Train Like a Strongman old school. Iron, muscles and mustaches - in our review

Russian strongman of the early 20th century Alexander "Samson" Zass bent iron bars and carried a stage with a piano and dancers on his shoulders.

The Russian strongman of the early 20th century, Alexander "Samson" Zass, bent iron bars and carried a stage with a piano and dancers on his shoulders. His contemporary Pyotr Krylov broke stones with his bare hands. “And if anyone does not believe that the stone is real, turn your head - we will try it on it,” he urged the audience.

the site understood how the strongmen of tsarist Russia trained, and at the same time found those who train according to the methods of the "old school" in the 21st century.

STORY

According to tradition, the date of birth of Russian athletics is August 10, 1885. On this day, a circle of athletics lovers began to exist in St. Petersburg. It was created in the apartment of Dr. Vladislav Frantsevich Kraevsky (who would later be called "the father of matletism in Russia"). Kraevsky saw weight training as a remedy for all diseases. He filled the apartment with kettlebells and barbells, equipped with bars and rings for training. On the opening day strength exercises weightlifting was demonstrated by the circus strongman from Berlin, Charles Ernst.

There were so many people who wanted to study “in the apartment” of Kraevsky that it soon ceased to accommodate everyone. Up to 50-70 people could train at the same time. In 1897, in St. Petersburg, a group of professional athletes, at the expense of Count George Ribopier, opened the St. Petersburg Athletic Society. Then the first weightlifting championship in Russia is held. Petersburger Guido Meyer wins: he presses 115 kg over his head, and then 100 kg with one hand. A few months later, this record will be repeated by the young strongman Georg Gakkenshmidt, followed by a whole galaxy of athletes who, having heard about athletics and Kraevsky, go to try their hand to Petersburg.

STRONG TRICKS

The circus has traditionally been a habitat for strongmen. Spectators were surprised by unprecedented numbers. Strongman Ivan Zaikin, a native of the Simbirsk peasants, wore an anchor of 25 pounds (409 kg) on ​​his shoulders, bent iron beams on his neck. Muscovite Pyotr Krylov, a former navigator of the merchant fleet, got into the wrestling bridge - a wooden platform was erected on it, where a car drove. According to legend, Krylov could break stones with his bare fists.

Alexander Zass, a strongman from Saransk, later nicknamed Samson, carried a horse around the arena and held a whole stage with his teeth on a leather belt, on which stood a piano and several people.

Power numbers alternated with the assembly. Ivan Zaikin met Ivan Poddubny 15 times: at the world championship in Paris, they fought for 66 minutes without a break. Zaikin lost 10 fights. Five managed to draw - for other wrestlers who bypassed Poddubny, this was tantamount to a miracle.

STRENGTHMAN TRAINING

The 1916 book Weightlifting by the athlete Ivan Lebedev (a.k.a. the legendary strongman Uncle Vanya) provides such training recommendations.

You should start the morning with light gymnastics - running in place (3-5 minutes), stretching rubber (it was a kind of analogue of our expanders) - 10 minutes, light exercise dumbbells - 10 minutes. Then - a walk for 1-2 hours, and sometimes you need to go over the foray from a step. In the afternoon - classes on rings or uneven bars (if there are no bars, the author advises to put two chairs and do push-ups on them). In the evening - heavy training with kettlebells, one hour. The weight of kettlebells is not the maximum: if you can squeeze a maximum of 72 kg, start with 32 kg and increase the weight to 56, writes Lebedev. Increase the weight a little at each session. Break the exercises into days: on one day - bench presses and bench presses, on the other - pushes and jerks. Add squats and curls to every workout.

Of course, for such a regime, the athlete must be free all day, the author concludes.

The Hercules magazine No. 14 of 1915 tells about the training of Georg Hackenschmidt, who became the prototype of future bodybuilders. Gakkenshmidt or "Gakk" generally avoided light dumbbells, and devoted most of his time to barbell squats.

The collapsible bar as we know it today already existed, but the squat rack had not yet been invented. Therefore, the barbell was first placed vertically, the athlete sat down under it, put the bar on his shoulders, and only then got into a position for a squat. According to the same scheme, he removed the barbell.

