There was a bodybuilder from Rowlands Gill in Gateshead called Viv Graham. He was a former amateur boxer, and monster but also a bodybuilder and there is video of him messing about at the gym. The video is on UA-cam, You should do a video about him
@@da90sReAlvloc Hi Mate, I know of Viv. I watched the video of him training but beyond his incline press it didn't show much. The only other info I could find was that he could bench press 520lbs. Very impressive but sadly not enough info for me to make a video.
Im a big Kaz fan but after watching this video and considering the actual numbers, including coles light weight, it appears he was probably the strongest man to ever live (pound for pound).
For those who are wondering or confused: 100 yards is slightly shorter than 100 meters. A 9.9 100y is equal to a 10.83 100m, which is still ridiculous for a man of that size.
I never heard of Jon Cole and thought this was clickbait. What an unbelievable athlete and one can imagine what he would have achieved in the modern era. The comparison with Paul Anderson put everything in perspective. Plus he was a self made millionaire back in the 70s back when that really meant something and was much harder to do.
If it's true, I think being able to run a 9.9 second 100 yard dash while weighing 258lbs and throwing further than the gold medal Olympic discus, is probably the most impressive accolade. I mean his strength was obviously his best accolade but while still being that fast is incredible. Why he didn't play football for ASU blows my mind. Even if he didnt have great lateral movement, he still should have played.
Football etc takes some endurance. Jon maximized his fast twitch muscles at the expense of slow twitch and endurance. He would have fatigued pretty quickly during any longer kind of sport. He could have sacrificed some of that strength and explosive power for greater endurance and been a very good football player or the like, though.
@@justinw1765 I disagree about football needing a good level of endurance, games don't need that much endurance, practice is harder than a game in that aspect and it would prepare him just fine. I'm guessing it was his demeanor is the reason he didn't play football, you got to be a bit nuts, especially in the 70's, to play football. His numbers were unheard of in the NFL in the 70's let alone college, he would have made the other team shit themselves, it would like a gown man vs kids.
American football is the last sport you would think of when you think of the word endurance ….if it was about endurance then the parameters for the draft wouldn’t be the 225 bench for reps or the 40 yard dash . It would be 10 lm runs .
Very well done video. Glad you used my footage of his 1972 AZ State 905 squat and 580 bench. Herb Glossenbrenner gave me that footage. Much of what is written about Jon comes from his AZ training partner Bruce Wilhelm, who is very truthful and factual. I have interviewed Jon’s longtime training partner Brick Darrow and spoke to others here in AZ who lifted with him or saw him lift. They all detail how special Jon was. He took time away from competing to tend to his family...but you failed to mention that when he returned in 1978... he won the best meet in the world ...The Hawaiian Open,promoted by Gus R.
Thanks, I'm really pleased you liked the video. I found the footage of the Squat and Bench on Josh Bryants channel not realising you were the original uploader, sorry. I've added a credit to your channel in the description. I Left out Jons Powerlifting Meets after WSM as he never managed to surpass his performances of (on paper) of 1971 or 72 and I thought it may detract from what he had achieved earlier.
In December 1969 Paul Anderson hosted the US Open Power Lifting Championships and Jon Cole was tremendous breaking John Kanter's world's record squat of 770 set minutes before. Anderson gave a squat demonstration where the Georgian Giant squatted 865 for 10 reps while speaking to the audience in the Phoenix Forum without a mic. 1 was 13 and having lied on my entry application stating i was 17, i took 3rd in the 123 lb class. Jack Barnes will also squat his wr of 719 in the 198 lb. Division. The Phoenix area was the place to be for power lifting in the late 60's.
J. Cole held the highest total in his weight division in powerlifting for over 40 years. That speaks for itself. He was a overall strongman and athlete. He didn’t do so well in the WSM contest because he was not in his prime. The WSM contest now have different events and the contestants can train on those events to make themselves stronger. When Cole competed in the WSM the strongman events were very unusual compared today. They discontinued the events that caused too many injuries like the refrigerator race, bar bend, wrist roller, etc. In pure powerlifting Cole demonstrated real record breaking lifts done raw. For him to out total Paul Anderson and weighing probably over 100 pounds less is truly amazing. I believe J.Cole’s 7th place performance kind of put a big damper on his reputation as being one of the WSM. Maybe he should have went back into serious strength training again and then compete for the next WSM contest. I guess he figured it wasn’t worth his time because he made himself into a millionaire in his own business and had different priorities in life. I believe he was one of the strongest men in the world because of his RAW powerlifting records.😊
Alexy vevoda was world champion in armwrestling,one of the strongest armwrestler ever,bobsled olypic gold medalist,gymanst, calesthenics,did human flag at 125 kg body weight, representing judo at national level ,was running 100 m in 10 sec best athlete ever born
Had he not stopped in 1972 he could have been those 5 years out of competition in that sport are too much to overcome. We can only speculate on what he would have done had he competed those 5 years and he was already thought to be the best by many in 1972.
great video. I really appreciate you compiling all this info for each athlete. Your videos help answer a lot of questions about wrestlers and athletes. Maybe you should do some celebrities that are thought of as being strong, like Vin Diesel, Sylvester Stallone etc.
He competed against Ken Patera at Senior National Olympic Weightlifting 1972 trying to get on the team for the Olympics but Patera was much stronger with more experience in technique. Patera's best Olympic Press was 505 pounds. Jon's death was a shock.
He had a good press but nothing like Ken. I was there in 1972 and I first saw Ken when he came into the tiny gym at the contest setup for public advertising new equipment&he looked too big to get through door. So disappointed to see another strongman die.
