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Bigger guys typically win because the events are set up for bigger guys. Pound-for-pound bigger guys are not stronger. Who is stronger the guy that weighs 300lb and can bench press 600lbs or the guy that weighs 185lbs that can bench press 600lbs?
That's a pretty dang good list, not much to nitpick there. But... Obviously Kyriakos should be number 1, the strongman so dominant he doesn't compete in strongman. At bodyweight FULL, he doesn't lift weights, he pushes the earth out of orbit.
Pound for pound Haack is easily the strongest athlete, it would be interesting if the Shaw classic adds lighter classes we might see John compete in this and focus more on strongman event.
I'm surprised that Haack hasn't gone full time strongman yet. I think he doesn't have long for PL. Unless he wants to go up in weight, there's little for him left to accomplish.
Jon Pall Sigmarsson was the first strength athlete I ever looked up to. I was 6 or 7 watching WSM on ESPN, and he looked like He-Man... even with that one WSM, where Jon Pall being small was a huge advantage on that 200m weighted run. I remember as a kid thinking what a spectacular comeback. As an adult, and strength sport competitor, I look back and feel bad for O.D.
People forget about Jon Paul I guess because of being in the same Era as Kaz. I'm 47 now but I remember watching those guys go at it in the WSM. I remember in one of the WSM competitions he really took it to Kaz. Years later Kaz said he felt like the competition had been ringed. That organizers had events that favored Jon Paul.....
The Bulgarian weightlifter "Pocket Hercules", was only 4'9", 137 lbs. His greatest snatch was 336 lbs (2.5 times his body weight). While his greatest clean & jerk was 419 lbs (3 times his body weight). With Sinclair points of 504, Pocket Hercules is considered by many to be the best lifter for size ever.
Makes sense since olympic lifting is almost ALL technique.....olympic is cool but it is such a dynamic set of movements that it says very little about how strong someone is. You need movements where Newton is fighting against you as much as possible and that can be replicated accurately.....basic gym movements, farmers. The goal of perfected Olympic Lifting is to make Newton do as much of the work as possible.
I remember Big Loz also doing a piece on most impressive strongman of the year a while back (can’t remember if it was 2021 or 2022?). But he made the point that Oleski Novikov was just a competing machine. A lot of guys try to really save strength and energy for the big comps but Oleski was just relentlessly going into everything. I thought that was really impressive how he pushes himself that much throughout the competition year. Glad he is where he is on this list.
I got to meet all the athletes at the Shaw Classic last weekend. I can definitely say although not small guys, Oleksii and Kevin are much smaller than the other athletes. What they can do at their relatively small size is incredible.
Big fan of the channel. I discovered it 2 months ago and I got on the bullmastiff program. I'm a158lbs 5'11 dude I want more mass on my body and I've already gained 4lbs the first 3 weeks. Excited for the PRs🙌
I didn’t realize you were on the Marunde-Muscle forum. I used to be a moderator there. The only omission I would say you had was not putting Zack McCarley on the list. Not quite as statically strong on the deadlift as some of the guys here but was so good at being a strongman that he wiped the floor with the competition while still actually weighing in at 230lbs. Biggest problem was when he competed there wasn’t anywhere else to go as a middleweight when he had already won nationals 3 times.
The Rouge Invitational has been won by such luminaries as Little Richard, David Bowie, Tim Curry, Boy George, and That Bloke From Placebo, but The Rogue Invitational was indeed won by Alexei Novikov.
It's an alternative transliteration (look at the many ways "Alexiev'" is spelled in Western media). True, it's a bit old fashioned, being closer to a common Russian transliteration, rather than a modern Ukrainian one. Still valid, but not as good as it could be. I could argue that Ukraine is a dual language state, but I'll take the "L" here. My Cold War era education is showing (also, in translation circles, the jury is out over using one or two "i's" on the end, which is purely about Western pronunciation). In fact, his akshule name is akshuly "Олексій Новіков". And with that, I will say good day, madam 😜@@StrengthShowcase
Jón Páll Sigmarsson is the one who inspired me the most to pick up weightlifting. His personality and performances were always so contrasted with his his competitors and he made the whole competition seem like a fun game. Bill Kazmaier just by sheer force is a close second when it comes to inspiration for me.
What made Juoko so impressive to me was that he was the first WSM competitor who made it a point to work with all the implements. In a day where you can find stone molds and strongman equipment everywhere, Juoko was really the first competitor who made it a point to build everything he could for his own gym and then use it to train with. Legend had it that his training was even broken down into two week blocks, so that he could focus on pure strength one week and events the next, slowly combining them together the closer the contest got. He was basically the birth of modern strongman training, which was what made him so good at the time, especially for his size. He really was an incredible athlete IMO.