POWERFUL NUTRITION

Ivan Lebedev advises strong men to avoid meat: "It introduces putrefactive decomposition products into your body." He also recommends eating more eggs and drinking more warm milk with sugar. “Drinking alcohol and smoking is not advised at all. Sleep - 7-8 hours. Dress without wrapping up and without wearing warm underwear.

Dr. Kraevsky, who took care of the young Georg Hackenschmidt, on the contrary, fed him meat broth in large quantities. A plate of broth, writes the Hercules magazine, was cooked from 6-7 pounds of meat (about 3-3.5 kg). On the broth, along with the base strength training“Gakk” literally in three months was heard in the chest by 12 centimeters and began to resemble a statue of Hercules of Farnese in its appearance, the publication adds.

MODERN POWERFUL MEN

Petersburger Viktor Blud is the creator of the show "Strongmen of the Old School", which reproduces the tricks of the athletes of Tsarist Russia and supplements them with new ones.

These old-school athletes are based on heavy basic exercises. To reproduce them realistically, the desire to work is important, says Blud, who juggles kettlebells, bends nails, tears books and lifts people into the air in his performances.

A few years ago, during the show, he severely cut his hand when he bent a 300 mm nail, but this did not stop him: Viktor Blud's signature trick is to roll a heart out of a nail and present it to a female viewer.

The most difficult tricks are those for which you need to get a lot of special equipment. Recently we did the “stretching with motorcycles” trick, and in the future I would like to try to pull a train or tram, lift an elephant, - says Victor Blud.

source: " Soviet sport»

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In Rus' in the middle of the 19th century in the royal office there was the position of “Chief Overseer of physical development population". The representatives of the Russian population, who developed under such supervision, still surprise us with this very development. For example, in weightlifting, those who “pulled” less than 100 kilograms had nothing to do in the Strong Club.

Today we will talk about the seven most strong men Rus' and the Union. We hope they will become a frank role model for you, or at least motivate you to go to the gym instead of the bar today.

1. Sergei Eliseev (1876 - 1938). Little weightlifter

The world record holder, a hereditary hero of small stature, he became famous by chance at a city festival in Ufa - he won a belt wrestling tournament against a multiple champion. The next day, three rams were brought to Eliseev's house as a generous act of recognition from the defeated ex-champion.

Trick. took in right hand kettlebell weighing 62 kg, lifted it up, then slowly lowered it on a straight arm to the side and held the arm with the kettlebell in a horizontal position for several seconds. Three times in a row he pulled out two unbound two-pound weights with one hand. In the bench press with two hands, he lifted 145 kg and pushed 160.2 kg.

Source: wikipedia.org

2. Ivan Zaikin (1880 - 1949). Chaliapin Russian Muscles

World wrestling champion, weight lifting champion, circus performer. Foreign newspapers called him "Chaliapin of Russian muscles." His athletic numbers caused a sensation. In 1908 Zaikin toured in Paris. After the athlete’s performance, the chains torn by Zaikin, an iron beam bent on his shoulders, “bracelets” and “ties” tied by him from strip iron were exhibited in front of the circus. Some of these exhibits were acquired by the Parisian Cabinet of Curiosities and were displayed along with other curiosities.

Trick. Zaikin carried a 25-pound anchor on his shoulders, lifted a long barbell onto his shoulders, on which ten people sat, and began to rotate it (“live carousel”).

Source: wikipedia.org

3. Georg Hackenschmidt (1878 - 1968). lion not human

World wrestling champion and world record holder in weightlifting. He trained from childhood: he jumped in length by 4 m 90 cm, in height from a place - by 1 m 40 cm, ran 180 m in 26 s. To strengthen his legs, he practiced climbing a spiral staircase to the spire of the Olivest church with two-pound weights. He got into the sport by accident: Dr. Kraevsky, “the father of Russian athletics,” convinced him that “he can easily become the strongest man in the world.”