In defence of Paul Anderson . . . By 1972 he'd been retired from competition for a few years, and was concentrating mainly on raising funds for the Paul Anderson Youth Home. His training, if you could call it such, was very limited. He barely had time to work on one lift per day, if even that. On days when he would press a 320-pound dumbbell for reps as part of his strength exhibition and speaking engagements, that was all he did. No time for a workout, and no time even for a warm up. He'd press the dumbbell cold! Then he'd make his speech or preach his sermon, whatever they hired him for, stick around for some photos and autographs, and he'd be outta there! The conditions he laid out for answering Cole's challenge were that he'd show up at York, Pennsylvania once a week over a six week period and perform one of the six lifts at each visit. He just didn't have the time to spend a few days there to complete all six. He chose York because the word of Bob Hoffman would be good enough. If Bob said he made the lift, no one would disagree, such was Bob's reputation for fairness. The second condition was that Paul would not use a regulation Olympic bar when going for his best Squat because he feared he'd break the bar by loading it too heavy! Perhaps Cole's reading that in the contract may have been part of the reasons why the competition never went ahead. Anderson did offer for Cole to do the same one lift per week if he so chose. I dunno where those "official" figures were sourced, but Paul's best Squat was around 1150 and his bench press was about the same as Cole's, from my files. Terry Todd wrote a very interesting in-depth analysis of the relative strengths of Anderson vs Cole in an issue of Muscular Development Magazine at the time Jon's challenge was made. In it he quoted some of the recent training lifts he'd seen Paul make in front of him when he was spending time at Paul's place when the two men co-authored the Size and Strength articles for Muscular Development which ran from 1970 through to 1972/3 I forget, it's been so long since I've seen those magazines that I have in deep storage. Terry wrote that he'd seen Paul squat 900 pounds for a comfortable TEN reps! Paul was benching around 620 pounds, and push-pressing 550 pounds! Add to this a questionable snatch of around 400 pounds, with really rusty technique, and Terry advised the young man to call off the challenge, lest he was made to look real foolish. My experience with Paul Anderson was as follows: I bought his Power By Paul book and used Paul's training savvy to augment my own, and I made huge gains, especially considering I was always life-time clean. I never even drank coffee before training until I was in my late-20s and was working on my feet in a spray booth all day every day and also had to lift wooden furniture on and off my spray table. When my wife and I separated in 2007 and I moved out, I decided to give my tithe to the Paul Anderson Youth Home and also corresponded with Glenda, Paul's widow. When I was having some serious problems, physically and spiritually. Glenda sent me a copy of Paul's book, "A Different Kind of Strength", in which Paul wrote his autobiography from a Christian perspective, beginning from when he won the Gold Medal at the 1952 Melbourne Olympic Games, at which time Paul actually became a Christian. For the record . . I didn't follow Paul & Terry's training advice when it was first published and here's why: I was only 16 or 17, i think from memory, when that series of articles first saw print in 1969 and I had hopes of getting a girlfriend some time before I died. When I saw the photos of Paul and Terry, weighing 350 pounds apiece, I almost swallowed my tongue! I'd never seen bigger men in all my life! My first thought was: "I better not do any squats or I may end up looking like those behemoths!" I didn't have any concept of strength and size potential back then, and the way Terry wrote about how good squats were in making a man gain size made it seem to me like everyone who did them would get as big as those guys. Weighing only 130 pounds, I did wanna get big, but not at the risk of never getting a girl to give me a tumble. Back then girls only seemed to like the emaciated, Jim Morrison type physiques. In early 1972 I bulked up to 185 pounds with hardly an ounce of fat, and even at that modest bodyweight I couldn't get a girlfriend for love or money.
Incredible video mate. Jon Cole is one of the strongest man in recorded history of mankind since the discovery of barbells ie., approx. 150 years, both in absolute overall body strength and specially even more so in pound for pound overall body strength. People rave about Larry wheels nowadays but Jon cole approx. 5 decades ago was an athlete having resume better than Larry wheels as he was a monster in track and field, discuss, shot put, javelin throws, powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting being lighter than Larry wheels. Your editing has been top notch in recent months. It would have been even better if u would have given details regarding the Anderson and Cole challenge so that audience could get better idea about this challenge as the story is really interesting. Everybody knows what kind of a monster Cole was in powerlifting but his weightlifting exploits are nothing short of being incredible. His 1200 lbs total in Olympic weightlifting had been done with only a few weightlifting contests under his belt during a period of time when Patera's 1300 lbs total was numero uno in the USA and don't forget, Patera was a specialist in Olympic weightlifting. Cole had no formal training on weightlifting lifts and his 430 lbs clean and press done in that meet was super strict military press and his 430 lbs clean and jerk done at that same meet was basically a push jerk. Peary Rader of Iron man magazine said this about Cole after watching him compete at weightlifting, " After so many years of looking we finally may have a man to challenge the might of the Russians in the superheavyweight class. This is man of enormous body power - a true champion in another field - Jon Cole ". There is one minor mistake in your video that needs to be corrected. There are actually two types of super total in iron world : 1. A combined weightlifting/powerlifting super total 2. 5 best lift super total Jon Cole held both all time highest powerlifting/weightlifting supertotal as well as 5 lift super total record from 1972-1995. He currently does not hold these world records as both of these two world records were surpassed by Mark Henry in early 1995. Currently Jon Cole is still the 3rd in both these super total world records behind Mikhail Koklaev and Mark Henry. What Jon still holds is the all time highest 6 lift Supertotal known also as Superman supertotal as the 3rd Olympic lift, clean and press was removed as a competitive lift after 1972 Olympics. Having set these all time super total world records, Jon Pall at one point in 70s was regarded as the strongest man in the world just like Mark henry was regarded in 90s.
Well, I saw Jon Cole lift on two occasions. He bombed out both times which was a bit of a tendency for him. He was a SUPERB athlete for sure. No one beats L. Jay Sylvester in the discus at a Nationals without being top notch. Some of Jon's claims were just not factual. I don't believe his 208' throw was a National AAU meet record. Did he break the HS national discus record? No, not even close. He also claimed to have won the Golden West Invitational discus event as a graduating senior. He did not. In college, Jon was an All American only in 1965, not twice as suggested here. To be an All American, one had to score points at the NCAA nationals with a top 8 finish as I recall. He placed second in the discus that one year. He never scored NCAA points as a shot putter nor as a javelin thrower. I can't recall if he even participated in either of those two events. In powerlifting, he had a meteoric rise, for sure, and won some big meets. But, later, it sort of looked like he dodged John Kuc and Jim Williams. And there was some home judging going on that was mentioned at the time. Jon, for example, dragged his heavier deadlifts up his thighs on bent knees at times. In Olympic lifting, he did great at a home meet, his 1200 total, but faltered badly at the '72 Olympic Trials not making the team. As regards the Paul Anderson challenge, by '72 Anderson was 17 years beyond his prime lifting years so not much reality behind that, just a publicity stunt. The last time I saw Jon lift was in Arlington Texas where he came to compete against Doug Young. Jon bombed out after a low squat result of around 650 lbs. Regarding the WSM? Remember that Jon was not a naturally big man at 5'10" and if you look at his knees and other joints, he didn't have a large frame. Too many of the WSM events in that era (as most are now) favor big men so the 350 lbs. guys do have a great advantage. How would I rank him? Super strong but nowhere near the top. Most of the guys from the Olympic lifting world on that list never competed in powerlifting making that list sort of silly. I'd give him a higher ranking for his diversified athleticism. ***Jon wouldn't be alone embellishing his feats. Paul Anderson was gifted at it as were many others.