Oleksii Novikov also holds the hummer tire deadlift world record at 1,210lbs done at the Shaw Classic 2022. Crazy impressive too. Looked like he could have done more if he needed to.
Totally agree with the larry wheels entry . The guy is s phenomenon, well done .i would have put marius further up, definitely alexi novokov. Brilliant athlete nice video. Big love from the UK 🇬🇧
15:59 Cambi and Clayton have faced off numerous times. Including OSG 2017 where Clayton dominated by such a huge margin that he'd already won before the last event.
Loving the fact you included John Haack and Larry Wheels on this list, they might not fit some peoples ideas of classic strongmen, but they've proven over and over they deserve the title of Strong Mother F*$kers
I wasn’t expecting to see Andrew Clayton on here. We used to workout at the same gym waaaaay back in the day. I believe he’s the one who taught me how to deadlift but I can’t really remember all that well.
Marius was dominant because he was the Ian Botham of strongman; a good all rounder with no weak leaks, a lot of the top lifters have at least one weak link, and compensate by being dominant in one or more fields.
I weigh 250 and was gifted with an unaturally large frame with a solid Vo2 max. Do you have any recommendations as to where to go in terms of training ? This is a very broad statement- to narrow it down. Ive been training for a few months. I train a few days a weeks with some high intensity cycling to develop legs, leg press, leg extensions and calf raises.I do these everyday. I also do seated row, shoulder press, and varying other excercises. I have a very wide chest and back for my size as well as a good lung capacity. What would you do with this frame ? What direction would you go? I am 32. I am willing to try ALL sorts of training !!!
Brother I've been watching your channel for a long time now i like the way you make videos never stop making them but if you do want to increase the audience you can do short content like shorts as well ❤
I feel like Mario Pudzianoswki is highly underrated. Doesn't seem to be mentioned as often as his record would suggest. Any thoughts into why this might be?
I think there are a few reasons: 1. Hardcore fans and other athletes recognize that the IFSA split really watered down the competition for a couple of his worlds wins. 2. He never won or even podiumed at the Arnold or other major shows than worlds. 3. He quit in his prime so his total number of competition wins and podiums in less than half of Big Z and far fewer than Shaw. 4. His static numbers are good, but not great and he never held major records. That said, I think he is a bit underrated in strongman circles and a bit overrated by a certain subset of fans who only watch WSM or think physique is correlated with strength.
@@lukebbuff I don't think the no other major show victories point is fair. He won a lot in that Strongman Super Series at the time. Even with the competition split, there are plenty of instances where he made Z look kind of foolish. My alternate reality take is that he still probably would have won at least 4 WSM without the split. Mariusz is just difficult to like as a person in comparison to Z, Shaw, Poundstone, and Koklyaev.
@@phillipsmith1489 I was just explaining why he is often discounted by fans/athletes/analysts relative to the other modern era greats not necessarily saying it’s fair. I When I say “major shows” though Im thinking of WSM, ASC, IFSA, Fortissimus, and more recently Rogue and Shaw and similar shows if I’m forgetting some. They are different from Super Series, Giants Live etc in that they are usually 6+ events over multiple days and include more consistently stacked lineups. I tend to value those competitions a bit above other international shows as they seem to be a more complete test. My personal take is that Mariusz tends to be somewhat underrated these days, but was/is massively overrated by a subset of very vocal fans who only care about WSM and don’t know or care about the context. In my mind the all time list goes: 1. Z 2. Shaw After that I think a whole list of guys including Mariusz that can be orderd differently depending what factors you prioritize (eras, competitions, longevity, records). I wouldn’t be offended if you put him third, but his shorter career keeps him off the top two for me.
@@lukebbuff I agree with most of what you're saying. Still, an international competition is still a big deal with competitors at the level of a WSM final (like Giants Live, though most of the guys aren't peaking for that stuff). It's not like Mariusz never tried to win something else. Unlike cyclists who treat every other race as training for the Tour de France.
The strength many of these athletes today that are under 300lbs is insane. However strength doesn’t necessarily scale with weight. At some point to get that extra 5lbs on a bar it requires much more body weight. Hafthor went up to about 210Kg to lift 501KG. So even though there are people lifting 2x,3x their body weight, at some point the scale needs to go up with it.
The only problem I had was they got Larry to do a shoulder press, instead of a deadlift, I'm glad they are going to allow Jamal Browner to go for the record deadlift 💪🏽
I know its hard to quantify pound for pound strength with someone who is neither a powerlifter nor a strongman, but I feel like Lasha Talakhadze deserves a mention here. His unprescedented dominance within his sport speaks for itself, in my opinion.
@@jason561120 That's fair. Naim Suleymanoglu is probably a better choice for pound for pound strength as opposed to pure strength. I'm also probably just biased as someone who loves olympic weightlifting and wishes those athletes received more respect outside of Eastern Europe and Asia.
