimited size in their prime I would say Kazmier, Savickas, and Pudzianowski.,From the old timers Doug Hepburn and Paul Anderson. They were strong in Olympic lifts, powerlifting and other feats of strength. The weights they weights they were putting up in the 1950's is mindboggling considering this was before lifting shirts and very little if any juice. No where near what is out there now. 

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2 hours ago, 1DayPGA said:

Based on the subject title I am shocked that no one mentioned Franco Columbo. Mr. Olympia winner and one of the strongest men in the world at under 200lbs. Coleman in his prime was a beast but he was on so much juice/GH and God knows what else that he is paying the price now. Another Bodybuilder that was incredibly strong was Casey Viator.

If were talking just weightlifter/powerlifter pound for pound I would say Ed Coan hands down. Unlimited size in their prime I would say Kazmier, Savickas, and Pudzianowski.,From the old timers Doug Hepburn and Paul Anderson. They were strong in Olympic lifts, powerlifting and other feats of strength. The weights they weights they were putting up in the 1950's is mindboggling considering this was before lifting shirts and very little if any juice. No where near what is out there now. 

Franco was very popular back in the day.  He and Arnold trained together and met Joe Weider and then the marketing with bodybuilding took off.  Lou Ferrigno also was a young bodybuilder at the time.  

Thinking of Franco reminded me of another very popular small and muscular man,  “Ivan Putski” , the Polish Power. If you know, you know.  :)   
His real name is Józef Bednarski and is indeed from 🇵🇱.   

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31 minutes ago, golfaddict1 said:

Some old timer baseball players, that had size and were of course “naturally” strong and built…

Gehrig had huge powerful legs and overall well built, Foxx was a muscle built power hitter and Kluszewski was a strong dude.  
 

IMG_4584.jpeg

IMG_4585.jpeg

At 6'7" and 280+ lbs , this might be the biggest of the "boys of summer."

Image

 

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5 hours ago, golfaddict1 said:

Indeed and Stanton is a big dude also.  

golfaddict, truth be told, I haven't followed major league baseball in over 40yrs. When you posted the "old timer's" I Googled "Big baseball players" and got Aaron Judge's photo with that little 2nd basemen. I do remember the pitcher Randy Johnson was tall. 6'6" Stanton like Judge before him were unknow to me before yesterday. All time favorite... Roberto Clemente. Now that was a total do-it-all ballplayer.

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15 hours ago, Wooderson said:

All these guys are legendary but none of them had their own made-for-TV movie proclaiming them to be the Toughest Man in the World, complete with a masterful self-performed rap theme song:

 

“I pity the fool who doesn’t choose me in this thread… sucker!” 
 

:) 

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My wife and I watched an episode of Finding your Roots on PBS last night and the two guests were actors Tony Danza and Terry Crews.

I knew about Danza’s boxing passion and short pro career, but didn’t realize that Crews made it to the NFL.  He barely played, but was on a roster for multiple years.  

Crews has a big physique as anyone who’s seen him knows.  

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On 5/22/2023 at 4:39 PM, golfaddict1 said:

A few more American strongmen/powerlifters from the 70’s were Don Reinhoudt and Bruce Wilhelm.  I recall watching them compete in the early WSM events with Kaz. 

I remember Wilhelm winning the first 2 WSM, him and Reinhoudt battling it out. They both were built for weightlifting/powerlifting not so much bodybuilding LOL. Pudz. one of the only WSM guys that looks more like a bodybuilder. Another guy that is super strong and competed as a bodybuilder is Larry Wheels. Also Eddie Robinson, was an incredibly strong bodybuilder who held some BP records when he was a teenager.   

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21 hours ago, dan in daytona said:

golfaddict, truth be told, I haven't followed major league baseball in over 40yrs. When you posted the "old timer's" I Googled "Big baseball players" and got Aaron Judge's photo with that little 2nd basemen. I do remember the pitcher Randy Johnson was tall. 6'6" Stanton like Judge before him were unknow to me before yesterday. All time favorite... Roberto Clemente. Now that was a total do-it-all ballplayer.

Speaking of "old timers" years ago, I was inside the A's visiting clubhouse and coach Frank Howard walked in wearing his Yankees uniform. I swear to God I thought I was looking at Herman Munster. 😂

Munster.jpg

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1 hour ago, 1DayPGA said:

Speaking of "old timers" years ago, I was inside the A's visiting clubhouse and coach Frank Howard walked in wearing his Yankees uniform. I swear to God I thought I was looking at Herman Munster. 😂

Munster.jpg

Poor Leo Durocher (left), he had to tryout Herman Munster and Mr Ed.  😂 

Oh yea, Howard was tall and a good frame to go with it.  Similar to the pic @dan in daytonashared, there’s a pic out there with Howard and tiny infielder Cookie Rojas that always brings a smile.  Like Spudd Webb standing with 7+ feet centers. :) 

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