Hey, Thanks for the suggestion, Brian was an incredible thrower but I only make videos on athletes who compete in Powerlifting, Weightlifting, Strongman or Bodybuilding
*Always good videos.* The consideration of Anderson being natural, and Cole being enhanced is obviously going to be debated, even if only as an internal monologue. It's fair to say Anderson was not enhanced and Cole most likely was. I am unusually strong due to genetics for how frequently I lift, but even with a tremendous genetic edge, doubt I would blossom to these superhuman levels naturally if still in my prime. *I did however reach a 150lb x 2 dips @190-200lb bodyweight @5'11 shoeless at around 42 years of age, and was more than happy with that achievement.* There are many things I despise being a spectator at rather than in the game, *but weightlifting and other athletics are not ones.*
@@StrengthUniverse absolutely. I follow a man who is surely 600+ lbs from long term, morbid obesity who is now exercising frequently and correctly, *and his numbers are ridiculously high.* He reps 60 lb dumbbells as hammer curls with good, strict form easily. He does this with many lifts and exercises with unusually high numbers, particularly with the current state of his health.
Cole later in the two Olympic lifts snatched in training 386 and cleaned and perked 468. He lived in a remote location so could not get top form training like from he routinely champion York Barell Club.
That's what you call an all-around super-athlete. Paul Anderson is awesome, but with that bodyweight advantage, it is obvious he would lose pound for pound to Jon Cole.
It would be very interesting to actually find out who is actually the strongest man on Earth, not enhanced. Being able to take gear would rule out too many people who may not have the means to afford/access it.
I met Jon Cole in a Gold's Gym in Mesa Arizona around 1993 or so. He was an arrogant jerk with a big mouth. Started mouthing off to me because he wanted the squat rack I was using, expecting me to respect his greatness and walk away so a legend could train. I offered to shut his mouth for him if he didn't back off and he limped away like a typical bully. Lots of records, not much class. EDIT: There was a huge picture of him with Arnold up on the wall at that gym, from like 20-30 years earlier. He was wearing these vertically striped bell bottom workout pants in the picture. He wore those stupid pants EVERY time I saw him at that gym. Just in case anyone saw his big picture with Arnold and might not have recognized him I guess. He was a winner at powerlifting, but a loser at life.
Sorry to hear this. They say "Never meet your hero's" and sadly every story of someones personal experience of meeting one of these legends seems to reinforce that.
THE strongest man who ever lived on Earth was Louis Cyr,a french canadian from province of Quebec who lived end of the 19th century early 20th. Read his story and you will be amazed 😊
Its always hard to compare such oldtime lifts to modern day. Especially because of the elbow wraps on the bench which can play a huge role. I think anderson is still ahead, because if i dont recall wrong he did not use elbow wraps on the bench and also had a much stricter overhead press compared to Cole.
Ace Bandages provide nowhere near the same help as "Elbow Wraps". Paul Anderson (sadly) never competed in a powerlifting meet and all his bench presses were touch and go, e.g no pause
@@StrengthUniverse Well if you look at how high old Bench records where before they got outruled they clearly did enough. I think they way anderson pressed overhead and his massiv squad at the time says it all, he was in hiw own leage back then
No, that was just another of several self-reported records. And Anderson's good friend, Dr. Terry Todd, sort of admonished Anderson for raising his BP record a bit every time someone raised the actual record. I think Anderson's 621 was likely a response to Pat Casey's 611 lbs. competitive BP. There is no photographic evidence of Anderson ever lifting more that ~450 lbs. using Olympic weights. An article written as he was moving into peak form in 1955 said he bench pressed 415 lbs for 3 reps . . . and that it was a weak lift for him. By the way, Cole made some similar claims that weren't true.
@@bradreid6057I talked to a guy who said in starkcentre website there is a picture of Anderson floor pressing 545 lbs. Also Douglas Hepburn said that he and Anderson both bench pressed 500 lbs in an impromptu training session before Anderson leave to shoot for his film. There was a newspaper reporting Anderson doing 575 lbs bp. I don't think Anderson's 620 lbs bp was a response to Pat Casey's 615 lbs bp because Casey did that lift in 1967 whereas Anderson was reported to have bench pressed 620 lbs back in 1957 by powerlifting statistician Herb Glossbrenner, a full decade earlier than Casey's lift. Where did u read that Dr. Todd admonished Anderson for raising his bp record every time a new record was done officially?
Lou Ferrigno is the only one I know who competed both as a body builder and a power lifter. Some of these guys are now trying out MMA. We tend to think some certain person ss the strongest if they're superior in some certain event. I've always liked the bench. Jon did what, around 550. I know that some- body out there is approaching half a ton on the bench; that is just insane. Jon though always had superior total numbers, and at an amazing power to body weight ratio. I think that's more impressive personally.
Lots of guys have competed in bodybuilding and powerlifting, among them: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ronnie Coleman and Stan Efferding. Jon Cole did a verified 610lbs in the bench press
Those guys you mention about doing a half a ton bench press are using cheat bench press shirts which doesn't count as a raw bench press. If you take away the bench press shirts they do way less weight on their own.
@@TiredOfImbecileLibtards ??? Who mentioned anyone doing half Ton bench press? 550lbs is 250kg or a quarter of a ton and no they don’t use bench shirts
@@StrengthUniverse I'm just saying guys who bench press 1000 pounds are using special bench press shirts which adds 100s of more pounds on the bench press. Jon Cole 610 pound bench press raw is very impressive no question about it.
Strength Universe, after all your deep dives, who would you say holds the legitimate claim of being the strongest man to ever live (taking PEDs, injuries, et. c. into consideration)? Kyriakos Kapakoulak doesn't count as he is not a man, but a god.
It's such a tough question to answer. There would need to be 2 separate lists, one for nattys and one for not as the percentage gained from the use of PEDs can vary so much from one athlete to another it's almost impossible to account for. I will eventually make a video covering my top 5 but there are a few more athletes that need to be featured first.
It's almost impossible to answer that question because of a lack of data. I've said before that, taking Rippetoe's definition of strength as the ability to exert force against an external resistance, there are two types of strength: pushing and pulling. The strongest man is therefore the man who can push and pull the most weight in all directions around his body, plus grip, because without a strong grip you can't pick up anything. In practice this means a combination of floor push and pull (squat and deadlift or equivalent), overhead push and pull (overhead press and lat pulldown or equivalents), and horizontal push and pull (bench press and row or equivalent) plus some measure of grip strength. Without solid datapoints for all those you'd have to do some guessing and extrapolation for all those based on a number of other factors that may or may not be reliable. As a stopgap, the best way might just be a ranking system for each lift, with justifiable interpretations added (ex. "we don't know what lifter A's max rowing ability compared to lifter B's was, but considering lifter A was an Olympic lifter with a 250 kg clean and lifter B was a bodybuilder I think Lifter A was stronger in this movement.") After the top ~10 candidates are assessed on each lift, the points totals can be tallied based on how they ranked across the 7 events to determine the overall standings. Even this is flawed though, as it rewards consistency rather than peak combined force output, but seeing as how everything being assessed is a pure static movement the error should be minimized.