I think Martins should be up there, not high up on the list, but he had some really big lifts even when he was a lot lighter than he is now. Also, I would actually add Hooper onto this list too, even though both those guys are heavier than most of the guys here.
Haha man I remember seeing a video of mariusz ATG squat 683lbs for reps. I think it was like 7-8 plates or something crazy. I’m like how the hell can your tendons and ligaments handle that! That’s amazing! I’m working on perfecting my body weight ATG squat. I’ve been using an extra 40lbs for 6 months and I’m about to increase it. It’s gonna be a ten year quest to hit 300 ATG. So I’m beyond amazed at him doing so much!
It shouldn't take that long. Get under the bar. Don't rush it but you're projection is at a turtles pace. Bodyweight and barbell squat are very different. You won't train and increase the range of motion for barbell with BW.
Also ATG squats aren't necessary for strength gains unless you're a OLY lifter. Maybe you rely on the rebound out of the bottom. Which shows that you should improve your static leg power. Try squatting from a dead stop. You're doing yourself a disservice by focusing on that. Just slightly below parallel is as deep as anyone needs to go.
@@BeardOfPower7 I really like the feel of ATG squats. They make my knees feel like I’m 15 again. I’d rather go on a quest to hit 250-300 ATG in 10 years than double that at 90 degrees. Easier on the back lol. Plus I’m more focused on becoming athletic and bouncy long term.
Seen Kaz in the WWF wrestling ring years ago his physique was insane at about 330 to 340 pounds so Lean and he Bent a steel Rebar that night in Augusta Ga Amazing to have witnessed a Living Legend .
Maybe, strongman requires your body to be able to handle having loads on you in very awkward positions. So it usually favors guys with bigger joints and skeletons. Not only that, you need to be able to access your power in those awkward movements. Your squat bench and dead may be huge but u go to a construction job and these guys are able to throw cement blocks with ease while u struggle. I’ve seen it
Knew it was gonna be Oleksii on top. I can see him podiuming WSM again, but I don't really see him eclipsing Hooper & Tom Stoltman. It just depend on how fast the rest of the field moves up.
If you go that way, he can add Brad Castleberry too. In 2023 there are enough competitions around the world that everybody can enter and prove how strong he is. Otherwise everyone can record some shitty video how he is lifting whatever weight claiming strongest man in the world, galaxy, universe etc.
The reason we have a drought in so many places right now is becaude Denis used up all the juice haha. He's freakishly strong though, but afaik never competed in strongman competitions.
It didn't quite dawn on me how far the 220lb weightclass has come until I went and looked on openpowerlifting. I remember Dan Green doing an 804 in 2013 and that was gargantuan. Then later Chris Duffin did 881 and then Sam Byrd did 915. And since then, that 804 would tie Dan for 35th, and 7 guys squatting 881lbs or 4x bodyweight in this class. John's best squat isn't bad, per se, but it's definitely the 3rd wheel. But then again, when the guy has the highest bench in the class for a full meet (and not a bench only) and 4th highest deadlift, someone is gonna be lagging behind. Someone is probably going to think I"m shitting on John, I'm not. But it's the internet, saying anything negative immediately means youre shitting on it.
I really really love the "Big Dreams, Bad Genes," tee, I do notice however that the font choice can make one parse the bottom left word as "Bro," not "Bad," which could be mildly confusing.
What about Magnus Ver Magnusson? Yeah, he is 1.90m if I remember right. But compared to many of his competitors he was downright skinny. And his athleticism was top notch.
I saw Nathan Tomesselo (Ohio State 125 lb. weight Class NCAA Wrestler.) Bench press 340lbs. And he weighed 125lb. Thats nearly 3 TIMES his body weight. Now THAT'S Strong.
Always have to wonder if Ed coan could have rewritten the record books for smaller strong men like he did for powerlifters under 110 kilos/242 lbs. Dude actually held the all-time total briefly from 1998 to about 2001.
A fair few names who don’t seem to have achieved owt in strongman. For myself, the impressive ones are the sorts who are at the main events and perform consistently.
This should never be even considered. This sport is about the Strongest man on the planet. Not the pound for pound guy which includes sumo deadlifts and exorcist bench presses.
I think you should swap hack and Larry just because John our ranks him on dots already anyway and powerlifting is the most data to compare the two with
Okay, so I have a legitamite, serious, nondisrespectful question. Has anyone else noticed YT videos being posted and then very shortly later the thumbnail changes? Please tell me i am not imagining this. This is the first time I am noticing it with this channel, but I am simply wondering.... whyyyy? Is this some type of strategy to get more views? Like if the same viewer sees the same suggested video again with a different thumbnail and doesnt read the description, they will click again and the video gets another view from the same viewer? Any well intended duscussion on this would be helpful. Also, this is just another comment for the algo. (Eyebrow-wiggle emoji) A'ight, well, stay shredded (or bulked) brahs (and brahettes), we're all gonna make it. Peace.