In 1897, Georg broke into St. Petersburg, where he smashed the capital's heavyweights to smithereens. Training with Kraevsky, the strongman quickly takes all the first places in Russia (by the way, he ate everything he wanted, but drank only milk), and goes to Vienna. Next - Paris, London, Australia, Canada, America - and the title of Russian Lion and the Strongest Man of the late XIX - early XX century.

Trick. With one hand, he squeezed a barbell weighing 122 kg. He took 41 kg dumbbells in each hand and spread his straight arms horizontally to the sides. I squeezed a barbell weighing 145 kg on the wrestling bridge. With his arms crossed on his back, he lifted 86 kg from a deep squat. With a 50-kilogram barbell, I squatted 50 times.

Source: do4a.com

4. Grigory Kashcheev (real - Kosinsky, 1863 - 1914). Giant Downshifter

A hero from the village with an advantage in height - 2.18 m. At the village fair, he defeated the visiting circus performer Besov, who immediately convinced him to go with him - "show strength."
“We arrive with Grisha in a deaf, deaf town. They didn't see people like us there... Kashcheev (Kosinsky's pseudonym) is shaggy like a beast, and my surname is Besov... We don't have a human appearance. They decided that we were werewolves ... Without saying a bad word, they lassoed us, took us out of the city and said: “If you don’t leave our city with good, then blame yourself.”

In 1906, Grigory Kashcheev met world-class wrestlers for the first time and became friends with Zaikin, who helped him enter the big arena. Soon Kashcheev put all the eminent strongmen on the shoulder blades, and in 1908, together with Poddubny and Zaikin, he went to Paris for the World Championship, from where the strongmen brought victory.

Trick. It would seem that now the real wrestling career of Kashcheev has begun, but, having refused the most profitable engagements, he abandoned everything and went to his village to plow the land.

Source: sport-ru.com

5. Peter Krylov (1871 - 1933). Kettlebell King

A Muscovite who changed his profession as a navigator of the merchant fleet to the profession of an athlete. He went all the way from fairs and "booths of living miracles" to major circuses and French wrestling championships. He is attention! - was the permanent winner of competitions for the best athletic figure, taking as a child an example from the athlete Emil Foss, who entered the arena in silk tights and leopard skin. He began his first workouts at home with irons that he tied to a floor mop.

Trick. Krylov set several world records. In the “wrestling bridge” position, he squeezed 134 kg with both hands, and 114.6 kg with his left hand. Press in the "soldier's stance": with his left hand he lifted a two-pound weight 86 times in a row. The ancestor of spectacular tricks that other athletes then repeated, and today paratroopers: bending a rail on their shoulders, driving a car over the body, raising a platform with a horse and a rider. Showing athletic numbers, Krylov commented on them cheerfully. And his remarks were always persuasive. For example, when he broke stones with his fist, he invariably addressed the audience with the following words: “Gentlemen, if you think that there is falsehood in this number, then I can break this stone with my fist on the head of anyone from the public who wishes.” From practice, he could easily switch to theory ... and give a lecture on physical culture.

Source: wrestlingua.com

6. Alexander Zass (1888 - 1962). Samson Man

The father of Alexander Zass was just the kind of person who could go out in the circus against a visiting strongman and win the fight. It is not surprising that Alexander got into the circus and took up everything at once: aerial gymnastics, horse riding, wrestling. In 1914, a world war broke out and Alexander was drafted into the army in the 180th Vindava Cavalry Regiment.

Ancient rock paintings, ancient Greek statues, books and many other sources of information. All this tells us that at the dawn of civilization there was the concept of physical culture. AND history of physical culture, itsdevelopment, have existed since ancient times.

Athletes of ancient Greece

An athlete named Theogane, who lived in the third century BC. 9 summer child, moved a long distance, a bronze statue.

Milo of Croton built strength and weight by gradually increasing the load. He took a calf and walked with him along the ring of the Olympic stadium. Over the years, the bull grew, Milo's strength grew proportionally. They write that at the Olympic Games, in wrestling, Milon had no equal.

Someone Bibon in Olympia, lifted a stone weighing 143 kg with one hand. This stone was found during the excavations of Olympia. This information was carved in stone . Thus began the history of physical culture at the turn of the century.