@@abhinavkumar547 I can't see any other comments on this thread besides the first three, so if you didn't quote me I didn't see it. On the other thread I mentioned the article by Paul and Terry Todd where it's suggested Paul benched 600 in the 1957 period, and there's a picture of him doing lockout floor presses with over 700 lbs in that article (1972). Paul only trained bench seriously from 1955 to 1957 and again for a few months in 1965, so his best bench, whatever it was, likely either happened in 1957 or 1965. Still looking for the article by Paul where he talks about the circumstances of his PR bench.
Very strong. I have one caveat, if you want to compare him to Paul Anderson. I am very certain he used STEROIDS, his looks and it was 1968+, when body builders, football player, and weight lifters were using them. Paul Anderson was surely clean, the comparison is not fair at all.
@@StephenMacInnis I don’t need to check anything. For example he was said to have picked up and carried an anchor weighing 2000lbs when it’s been proved that the real weight of the anchor was actually closer to 600lbs
48 years for a record to fall has to be the longest by quite a margin. Probably he has earned being in the top 5 greatest strength athletes of all time.
I made a video on Cyr here: ua-cam.com/video/4Ii1uY0FFO8/v-deo.html Louis cannot be realistically compared to modern strength athletes because he didn't perform conventional lifts.
Cole weighs 80 to 100lbs less then Anderson but yet destroys him in the Bench and Deadlift. Bare in the mind that Cole only competed in 3 Weight lifting comps but yet was touching distance of Andersons best lifts
@@StrengthUniverse The rules for weightlifting were different when Cole was competing - the thigh bump (or "brush") wasn't allowed prior to 1964, so Anderson's lifts were all done with no contact making them considerably more difficult (check out Simon Martyrosian cleaning 190 kg in this style nowadays). As for Anderson's bench and deadlift, I don't think those numbers represent a complete accounting of his strength. Marty Gallagher gave an example of Paul's training routine in his prime: on the bench he worked up to a top set of 450 lbs for 8 reps, and in the deadlift 650 for 8. Anderson wrote that he liked to stay in the ~95% intensity range, and while that may or may not have meant the same as a mathematical 95% set today (judging by the way it's written it sounds more like RPE), that still indicates a bench press in the upper 500s and a deadlift in the low-mid 800s, which tracks with his claimed PRs.
Anderson claimed some huge numbers but they were never verified and some doubt his claims: ditillo2.blogspot.com/2009/09/paul-andersons-claims-steeve-neece.html
Consider this. As a powerlifter, Big Z competed in single ply squat and bench suits and he out weighed Jon Cole by 70lbs, yet Big Zs squat was only 25lb higher, his bench press was about the same and his deadlift considerably lower. If Big Z had competed (in powerlifting) without the equipment he would not have come close to Jon Coles numbers and that's despite weighing a lot more. In Strongman competition Big Z is certainly superior but he at his peak he was 5 inches taller and over 100lbs heavier
Thanks For Watching. Where do you rate Jon Cole in histories Strongest Men?
There was a bodybuilder from Rowlands Gill in Gateshead called Viv Graham. He was a former amateur boxer, and monster but also a bodybuilder and there is video of him messing about at the gym. The video is on UA-cam,
You should do a video about him
@@da90sReAlvloc Hi Mate, I know of Viv. I watched the video of him training but beyond his incline press it didn't show much. The only other info I could find was that he could bench press 520lbs. Very impressive but sadly not enough info for me to make a video.
@@StrengthUniverse ow ok thanks for replying
You have a wonderful weekend and stay safe
Im a big Kaz fan but after watching this video and considering the actual numbers, including coles light weight, it appears he was probably the strongest man to ever live (pound for pound).
For those who are wondering or confused: 100 yards is slightly shorter than 100 meters. A 9.9 100y is equal to a 10.83 100m, which is still ridiculous for a man of that size.
My hero. Very few video of his lifts are available but his 900 squat is one of those. He ended broke and now rest in an anonymous grave.
Rumor has it he was living on the street ? I hope not 😞In addition his sister in law is Lynda Carter of Wonder Woman fame ..
Apparently he had a $10,000 challenge for anyone who could beat him in armwrestling. This guy was ridiculously strong in many strength disciplines.
I never heard of Jon Cole and thought this was clickbait. What an unbelievable athlete and one can imagine what he would have achieved in the modern era.
The comparison with Paul Anderson put everything in perspective.
Plus he was a self made millionaire back in the 70s back when that really meant something and was much harder to do.
*bait
The question should be today how easy us it to get 10 million.
Considering how long his record totals lasted he's certainly in the top 5-10 strongest men ever.
If it's true, I think being able to run a 9.9 second 100 yard dash while weighing 258lbs and throwing further than the gold medal Olympic discus, is probably the most impressive accolade. I mean his strength was obviously his best accolade but while still being that fast is incredible. Why he didn't play football for ASU blows my mind. Even if he didnt have great lateral movement, he still should have played.
Football etc takes some endurance. Jon maximized his fast twitch muscles at the expense of slow twitch and endurance. He would have fatigued pretty quickly during any longer kind of sport.
He could have sacrificed some of that strength and explosive power for greater endurance and been a very good football player or the like, though.
@@justinw1765 I disagree about football needing a good level of endurance, games don't need that much endurance, practice is harder than a game in that aspect and it would prepare him just fine. I'm guessing it was his demeanor is the reason he didn't play football, you got to be a bit nuts, especially in the 70's, to play football. His numbers were unheard of in the NFL in the 70's let alone college, he would have made the other team shit themselves, it would like a gown man vs kids.
American football is the last sport you would think of when you think of the word endurance ….if it was about endurance then the parameters for the draft wouldn’t be the 225 bench for reps or the 40 yard dash . It would be 10 lm runs .
@@justinw1765 You must be talking about soccer. American football requires NO endurance, but it requires many years to learn the game.
@@alzheimerjoebiden4266 mfs run several kilometers per game there's definitely endurance
I'm amazed by his all around athleticism, not even considering his unusual strength.
Very well done video. Glad you used my footage of his 1972 AZ State 905 squat and 580 bench. Herb Glossenbrenner gave me that footage. Much of what is written about Jon comes from his AZ training partner Bruce Wilhelm, who is very truthful and factual. I have interviewed Jon’s longtime training partner Brick Darrow and spoke to others here in AZ who lifted with him or saw him lift. They all detail how special Jon was. He took time away from competing to tend to his family...but you failed to mention that when he returned in 1978... he won the best meet in the world ...The Hawaiian Open,promoted by Gus R.
Thanks, I'm really pleased you liked the video. I found the footage of the Squat and Bench on Josh Bryants channel not realising you were the original uploader, sorry. I've added a credit to your channel in the description. I Left out Jons Powerlifting Meets after WSM as he never managed to surpass his performances of (on paper) of 1971 or 72 and I thought it may detract from what he had achieved earlier.