Yeah he's been doing it for quite a while now (pretty much since he went full time). I don't really know what the idea is behind it, must be some kind of algorithm thing
When I saw the title of this video the first and only name that popped into my head was Ahola. I saw him win WSM twice and he was such a tiny guy compared to the rest. I was amazed.
You should do a Pound for Pound strength comparison and include Women. There are some very small women who can press and lift 2 to 5 times their body weight.
@@outlimboed I did not see him, but I am certain he was in the vicinity when they showed Brian Siders. He is kind of hard to miss when you see him.. If that is OK to say..
Wish i would have thought about weight classes as a teen. I woulda been in the Guinness Book and held a record that would have stood for +20 years. At 17 YO, 155 lbs I could deadlift 650 lbs
There was a online competition. Forget the site. Ir was pound for pound best. Rob Kearney was at the top. That's why he claims that title. With validity and merit.
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What about Franco Columbo? He competed in WSM in 1977. He was 5'5", weighed 84 kilos. 525 pound bench, 655 pound squat, 750 pound deadlift.
He got injured tho and never did anything impressive in WSM events , his powerlifting for his size was very impressive tho
I don't want to read these numbers as someone who weighs 84kg. I am taller though so take that : D
The legendary Franco Columbo. RIP
Was literally just about to say the same thing
Bigger guys typically win because the events are set up for bigger guys. Pound-for-pound bigger guys are not stronger.
Who is stronger the guy that weighs 300lb and can bench press 600lbs or the guy that weighs 185lbs that can bench press 600lbs?
That's a pretty dang good list, not much to nitpick there. But... Obviously Kyriakos should be number 1, the strongman so dominant he doesn't compete in strongman. At bodyweight FULL, he doesn't lift weights, he pushes the earth out of orbit.
He is to full
Its impressive to weigh FULL. Not us mere humans could ever achieve such fulĺness
I met Larry about 5 years ago and he was a super nice and humble guy
Pound for pound Haack is easily the strongest athlete, it would be interesting if the Shaw classic adds lighter classes we might see
John compete in this and focus more on strongman event.
Bilbo Swaggins at 105kg if he actually trained strongman would be NUTS
I'm surprised that Haack hasn't gone full time strongman yet. I think he doesn't have long for PL. Unless he wants to go up in weight, there's little for him left to accomplish.
@@thechairman74 there is a lot more money in him winning powerlifting comps than lightweight strongman shows
Haack is my favorite strength athlete. Incredible genetics.
Jon Pall Sigmarsson was the first strength athlete I ever looked up to. I was 6 or 7 watching WSM on ESPN, and he looked like He-Man... even with that one WSM, where Jon Pall being small was a huge advantage on that 200m weighted run. I remember as a kid thinking what a spectacular comeback. As an adult, and strength sport competitor, I look back and feel bad for O.D.
Ekkert mál fyrir Jón Pál
Man, this takes me back!
RIP Jon Pall.
When powerlifting was on TV@@K0bbii
People forget about Jon Paul I guess because of being in the same Era as Kaz. I'm 47 now but I remember watching those guys go at it in the WSM. I remember in one of the WSM competitions he really took it to Kaz. Years later Kaz said he felt like the competition had been ringed. That organizers had events that favored Jon Paul.....
As much as I like Kaz, he was a sore winner, so as a loser... oof.@@terryhagan6382
The Bulgarian weightlifter "Pocket Hercules", was only 4'9", 137 lbs. His greatest snatch was 336 lbs (2.5 times his body weight). While his greatest clean & jerk was 419 lbs (3 times his body weight). With Sinclair points of 504, Pocket Hercules is considered by many to be the best lifter for size ever.
Naim Suleymanoglu is easily among the best pound for pound strength athletes that have ever competed
He was Turkish not Bulgarian
Makes sense since olympic lifting is almost ALL technique.....olympic is cool but it is such a dynamic set of movements that it says very little about how strong someone is. You need movements where Newton is fighting against you as much as possible and that can be replicated accurately.....basic gym movements, farmers. The goal of perfected Olympic Lifting is to make Newton do as much of the work as possible.
3x body weight plus 10kg (22 pounds)
Thank you Bromley for always working so hard and giving us the best content! We love you!
I remember Big Loz also doing a piece on most impressive strongman of the year a while back (can’t remember if it was 2021 or 2022?). But he made the point that Oleski Novikov was just a competing machine. A lot of guys try to really save strength and energy for the big comps but Oleski was just relentlessly going into everything. I thought that was really impressive how he pushes himself that much throughout the competition year. Glad he is where he is on this list.