The Power of the Middle Ages

In 1741, the Englishman Thomas Tophan, lifted three large barrels of water.The total weight of which was equal to 816 kg. He did itwith the help of straps thrown over the shoulders, .

Most famous in the 19th century strongman, to the Canadian Louis Sir. Louis, with his own weight of 136 kg and at the age of 23, was a record holder. Bench press with one hand - 124 kg. Deadlift - 860 kg. Deadlift with one hand - 447 kg. Deadlift with one finger - 247 kg. Lifting weight - 1959 kg. Several of his records remain unbroken to this day. It is understandable, they are not ordinary.

Strength endurance records

It's about lifting weights. Now records of strength endurance.

Henry Sarterial in 1987 squeezed out 118 times, with one hand, a barbell weighing 33 kg.

Gilman Lowe in 1903 lifted a load on his back weighing 453 kg for 1006 times. WITHusing belts, in 34.5 minutes.

In 1907, Lou Travis surpassed Lowe's record. Lifted this weight, in 9 minutes, 1000 times.

In those days, power numbers, like wrestling, were circus numbers. The strongmen fought in the circus for the amusement of the public. An example great strength and wrestling technique, was a Pole.

The history of physical culture in the XX century

At the beginning of the 20th century, circus athletes go their separate ways. For some, strength athletics is just lifting heavy weights. For others, building beautiful figure. Pot-bellied strong men are already of little interest to anyone. In those days, there were many athletes with excellent muscles. The most famous becomes, Eugene Sandow (Eugene Sandow). Sandow developed a system that helped proportionally develop the muscles of the whole body. I don't know if he was the first to ask this question or not. But, on the statuette handed over to the winners of the Mr. Olympia tournament, Menno Sandov is also depicted.

Thanks to him, the world learned what a gradual increase in load and repetitions in weight lifting is. The system assumed one approach and did not give a full load.

In 1907, Theodor Siebert improved the system. Assuming that three workouts per week, with two sets per exercise, will help you get results faster.

So… slowly and gradually, the system acquired the outlines of modern strength training. And the history of physical culture acquired a new direction - Bodybuilding.

The first professional bodybuilders

In 1903, in New York at Madion Square Garden, the contest "The Most Perfect Man in the World" was held, the winner was, once was Sandow's assistant, as a result he himself became a celebrity. Hosted by athlete and promoter Bernard "Badi Love" Macfaden. Then the competition was attended by representatives different types sports.

In the 1940s, the world learns about an athlete whose body has become the standard and evidence of what a person can give power training, specifically bodybuilding. John used the potential given to him by nature. He became a bodybuilding legend, winning such titles as "Mr. America", "Mr. World" and "Mr. Universe".

In 1945, bodybuilding appears new champion- . In post-war America, it becomes the ideal of a man. Returning from the war, he personified courage and courage. A champion with an amazing physique.

In 1947, Steve Reeves sweeps away all his competitors. Titles in bodybuilding, submit to him one by one. "Mr. West Coast" 1946, "Mr. America" ​​1947-1948, "Mr. World" 1948, "Mr. Universe" 1950. Later he becomes a famous film actor. His most famous film is "The Labors of Hercules" in 1957. Steve Reeves was awarded the title of "The Best Bodybuilder of All Time" - deservedly so.

The dawn of American bodybuilding

He organizes his IFBB federation, so the bodybuilding industry began to gain serious momentum in the United States. England had the most famous federation, NABBA. Under her auspices, a tournament was held "Mr Universe"Real, not Vader, as many people think.

In Santa Monica, bodybuilder Joe Gold opens his first Golds Gym. The beach itself, where bodybuilders from all over the world gathered, was nicknamed "Muscle Beach". Joe Gold, did not take prizes, being in old age, in good physical shape.

Every week there were competitions on the beach and demonstration performances bodybuilders, gymnasts, powerlifters, etc. There were also beauty pageants. All this was very cool. Sun, beach, sea, natural tan, clothing appropriate for the occasion.