In December 1969 Paul Anderson hosted the US Open Power Lifting Championships and Jon Cole was tremendous breaking John Kanter's world's record squat of 770 set minutes before. Anderson gave a squat demonstration where the Georgian Giant squatted 865 for 10 reps while speaking to the audience in the Phoenix Forum without a mic.
1 was 13 and having lied on my entry application stating i was 17, i took 3rd in the 123 lb class.
Jack Barnes will also squat his wr of 719 in the 198 lb. Division. The Phoenix area was the place to be for power lifting in the late 60's.
One of the most athletic big men of all time. Speed, power and coordination. Never heard of him, but I'm glad I have now.
Could have been getting an Olympic gold medal. What an *incredible* all-round talent. Phenomenal!
I never heard of him looking forward to it these are my favorite types of video
Many haven't but he is truly one of the greats
Mr.Cole passed away aged 69 but his legacy will be forever!!
Noice.
Perfect age 5:31
Age was 71 from a lung infection.
Roids
This was just another banger of a video. I'd never even heard of this guy before seeing this video! Keep up the great work!
Thank you. Hopefully more to come
His strength is world class, but a 9.9 100 at 240 lbs is crazy! Good to see a little bit of John Kuc and Chimsey.
Incredibly strong!! Another great video sir, thank you!!!
Thanks again!
There was a great article about John in Milo years ago, undoubtedly a powerhouse. Probably the strongest man of his era.
I agree, I would go so far as to say he may well be the strongest of all time Pound for Pound
The power speed and throwing..... 9.9 secs for a 100mtrs at his weight is incredible.
It was 100 yard dash, not 100 meters. That is still really impressive. 100 yards is equal to 91.44 meters.
I was about to say lol 9.9 seconds at 100m for someone who was also a strongman athlete is absurd, that would be the best athlete of all time
Yep, astounding for a guy of 258lbs
@@jacobyson7629 Plus, he was good at the javelin, discus, shot put, and weightlifting. I have never heard of anyone being good at all of these.
@@RonnieM90alexy vevoda
J. Cole held the highest total in his weight division in powerlifting for over 40 years. That speaks for itself. He was a overall strongman and athlete. He didn’t do so well in the WSM contest because he was not in his prime.
The WSM contest now have different events and the contestants can train on those events to make themselves stronger.
When Cole competed in the WSM the strongman events were very unusual compared today.
They discontinued the events that caused too many injuries like the refrigerator race, bar bend, wrist roller, etc.
In pure powerlifting Cole demonstrated real record breaking lifts done raw. For him to out total Paul Anderson and weighing probably over 100 pounds less is truly amazing.
I believe J.Cole’s 7th place performance kind of put a big damper on his reputation as being one of the WSM.
Maybe he should have went back into serious strength training again and then compete for the next WSM contest.
I guess he figured it wasn’t worth his time because he made himself into a millionaire in his own business and had different priorities in life.
I believe he was one of the strongest men in the world because of his RAW powerlifting records.😊
Alexy vevoda was world champion in armwrestling,one of the strongest armwrestler ever,bobsled olypic gold medalist,gymanst, calesthenics,did human flag at 125 kg body weight, representing judo at national level ,was running 100 m in 10 sec best athlete ever born
What Cole did is more impressive.
Where and when did he run 100m in 10 flat? When you come with "well it wasn't exactly 10 flat"; where and when did he run the 100 in 10? anything?
I am so impressed by *John Cole.*
He definitely needs to brought up more in conversations about strength athletes and who is the strongest ever.
Had he not stopped in 1972 he could have been those 5 years out of competition in that sport are too much to overcome. We can only speculate on what he would have done had he competed those 5 years and he was already thought to be the best by many in 1972.
Excellent research, I really enjoy the results of the hard work you obviously put into these videos'
Thanks, although props also have to go to Abhinav Kumar for helping with research
great video. I really appreciate you compiling all this info for each athlete. Your videos help answer a lot of questions about wrestlers and athletes. Maybe you should do some celebrities that are thought of as being strong, like Vin Diesel, Sylvester Stallone etc.
Dude was a beast!!!!!
RIP
007
Unbelievable versatility!
He was amazing at 242 lbs he was unreal WOW squat bench press and deadlift
Terrific vid. Thank you!
Thanks mate, pleased you liked it. I hope it picks up in the algo
Was and is my all time hero!
He competed against Ken Patera at Senior National Olympic Weightlifting 1972 trying to get on the team for the Olympics but Patera was much stronger with more experience in technique.
Patera's best Olympic Press was 505 pounds.
Jon's death was a shock.
He had a good press but nothing like Ken.
I was there in 1972 and I first saw Ken when he came into the tiny gym at the contest setup for public advertising new equipment&he looked too big to get through door.
So disappointed to see another strongman die.
An early hero of mine.
Thanks!
My First ever Super. Thank you so much that’s really kind of you
In defence of Paul Anderson . . . By 1972 he'd been retired from competition for a few years, and was concentrating mainly on raising funds for the Paul Anderson Youth Home. His training, if you could call it such, was very limited. He barely had time to work on one lift per day, if even that. On days when he would press a 320-pound dumbbell for reps as part of his strength exhibition and speaking engagements, that was all he did. No time for a workout, and no time even for a warm up. He'd press the dumbbell cold! Then he'd make his speech or preach his sermon, whatever they hired him for, stick around for some photos and autographs, and he'd be outta there!
The conditions he laid out for answering Cole's challenge were that he'd show up at York, Pennsylvania once a week over a six week period and perform one of the six lifts at each visit. He just didn't have the time to spend a few days there to complete all six. He chose York because the word of Bob Hoffman would be good enough. If Bob said he made the lift, no one would disagree, such was Bob's reputation for fairness.
The second condition was that Paul would not use a regulation Olympic bar when going for his best Squat because he feared he'd break the bar by loading it too heavy! Perhaps Cole's reading that in the contract may have been part of the reasons why the competition never went ahead. Anderson did offer for Cole to do the same one lift per week if he so chose.
I dunno where those "official" figures were sourced, but Paul's best Squat was around 1150 and his bench press was about the same as Cole's, from my files.
Terry Todd wrote a very interesting in-depth analysis of the relative strengths of Anderson vs Cole in an issue of Muscular Development Magazine at the time Jon's challenge was made. In it he quoted some of the recent training lifts he'd seen Paul make in front of him when he was spending time at Paul's place when the two men co-authored the Size and Strength articles for Muscular Development which ran from 1970 through to 1972/3 I forget, it's been so long since I've seen those magazines that I have in deep storage. Terry wrote that he'd seen Paul squat 900 pounds for a comfortable TEN reps! Paul was benching around 620 pounds, and push-pressing 550 pounds! Add to this a questionable snatch of around 400 pounds, with really rusty technique, and Terry advised the young man to call off the challenge, lest he was made to look real foolish.