I got to meet all the athletes at the Shaw Classic last weekend. I can definitely say although not small guys, Oleksii and Kevin are much smaller than the other athletes. What they can do at their relatively small size is incredible.
Wholeheartedly agree with Mariuz and Oleksii being on the list
Mariusz always my favourite. The reason I started lifting weights all of those years ago!
Greetings from Poland.
polska gurom!
Big thumbs up for having a spot for Jouko!
Juoko XDD
Juoko Ahola :D?
_Joker Asshola!_
Should have listed Franco Colombo….at 185lbs his 750 raw deadlift was nuts for that time.
Still nuts now. There’s like a handful of people at the same weight who can do that conventional while also benching over 500
almost 4 times!!! his weight, infinity more impressive anyone 300lbs can do unless they deadlift 1200 lbs
Big fan of the channel. I discovered it 2 months ago and I got on the bullmastiff program. I'm a158lbs 5'11 dude I want more mass on my body and I've already gained 4lbs the first 3 weeks. Excited for the PRs🙌
Nice work
Noice.
I didn’t realize you were on the Marunde-Muscle forum. I used to be a moderator there. The only omission I would say you had was not putting Zack McCarley on the list. Not quite as statically strong on the deadlift as some of the guys here but was so good at being a strongman that he wiped the floor with the competition while still actually weighing in at 230lbs. Biggest problem was when he competed there wasn’t anywhere else to go as a middleweight when he had already won nationals 3 times.
Novikov said he was below 280lb at rouge invitational last year but that was light for him and usually sits around 285-300lbs range.
The Rouge Invitational has been won by such luminaries as Little Richard, David Bowie, Tim Curry, Boy George, and That Bloke From Placebo, but The Rogue Invitational was indeed won by Alexei Novikov.
@@TyghtAlso Who's Alexei Novikov? I thought his name was Oleksii... 😏😏😏
It's an alternative transliteration (look at the many ways "Alexiev'" is spelled in Western media). True, it's a bit old fashioned, being closer to a common Russian transliteration, rather than a modern Ukrainian one. Still valid, but not as good as it could be. I could argue that Ukraine is a dual language state, but I'll take the "L" here. My Cold War era education is showing (also, in translation circles, the jury is out over using one or two "i's" on the end, which is purely about Western pronunciation).
In fact, his akshule name is akshuly "Олексій Новіков". And with that, I will say good day, madam 😜@@StrengthShowcase
He was 320lbs at WSM this year
@@simondean5227 ye think he was 310-320lb and he looked proper big as well.
Love Larry. He got me hooked on arm wrestling as well hehe. He's rocking a lot of athletic talent
As a young aspiring strength Athlete these videos inspire me to keep pushing.
Jón Páll Sigmarsson is the one who inspired me the most to pick up weightlifting. His personality and performances were always so contrasted with his his competitors and he made the whole competition seem like a fun game. Bill Kazmaier just by sheer force is a close second when it comes to inspiration for me.
Great watch and great editing too
Shows the love of the sport and a great ode to these legends
I've watched WSM since the Geoff Capes days. Juoko Akola was so excellent to watch. Even then he was 'small.'
What made Juoko so impressive to me was that he was the first WSM competitor who made it a point to work with all the implements. In a day where you can find stone molds and strongman equipment everywhere, Juoko was really the first competitor who made it a point to build everything he could for his own gym and then use it to train with. Legend had it that his training was even broken down into two week blocks, so that he could focus on pure strength one week and events the next, slowly combining them together the closer the contest got.
He was basically the birth of modern strongman training, which was what made him so good at the time, especially for his size. He really was an incredible athlete IMO.
Great content. This channel's killing it.
bro your content is top tier and you speak super eloquently. Hope your stuff blows up soon
Great vid 👍🏻
Oleksii Novikov also holds the hummer tire deadlift world record at 1,210lbs done at the Shaw Classic 2022. Crazy impressive too. Looked like he could have done more if he needed to.
Bro that T-shirt is awesome nice artwork!
Love this type of video man. I’d love to see more of your thoughts on General strongman goingson too!
Totally agree with the larry wheels entry . The guy is s phenomenon, well done .i would have put marius further up, definitely alexi novokov. Brilliant athlete nice video. Big love from the UK 🇬🇧
15:59 Cambi and Clayton have faced off numerous times. Including OSG 2017 where Clayton dominated by such a huge margin that he'd already won before the last event.
I was referring to peak cambi where they were closely matched. Cambi didn't evolve until 2020.