Steve Reeves, John Grimek or Clarence Ross are walking along the beach, the reaction of others will be extremely positive. As evidenced by numerous photos, videos and eyewitness accounts.

Bodybuilding: Wrong Turn

The history of physical culture began beautifully. In the process of its development, it constantly changed and transformed. Many branches have appeared, physical culture is a complex generalized name of various kinds physical activity. We considered it as a way to achieve ideal physical shape. At the end of the 20th century, the ideal physical form was no longer considered as a combination of factors. Among which, strength, health, beauty, dexterity, flexibility. All this is gone, there are new methods of building muscle. Physical Culture, transformed into modern bodybuilding. This kind physical activity became an industry, good or bad, not for me to decide.

Bodybuilding has come a long way, from the desire of people to be beautiful, strong and healthy, gradually transforming into a race for mass. The latter, alienated this sport from ordinary people. The modern "Mr. Olympia" is very far from the performances of athletes on the "Muscle Beach" of the 40-50s. Today, they are trying to return at least some kind of human appearance to bodybuilding. They come up with different categories, from Mens Physicist to Classic Bodybuilding.

I wanted to describe the path that bodybuilding has taken as the idea of ​​a beautiful, harmonious, healthy and strong body. First, health was removed from it, then proportions, then beauty disappeared. The life of the chemized mass remained ... and even then not for everyone.

Two athletes enter the arena. They have powerful torsos and huge fists. Even by their appearance, you can tell that they are real heroes. On the head of each of them a bronze helmet shines, and their ears are covered with thick bandages to protect them from blows. The fighters do not have leather boxing gloves, but their arms are laced up to the elbows with thick bovine leather belts. There are hard knots and even lead plates on the belts. This makes the attacks especially dangerous.

The battle could be fought until one of the opponents fell dead or pleaded defeated. Usually the fighters did not retreat in front of each other and did not defend themselves: it was believed that it was unworthy of a man to evade blows. Defeat in battle was considered a disgrace. Therefore, the Spartans who participated in all other competitions never competed in fisticuffs. It was not always possible to count on victory, and the debt of honor did not allow the Spartan to recognize himself defeated.

For many hours in a row, the fighters stood under the scorching sun, exchanging blows. Each such blow could bring down the bull. But the athletes seem to be petrified, they don’t even show that they are in pain, that their consciousness is about to leave them. Often the victory depended on the composure and stamina of the fighter.

Almost none of the fisticuffs at Olympia ended happily. Winners and losers left the arena bruised and bruised, their jaws twisted and their ribs broken.

Here is an epigram dedicated to the famous fist fighter of that time Stratophon:
“Odysseus, when he returned to his fatherland after a twenty-year absence, was recognized by his dog Argos. You, Stratophone, after four hours of fisticuffs become unrecognizable not only for dogs, but for the whole city. And if you thought to look in the mirror, you would have cried out: “No, I am not a Stratophone!”

The most famous fist fighters in antiquity were strongmen from the city of Croton. From this city located in southern Italy, thirteen winners came out Olympic Games. No wonder they said that the last of the Crotons is equal to the first among other Greeks.

Milo of Croton was especially famous for his strength - six times Olympic winner. He could, for example, take an apple in his palm, and “and one strong man could not open his fingers, despite the fact that he held the apple so gently that it remained intact. When Milo stood on a stone disk, there was no person who could move him, although the disk was oiled.

At that time, there was a custom: a statue was erected to the winners of the Olympic Games. They say that when the statue of Milo-on of Croton was cast in bronze, the athlete himself shouldered it, brought it to Altis and installed it on a pedestal.

Only one person could compete with Milo by force. It was the Thessalian Polydamus. A statue was also erected to him in Olympia, and his exploits are depicted on the bas-reliefs.

The Persian king Darius once heard about the extraordinary power of Polydamus. He sent an embassy to Greece, to which he ordered to bring a strong man to his palace. Polydamus came to Asia and there, in front of the king's eyes, one by one he defeated the three most powerful giants from the army of Darius in a fistfight.