My experience with Paul Anderson was as follows: I bought his Power By Paul book and used Paul's training savvy to augment my own, and I made huge gains, especially considering I was always life-time clean. I never even drank coffee before training until I was in my late-20s and was working on my feet in a spray booth all day every day and also had to lift wooden furniture on and off my spray table.
When my wife and I separated in 2007 and I moved out, I decided to give my tithe to the Paul Anderson Youth Home and also corresponded with Glenda, Paul's widow. When I was having some serious problems, physically and spiritually. Glenda sent me a copy of Paul's book, "A Different Kind of Strength", in which Paul wrote his autobiography from a Christian perspective, beginning from when he won the Gold Medal at the 1952 Melbourne Olympic Games, at which time Paul actually became a Christian.
For the record . . I didn't follow Paul & Terry's training advice when it was first published and here's why: I was only 16 or 17, i think from memory, when that series of articles first saw print in 1969 and I had hopes of getting a girlfriend some time before I died. When I saw the photos of Paul and Terry, weighing 350 pounds apiece, I almost swallowed my tongue! I'd never seen bigger men in all my life! My first thought was: "I better not do any squats or I may end up looking like those behemoths!" I didn't have any concept of strength and size potential back then, and the way Terry wrote about how good squats were in making a man gain size made it seem to me like everyone who did them would get as big as those guys. Weighing only 130 pounds, I did wanna get big, but not at the risk of never getting a girl to give me a tumble. Back then girls only seemed to like the emaciated, Jim Morrison type physiques. In early 1972 I bulked up to 185 pounds with hardly an ounce of fat, and even at that modest bodyweight I couldn't get a girlfriend for love or money.
If you lift weights and don't know the name Jon Cole, you really have been living under a rock.
Look at how his lift totals are climbing like that year by year it's like he never hit a strength plateau
According to Bob Gaynor, Jon never entered a competition at his peak
Great video, I hadnt heard of him till now
Thanks marty
Incredible video mate. Jon Cole is one of the strongest man in recorded history of mankind since the discovery of barbells ie., approx. 150 years, both in absolute overall body strength and specially even more so in pound for pound overall body strength. People rave about Larry wheels nowadays but Jon cole approx. 5 decades ago was an athlete having resume better than Larry wheels as he was a monster in track and field, discuss, shot put, javelin throws, powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting being lighter than Larry wheels. Your editing has been top notch in recent months. It would have been even better if u would have given details regarding the Anderson and Cole challenge so that audience could get better idea about this challenge as the story is really interesting.
Everybody knows what kind of a monster Cole was in powerlifting but his weightlifting exploits are nothing short of being incredible. His 1200 lbs total in Olympic weightlifting had been done with only a few weightlifting contests under his belt during a period of time when Patera's 1300 lbs total was numero uno in the USA and don't forget, Patera was a specialist in Olympic weightlifting. Cole had no formal training on weightlifting lifts and his 430 lbs clean and press done in that meet was super strict military press and his 430 lbs clean and jerk done at that same meet was basically a push jerk.
Peary Rader of Iron man magazine said this about Cole after watching him compete at weightlifting, " After so many years of looking we finally may have a man to challenge the might of the Russians in the superheavyweight class. This is man of enormous body power - a true champion in another field - Jon Cole ".
There is one minor mistake in your video that needs to be corrected.
There are actually two types of super total in iron world :
1. A combined weightlifting/powerlifting super total
2. 5 best lift super total
Jon Cole held both all time highest powerlifting/weightlifting supertotal as well as 5 lift super total record from 1972-1995. He currently does not hold these world records as both of these two world records were surpassed by Mark Henry in early 1995. Currently Jon Cole is still the 3rd in both these super total world records behind Mikhail Koklaev and Mark Henry.
What Jon still holds is the all time highest 6 lift Supertotal known also as Superman supertotal as the 3rd Olympic lift, clean and press was removed as a competitive lift after 1972 Olympics.
Having set these all time super total world records, Jon Pall at one point in 70s was regarded as the strongest man in the world just like Mark henry was regarded in 90s.
Absolute. I honestly believe he maybe the Strongest Man pound for pound of all time.
Pound for pound, possibly the strongest big man ever.
Well, I saw Jon Cole lift on two occasions. He bombed out both times which was a bit of a tendency for him. He was a SUPERB athlete for sure. No one beats L. Jay Sylvester in the discus at a Nationals without being top notch. Some of Jon's claims were just not factual. I don't believe his 208' throw was a National AAU meet record. Did he break the HS national discus record? No, not even close. He also claimed to have won the Golden West Invitational discus event as a graduating senior. He did not. In college, Jon was an All American only in 1965, not twice as suggested here. To be an All American, one had to score points at the NCAA nationals with a top 8 finish as I recall. He placed second in the discus that one year. He never scored NCAA points as a shot putter nor as a javelin thrower. I can't recall if he even participated in either of those two events. In powerlifting, he had a meteoric rise, for sure, and won some big meets. But, later, it sort of looked like he dodged John Kuc and Jim Williams. And there was some home judging going on that was mentioned at the time. Jon, for example, dragged his heavier deadlifts up his thighs on bent knees at times. In Olympic lifting, he did great at a home meet, his 1200 total, but faltered badly at the '72 Olympic Trials not making the team. As regards the Paul Anderson challenge, by '72 Anderson was 17 years beyond his prime lifting years so not much reality behind that, just a publicity stunt. The last time I saw Jon lift was in Arlington Texas where he came to compete against Doug Young. Jon bombed out after a low squat result of around 650 lbs. Regarding the WSM? Remember that Jon was not a naturally big man at 5'10" and if you look at his knees and other joints, he didn't have a large frame. Too many of the WSM events in that era (as most are now) favor big men so the 350 lbs. guys do have a great advantage. How would I rank him? Super strong but nowhere near the top. Most of the guys from the Olympic lifting world on that list never competed in powerlifting making that list sort of silly. I'd give him a higher ranking for his diversified athleticism. ***Jon wouldn't be alone embellishing his feats. Paul Anderson was gifted at it as were many others.
Great video👍Have you or will you be doing one about Brian Oldfield?
Hey, Thanks for the suggestion, Brian was an incredible thrower but I only make videos on athletes who compete in Powerlifting, Weightlifting, Strongman or Bodybuilding
Ok thanks 👍
How had I not heard of him
Paul Anderson, holds this Title!
Until recently surpassed, Mark Henry's SuperTotal was promoted as the highest in history. Why wasn't Cole's ST mentioned?
He was a monster
That he was
*Always good videos.*
The consideration of Anderson being natural, and Cole being enhanced is obviously going to be debated, even if only as an internal monologue.
It's fair to say Anderson was not enhanced and Cole most likely was.