Your videos are wildly underrated
06:22 wise advice for those of us who enjoy strength training without intending to compete 🙏🏻🙌🏻
Loving the fact you included John Haack and Larry Wheels on this list, they might not fit some peoples ideas of classic strongmen, but they've proven over and over they deserve the title of Strong Mother F*$kers
I wasn’t expecting to see Andrew Clayton on here. We used to workout at the same gym waaaaay back in the day. I believe he’s the one who taught me how to deadlift but I can’t really remember all that well.
21:50 is a spoiler. It shows number 2 right after number 3 is being presented and discussed.
Marius was dominant because he was the Ian Botham of strongman; a good all rounder with no weak leaks, a lot of the top lifters have at least one weak link, and compensate by being dominant in one or more fields.
Mariusz looks lighter than all of them. What an amazing beastly physique
Great content Alex!
I weigh 250 and was gifted with an unaturally large frame with a solid Vo2 max. Do you have any recommendations as to where to go in terms of training ?
This is a very broad statement- to narrow it down.
Ive been training for a few months. I train a few days a weeks with some high intensity cycling to develop legs, leg press, leg extensions and calf raises.I do these everyday. I also do seated row, shoulder press, and varying other excercises. I have a very wide chest and back for my size as well as a good lung capacity. What would you do with this frame ? What direction would you go?
I am 32. I am willing to try ALL sorts of training !!!
Emanuel Pescari is insane strong as a 105. 190Kg Log and 380Kg DL, also very athletic and well rounded
Brother I've been watching your channel for a long time now i like the way you make videos never stop making them but if you do want to increase the audience you can do short content like shorts as well ❤
I feel like Mario Pudzianoswki is highly underrated. Doesn't seem to be mentioned as often as his record would suggest. Any thoughts into why this might be?
I think there are a few reasons: 1. Hardcore fans and other athletes recognize that the IFSA split really watered down the competition for a couple of his worlds wins.
2. He never won or even podiumed at the Arnold or other major shows than worlds.
3. He quit in his prime so his total number of competition wins and podiums in less than half of Big Z and far fewer than Shaw.
4. His static numbers are good, but not great and he never held major records.
That said, I think he is a bit underrated in strongman circles and a bit overrated by a certain subset of fans who only watch WSM or think physique is correlated with strength.
@@lukebbuff Thanks for such a great answer.
@@lukebbuff I don't think the no other major show victories point is fair. He won a lot in that Strongman Super Series at the time. Even with the competition split, there are plenty of instances where he made Z look kind of foolish. My alternate reality take is that he still probably would have won at least 4 WSM without the split. Mariusz is just difficult to like as a person in comparison to Z, Shaw, Poundstone, and Koklyaev.
@@phillipsmith1489 I was just explaining why he is often discounted by fans/athletes/analysts relative to the other modern era greats not necessarily saying it’s fair.
I When I say “major shows” though Im thinking of WSM, ASC, IFSA, Fortissimus, and more recently Rogue and Shaw and similar shows if I’m forgetting some. They are different from Super Series, Giants Live etc in that they are usually 6+ events over multiple days and include more consistently stacked lineups. I tend to value those competitions a bit above other international shows as they seem to be a more complete test.
My personal take is that Mariusz tends to be somewhat underrated these days, but was/is massively overrated by a subset of very vocal fans who only care about WSM and don’t know or care about the context.
In my mind the all time list goes:
1. Z
2. Shaw
After that I think a whole list of guys including Mariusz that can be orderd differently depending what factors you prioritize (eras, competitions, longevity, records). I wouldn’t be offended if you put him third, but his shorter career keeps him off the top two for me.
@@lukebbuff I agree with most of what you're saying. Still, an international competition is still a big deal with competitors at the level of a WSM final (like Giants Live, though most of the guys aren't peaking for that stuff). It's not like Mariusz never tried to win something else. Unlike cyclists who treat every other race as training for the Tour de France.
Great video brother
Wild that someone as light as 275 won. Absolutely wild.
The strength many of these athletes today that are under 300lbs is insane. However strength doesn’t necessarily scale with weight. At some point to get that extra 5lbs on a bar it requires much more body weight. Hafthor went up to about 210Kg to lift 501KG.
So even though there are people lifting 2x,3x their body weight, at some point the scale needs to go up with it.
Cool list! Everybody on here is definitely a freak of nature. Crazy what they have accomplished.
The only problem I had was they got Larry to do a shoulder press, instead of a deadlift, I'm glad they are going to allow Jamal Browner to go for the record deadlift 💪🏽
He's far from world record numbers
As someone who is 5'4, hearing "only 275" kills me inside just the tiiiniest bit😂😅
I’d just add “within the context of elite strongman
Damn, pretty cool seeing another Finn in the top ten. I haven't followed strength sports that much so I'm pleasantly surprised 😅
I know its hard to quantify pound for pound strength with someone who is neither a powerlifter nor a strongman, but I feel like Lasha Talakhadze deserves a mention here. His unprescedented dominance within his sport speaks for itself, in my opinion.