I am unusually strong due to genetics for how frequently I lift, but even with a tremendous genetic edge, doubt I would blossom to these superhuman levels naturally if still in my prime. *I did however reach a 150lb x 2 dips @190-200lb bodyweight @5'11 shoeless at around 42 years of age, and was more than happy with that achievement.*
There are many things I despise being a spectator at rather than in the game, *but weightlifting and other athletics are not ones.*
I agree about natty v not but I think that is offset to some degree by the huge difference in BW
@@StrengthUniverse absolutely. I follow a man who is surely 600+ lbs from long term, morbid obesity who is now exercising frequently and correctly, *and his numbers are ridiculously high.*
He reps 60 lb dumbbells as hammer curls with good, strict form easily. He does this with many lifts and exercises with unusually high numbers, particularly with the current state of his health.
@@JonDeth The power of the permabulk!
arghhhh natty arghhh. like a dam seagull
His supper total is supper human 😮
In the early 70s he was definitely the strongest man ever😊
Cole later in the two Olympic lifts snatched in training 386 and cleaned and perked 468. He lived in a remote location so could not get top form training like from he routinely champion York Barell Club.
From the thumbnail I thought this was powerlifter doug young, who pulled a train on the track for a few feet
I can see the similarity
That's what you call an all-around super-athlete. Paul Anderson is awesome, but with that bodyweight advantage, it is obvious he would lose pound for pound to Jon Cole.
It would be very interesting to actually find out who is actually the strongest man on Earth, not enhanced. Being able to take gear would rule out too many people who may not have the means to afford/access it.
Yeah, he is the strongest of all time. Legit
Amazing. Great story. No one will ever achieve his combined accomplishments. Never ever! (he did a split snatch - athletic)
He was no one you would want to mess with.
I met Jon Cole in a Gold's Gym in Mesa Arizona around 1993 or so. He was an arrogant jerk with a big mouth. Started mouthing off to me because he wanted the squat rack I was using, expecting me to respect his greatness and walk away so a legend could train. I offered to shut his mouth for him if he didn't back off and he limped away like a typical bully. Lots of records, not much class. EDIT: There was a huge picture of him with Arnold up on the wall at that gym, from like 20-30 years earlier. He was wearing these vertically striped bell bottom workout pants in the picture. He wore those stupid pants EVERY time I saw him at that gym. Just in case anyone saw his big picture with Arnold and might not have recognized him I guess. He was a winner at powerlifting, but a loser at life.
Sorry to hear this. They say "Never meet your hero's" and sadly every story of someones personal experience of meeting one of these legends seems to reinforce that.
THE strongest man who ever lived on Earth was Louis Cyr,a french canadian from province of Quebec who lived end of the 19th century early 20th. Read his story and you will be amazed 😊
awesome
You should do one on Doug Young
He's on the way
MAD!!
Its always hard to compare such oldtime lifts to modern day. Especially because of the elbow wraps on the bench which can play a huge role. I think anderson is still ahead, because if i dont recall wrong he did not use elbow wraps on the bench and also had a much stricter overhead press compared to Cole.
Ace Bandages provide nowhere near the same help as "Elbow Wraps". Paul Anderson (sadly) never competed in a powerlifting meet and all his bench presses were touch and go, e.g no pause
@@StrengthUniverse Well if you look at how high old Bench records where before they got outruled they clearly did enough. I think they way anderson pressed overhead and his massiv squad at the time says it all, he was in hiw own leage back then
can't believe he could throw the disc that far at 5'10" I bet he is still the shortest person to throw that far.
👍
Never heard about that guy
You have now👍
Paul Anderson's best bench was 621lb not 495 so it's not a genuine comparison.
As per the video, his best verified bench press was 485lbs. 621 was a claim
No, that was just another of several self-reported records. And Anderson's good friend, Dr. Terry Todd, sort of admonished Anderson for raising his BP record a bit every time someone raised the actual record. I think Anderson's 621 was likely a response to Pat Casey's 611 lbs. competitive BP. There is no photographic evidence of Anderson ever lifting more that ~450 lbs. using Olympic weights. An article written as he was moving into peak form in 1955 said he bench pressed 415 lbs for 3 reps . . . and that it was a weak lift for him. By the way, Cole made some similar claims that weren't true.
@@bradreid6057I talked to a guy who said in starkcentre website there is a picture of Anderson floor pressing 545 lbs. Also Douglas Hepburn said that he and Anderson both bench pressed 500 lbs in an impromptu training session before Anderson leave to shoot for his film. There was a newspaper reporting Anderson doing 575 lbs bp. I don't think Anderson's 620 lbs bp was a response to Pat Casey's 615 lbs bp because Casey did that lift in 1967 whereas Anderson was reported to have bench pressed 620 lbs back in 1957 by powerlifting statistician Herb Glossbrenner, a full decade earlier than Casey's lift.
Where did u read that Dr. Todd admonished Anderson for raising his bp record every time a new record was done officially?
Sadly this legend is buried in a paupers grave in Maricopa county Arizona
Lou Ferrigno is the only one I know who competed both as a body builder and a power lifter. Some of these guys are now trying out MMA. We tend to think some certain person ss the strongest if they're superior in some certain event.
I've always liked the bench. Jon did what, around 550. I know that some-
body out there is approaching half a
ton on the bench; that is just insane.
Jon though always had superior total numbers, and at an amazing power to body weight ratio. I think that's more impressive personally.
Lots of guys have competed in bodybuilding and powerlifting, among them: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ronnie Coleman and Stan Efferding. Jon Cole did a verified 610lbs in the bench press
Those guys you mention about doing a half a ton bench press are using cheat bench press shirts which doesn't count as a raw bench press. If you take away the bench press shirts they do way less weight on their own.
@@TiredOfImbecileLibtards ??? Who mentioned anyone doing half Ton bench press? 550lbs is 250kg or a quarter of a ton and no they don’t use bench shirts
@@StrengthUniverse I'm just saying guys who bench press 1000 pounds are using special bench press shirts which adds 100s of more pounds on the bench press. Jon Cole 610 pound bench press raw is very impressive no question about it.
I almost can’t believe the 9.9 100 time
George Frenn next?
I say yes
Wow, what a super athlete he was...is he still alive?
No
He passed away in 2013, aged 69
Is that New Orleans or Detroit?
I believe the footage was labeled as New Orleans
Strength Universe, after all your deep dives, who would you say holds the legitimate claim of being the strongest man to ever live (taking PEDs, injuries, et. c. into consideration)? Kyriakos Kapakoulak doesn't count as he is not a man, but a god.
It's such a tough question to answer. There would need to be 2 separate lists, one for nattys and one for not as the percentage gained from the use of PEDs can vary so much from one athlete to another it's almost impossible to account for. I will eventually make a video covering my top 5 but there are a few more athletes that need to be featured first.