Lasha also weighs over 400 lbs though.
@@jason561120 That's fair. Naim Suleymanoglu is probably a better choice for pound for pound strength as opposed to pure strength. I'm also probably just biased as someone who loves olympic weightlifting and wishes those athletes received more respect outside of Eastern Europe and Asia.
@@jason561120doesn't matter. He is still the strongest man of all time.
@@cyurisichWich is not the point of the video. It's not a top 10 absolute strongest ever.
I think Martins should be up there, not high up on the list, but he had some really big lifts even when he was a lot lighter than he is now. Also, I would actually add Hooper onto this list too, even though both those guys are heavier than most of the guys here.
I was at the shawclassic and seen a group of guys wearing your shirts. Was pretty cool.
8:03 Damn! Dropped it on his foot! 😳😬
Haha man I remember seeing a video of mariusz ATG squat 683lbs for reps. I think it was like 7-8 plates or something crazy. I’m like how the hell can your tendons and ligaments handle that! That’s amazing! I’m working on perfecting my body weight ATG squat. I’ve been using an extra 40lbs for 6 months and I’m about to increase it. It’s gonna be a ten year quest to hit 300 ATG. So I’m beyond amazed at him doing so much!
It shouldn't take that long. Get under the bar. Don't rush it but you're projection is at a turtles pace.
Bodyweight and barbell squat are very different. You won't train and increase the range of motion for barbell with BW.
Also ATG squats aren't necessary for strength gains unless you're a OLY lifter. Maybe you rely on the rebound out of the bottom. Which shows that you should improve your static leg power. Try squatting from a dead stop.
You're doing yourself a disservice by focusing on that. Just slightly below parallel is as deep as anyone needs to go.
just squat, youre gonna get burned out really soon by chasing "the perfect tech"
@@BeardOfPower7 I really like the feel of ATG squats. They make my knees feel like I’m 15 again. I’d rather go on a quest to hit 250-300 ATG in 10 years than double that at 90 degrees. Easier on the back lol. Plus I’m more focused on becoming athletic and bouncy long term.
@@jake8915 I definitely appreciate your point. But I love ATG squats dawg they make me feel goooooood
Hooper ran wild this year, and he credited his running and athletics background.
Real shame hooper is such a clown.
Great video....we want another video.....but especially for powerlifting
the best way to do that would be to look at DOTS scores and compare . the higher the dots the higher the lbs for lbs strength
Seen Kaz in the WWF wrestling ring years ago his physique was insane at about 330 to 340 pounds so Lean and he Bent a steel Rebar that night in Augusta Ga Amazing to have witnessed a Living Legend .
Ukrainiens are out of this world Novikov, I still can't belive he won the truck pull against peak 420Lb monsters
Can you change the title of the video? Didn't expect this but I enjoyed it.
I think if Haack committed to strong man he would be just as dominant as he is in powerlifting. Unbeatable even on an off day.
Maybe, strongman requires your body to be able to handle having loads on you in very awkward positions. So it usually favors guys with bigger joints and skeletons. Not only that, you need to be able to access your power in those awkward movements. Your squat bench and dead may be huge but u go to a construction job and these guys are able to throw cement blocks with ease while u struggle. I’ve seen it
Novikov's 1210lb Hummer tire deadlift is insane beyond belief
Knew it was gonna be Oleksii on top. I can see him podiuming WSM again, but I don't really see him eclipsing Hooper & Tom Stoltman. It just depend on how fast the rest of the field moves up.
Any consideration for Tom Haviland? I know he doesn't compete but his lifts are insane.
If you go that way, he can add Brad Castleberry too. In 2023 there are enough competitions around the world that everybody can enter and prove how strong he is. Otherwise everyone can record some shitty video how he is lifting whatever weight claiming strongest man in the world, galaxy, universe etc.
@@igordimitrov281 You are about as bright as a one watt bulb.
Larry Wheels is doing armwrestling now and killing it!
Great video, Bromley. Thanks. He’s a freak, and might’ve juiced a bit(LOL), but Denis Cyplenkov might be worth a look.
The reason we have a drought in so many places right now is becaude Denis used up all the juice haha. He's freakishly strong though, but afaik never competed in strongman competitions.
It didn't quite dawn on me how far the 220lb weightclass has come until I went and looked on openpowerlifting. I remember Dan Green doing an 804 in 2013 and that was gargantuan. Then later Chris Duffin did 881 and then Sam Byrd did 915. And since then, that 804 would tie Dan for 35th, and 7 guys squatting 881lbs or 4x bodyweight in this class. John's best squat isn't bad, per se, but it's definitely the 3rd wheel. But then again, when the guy has the highest bench in the class for a full meet (and not a bench only) and 4th highest deadlift, someone is gonna be lagging behind.
Someone is probably going to think I"m shitting on John, I'm not. But it's the internet, saying anything negative immediately means youre shitting on it.
Whats your opinion on Martins licis?
More of this sir Alex 🤝 🤝
I really really love the "Big Dreams, Bad Genes," tee, I do notice however that the font choice can make one parse the bottom left word as "Bro," not "Bad," which could be mildly confusing.
i dig those t shirts you got
What about Magnus Ver Magnusson? Yeah, he is 1.90m if I remember right. But compared to many of his competitors he was downright skinny. And his athleticism was top notch.
I can not, not let out a grin when I hear "Jerk specialist" haaaaah!
good video
I guess I have been sleeping on Larry wheels, didn’t realize all his numbers
I saw Nathan Tomesselo (Ohio State 125 lb. weight Class NCAA Wrestler.) Bench press 340lbs. And he weighed 125lb. Thats nearly 3 TIMES his body weight. Now THAT'S Strong.
It's good to see John as he trains at Madtown Fitness with owner Dan spotting him.
Please do the -80 and -90kg. (: awsome videos
Novikov #1 yeah dude is obscene. He does things that should be impossible
Winning the the bus pull in wsm made my head explode
The u90 class is arguably the most stacked class in strongman.
What about dan Benson in the under 90s?
Always have to wonder if Ed coan could have rewritten the record books for smaller strong men like he did for powerlifters under 110 kilos/242 lbs. Dude actually held the all-time total briefly from 1998 to about 2001.
What about Mitchell Hooper? He’s pretty light considering his strength
A fair few names who don’t seem to have achieved owt in strongman. For myself, the impressive ones are the sorts who are at the main events and perform consistently.
Any chance that Strongman adds a DOTS type of number to award a "top competitor" similar to powerlifting to reward pound for pound strength too?
This should never be even considered. This sport is about the Strongest man on the planet. Not the pound for pound guy which includes sumo deadlifts and exorcist bench presses.
What is PED use like in Strongman? No hate just genuinely curious
also guys like Dan Benson, 401.55kg deadlift under 90kg. Shane Jerman, strict logpress 190kg under 90kg
I really would've liked to see Kirill Sarychev done strongman
I think you should swap hack and Larry just because John our ranks him on dots already anyway and powerlifting is the most data to compare the two with
You should do another one but with age
The whole count down I was saying Novikov! Agreed
Okay, so I have a legitamite, serious, nondisrespectful question.
Has anyone else noticed YT videos being posted and then very shortly later the thumbnail changes? Please tell me i am not imagining this. This is the first time I am noticing it with this channel, but I am simply wondering.... whyyyy?
Is this some type of strategy to get more views? Like if the same viewer sees the same suggested video again with a different thumbnail and doesnt read the description, they will click again and the video gets another view from the same viewer?
Any well intended duscussion on this would be helpful.
Also, this is just another comment for the algo. (Eyebrow-wiggle emoji)
A'ight, well, stay shredded (or bulked) brahs (and brahettes),
we're all gonna make it.
Peace.
Yeah he's been doing it for quite a while now (pretty much since he went full time). I don't really know what the idea is behind it, must be some kind of algorithm thing
Ahola should be higher. He weightes in reality between 110-115kg. He could not force feed himself to be heavier. He is a close friend of mine.
When I saw the title of this video the first and only name that popped into my head was Ahola. I saw him win WSM twice and he was such a tiny guy compared to the rest. I was amazed.
@@AbsoRuud76 Yes and comparing lift numbers is dumb. He lifted as much as he needed to win everyone. He was top 3 in deadlift and most over heads.
@@vikingpower8656I think we both agree that pound for pound Ahola should be #1 on this list.
Jon Pall was my idol to me the greatest "I AM THE VIKING "
You should do a Pound for Pound strength comparison and include Women. There are some very small women who can press and lift 2 to 5 times their body weight.
Martins!
I’d be interested to see Zion Williamson do a dirty bulk and compete in steongman
So random 😂
Anything to pay that child support.
isn't his regular diet just one perpetual dirty bulk already lol
@@halfunder9712This!
I do not see Glenn Ross on this list?
Think he made a brief cameo in the Larry Wheels section.
@@outlimboed I did not see him, but I am certain he was in the vicinity when they showed Brian Siders. He is kind of hard to miss when you see him.. If that is OK to say..
Have you ever heard of Hermann goerner the mighty strongman
Wish i would have thought about weight classes as a teen. I woulda been in the Guinness Book and held a record that would have stood for +20 years. At 17 YO, 155 lbs I could deadlift 650 lbs
There was a online competition. Forget the site. Ir was pound for pound best. Rob Kearney was at the top. That's why he claims that title. With validity and merit.