@@StrengthUniverse And it's hard to know who is/was truly lifetime natty from the 1950's onwards. Looking forward to your future videos on this! 💪🏻
It's almost impossible to answer that question because of a lack of data. I've said before that, taking Rippetoe's definition of strength as the ability to exert force against an external resistance, there are two types of strength: pushing and pulling. The strongest man is therefore the man who can push and pull the most weight in all directions around his body, plus grip, because without a strong grip you can't pick up anything. In practice this means a combination of floor push and pull (squat and deadlift or equivalent), overhead push and pull (overhead press and lat pulldown or equivalents), and horizontal push and pull (bench press and row or equivalent) plus some measure of grip strength. Without solid datapoints for all those you'd have to do some guessing and extrapolation for all those based on a number of other factors that may or may not be reliable.
As a stopgap, the best way might just be a ranking system for each lift, with justifiable interpretations added (ex. "we don't know what lifter A's max rowing ability compared to lifter B's was, but considering lifter A was an Olympic lifter with a 250 kg clean and lifter B was a bodybuilder I think Lifter A was stronger in this movement.") After the top ~10 candidates are assessed on each lift, the points totals can be tallied based on how they ranked across the 7 events to determine the overall standings.
Even this is flawed though, as it rewards consistency rather than peak combined force output, but seeing as how everything being assessed is a pure static movement the error should be minimized.
@@thatguyfrommars3732Hey mate did u reply me reg. Paul Anderson's bench press no.? As I didn't get your reply.
@@abhinavkumar547 I can't see any other comments on this thread besides the first three, so if you didn't quote me I didn't see it. On the other thread I mentioned the article by Paul and Terry Todd where it's suggested Paul benched 600 in the 1957 period, and there's a picture of him doing lockout floor presses with over 700 lbs in that article (1972). Paul only trained bench seriously from 1955 to 1957 and again for a few months in 1965, so his best bench, whatever it was, likely either happened in 1957 or 1965. Still looking for the article by Paul where he talks about the circumstances of his PR bench.
pocket hercules was the strongest man that has ever lived. He was setting records in weight classes above his own
They say he ran a 9.90 at 258 lbs ? This is a freakish human , amazing 😮
Very strong. I have one caveat, if you want to compare him to Paul Anderson. I am very certain he used STEROIDS, his looks and it was 1968+, when body builders, football player, and weight lifters were using them. Paul Anderson was surely clean, the comparison is not fair at all.
Yt power at its best
Giant John MacAskill 7'9" tall 500+lbs was the strongest man ever, lived in cape breton nova scotia, Look him up!!!!
I've already made a video on him. While is was one of the largest humans to ever exist, claims about his strength are grossly exaggerated
@StrengthUniverse MacAskill was unmatched for his strength, check your sources, traveled the world showing feats of strength 💪
@@StephenMacInnis I don’t need to check anything. For example he was said to have picked up and carried an anchor weighing 2000lbs when it’s been proved that the real weight of the anchor was actually closer to 600lbs
48 years for a record to fall has to be the longest by quite a margin. Probably he has earned being in the top 5 greatest strength athletes of all time.
For hus size he,was. Sad he passed at only age 61.
69
He was 71 as Gus Rethwitch a champion lifter and president if the IPF reported. He died from a Lung infection
How about the strongest guy who ever lived who did not take steroids?
What about the famer that was carrying 1000 pounds everyday doing his farmwork. Wish I could remember his name but that could be something to go of
Cleve dean
I had only heard of him through his mediocre World's Strongest Man performance. You make a great argument for him being the strongest of all time.
100 meters at 9.9 while carrying 258lbs. Wow. He would have been right on Carl Lewis’ ass. Lol
did he take steroids like some of those other guys including the hulk and columbo?
Squat depth was terrible
Based on what? Witnesses, photos and the one video of him squatting 902lbs show the opposite
You missed spelled my name bro
Anyone heard bout louis Cyr ?
I made a video on Cyr here: ua-cam.com/video/4Ii1uY0FFO8/v-deo.html
Louis cannot be realistically compared to modern strength athletes because he didn't perform conventional lifts.
Louis Cyr. Check him out.
Right here: ua-cam.com/video/4Ii1uY0FFO8/v-deo.html
Isaiah 40:29
“He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.”
King James Version (KJV)
Was the olympics never on the table for him?
He was very strong, but I don't think he was strong enough to be in contention for the "strongest ever" title. Overall Anderson was probably stronger.
Cole weighs 80 to 100lbs less then Anderson but yet destroys him in the Bench and Deadlift. Bare in the mind that Cole only competed in 3 Weight lifting comps but yet was touching distance of Andersons best lifts
@@StrengthUniverse The rules for weightlifting were different when Cole was competing - the thigh bump (or "brush") wasn't allowed prior to 1964, so Anderson's lifts were all done with no contact making them considerably more difficult (check out Simon Martyrosian cleaning 190 kg in this style nowadays). As for Anderson's bench and deadlift, I don't think those numbers represent a complete accounting of his strength. Marty Gallagher gave an example of Paul's training routine in his prime: on the bench he worked up to a top set of 450 lbs for 8 reps, and in the deadlift 650 for 8. Anderson wrote that he liked to stay in the ~95% intensity range, and while that may or may not have meant the same as a mathematical 95% set today (judging by the way it's written it sounds more like RPE), that still indicates a bench press in the upper 500s and a deadlift in the low-mid 800s, which tracks with his claimed PRs.
Louis Cyr was stronger than them
@@Zooom-s5f In no way was Cyr verifiably stronger
Anderson claimed some huge numbers but they were never verified and some doubt his claims: ditillo2.blogspot.com/2009/09/paul-andersons-claims-steeve-neece.html
Most versatile strength ? Quite Possibly. Strongest ever ? No.
Very impressive but have to wonder how clean he was as steroids by this time were rampid 💯🤔
dude made 580 bench look easy
That 5yr lay off weakened him. He also like many others roids shortens his lifespan
69 is a respectable age that many will be lucky to see
Big Z is the strongest man to ever walk the 🌎
Consider this. As a powerlifter, Big Z competed in single ply squat and bench suits and he out weighed Jon Cole by 70lbs, yet Big Zs squat was only 25lb higher, his bench press was about the same and his deadlift considerably lower.
If Big Z had competed (in powerlifting) without the equipment he would not have come close to Jon Coles numbers and that's despite weighing a lot more. In Strongman competition Big Z is certainly superior but he at his peak he was 5 inches taller and over 100lbs heavier
@@StrengthUniverse regardless he's the strongest man to ever walk the 🌎
Did he take steroids?
Yes, 99.9% of lifters of that era used gear as it wasn't illegal
first
Damm im 10 minutes later and second
Ken Patera was stronger.
That he was not
No, he's not. Samson is the strongest ever.