In wrestling competitions and fisticuffs took part and famous people ancient world - scientists, writers. The famous philosopher Plato won the fight more than once. The great mathematician of antiquity Pythagoras, before becoming famous for his famous theorem, was recognized by his compatriots for his courage and steadfastness in fisticuffs.

The spectators who filled the stadium at Olympia did not; once witnessed interesting spectacles. Wrestling and fisticuffs were replaced by pankration. This was the name of the duel, in which wrestling and fisticuffs were used. In its cruelty, pankration even surpassed fisticuffs. Victory in pankration was considered difficult, but the most honorable. But especially great honors were enjoyed by athletes who managed to win two victories at once: in a fistfight and in pankration. There have been only a few such people in the history of the Olympic Games. Their names were entered into special lists and glorified throughout Greece.

One of the most famous fist fighters was the strongman Diagoras from Rhodes. In 464 BC, he was crowned with an olive wreath of the winner. Three sons and two grandsons of Diagoras also won victories at the Olympic Games more than once.

When Diagoras was a deep old man, his sons again became famous for their victories in fisticuffs and pankration. In a rally, they approached their father, crowned his gray head with palm branches, and, lifting him onto their shoulders, carried him through the parted crowd.

The people shouted with glee:
- Die, Diagoras, die! For you have nothing more to wish for, unless you ascend to the gods on Olympus during your lifetime.

And the heart of the old athlete could not stand it: Diagoras died of happiness.

Russian means strong! The cult of physical strength has always existed in Russia. It is no coincidence that the main characters of folk tales were hefty heroes. There are plenty of strong men in our history.

Kings and Governors

Evpatiy Kolovrat

Evpaty Kolovrat can be called the most powerful Russian governor. The "Tale of the Devastation of Ryazan by Batu" tells how Evpaty and his retinue entered into an unequal battle with the hordes of the Mongol-Tatars "And Evpaty beat them so mercilessly that the swords were blunted, and he took the Tatar swords and cut them."

Batu sent his best hero Khostovrul to deal with Yevlampiy. Kolovrat cut him in half to the saddle. The Mongol-Tatars were able to defeat the Kolovrat squad only with wall-beating guns, and Batu gave the body of the voivode to the remnants of the squad for an honorable funeral - a case unique in ancient Russian history.

Skopin Shuisky

Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky was an invincible commander of the Time of Troubles. He suppressed the Bolotnikov uprising, negotiated with the Swedes, began to reform the Russian army, but was poisoned by the daughter of Malyuta Skuratov due to the political intrigues of Dmitry Shuisky.

According to the descriptions of contemporaries, Mikhail Vasilyevich was distinguished by a heroic build. Skopin-Shuisky's broadsword is kept in the historical museum. A heavy weapon, for a very strong man.

Peter the First

Peter the Great can be safely called the most powerful Russian tsar. His height was 204 centimeters, and his physical strength amazed the views of your contemporaries.
Peter twisted coins with his fingers, turned iron pans into a ram's horn, and personally checked the suitability of a horseshoe for his horse Lisetta, breaking one after another. More than one folk tale has been composed about the power of Peter the Great.

Alexander III

The Russian Emperor Alexander III possessed outstanding physical strength. From his youth, he did not like secular entertainment, preferring riding lessons and physical education classes to balls and receptions. The brothers said about him: "Sasha is our Hercules."
The emperor had to use his force in an extraordinary situation. On October 17, 1888, while returning from the Crimea, the famous collapse of the imperial train occurred. The roof of the carriage, in which the family of Alexander III was, began to fail.

The emperor took the falling roof on his shoulders and held it until his wife and children got out alive and unharmed from the rubble. After the rescue of the family, Alexander III did not hesitate and rushed to help other victims.

Wrestlers and strongmen

Grigory Rusakov

Kuryan Grigory Rusakov became a world-famous wrestler after his debut in the Donbass, where he worked in a mine. After conquering Russia, Rusakov won world championships in Argentina (1913) and Paris (1915).
Like other eminent fighters, he was personally released by Nicholas II from military service.

But not everything was smooth in Rusakov's life. He was prosecuted three times in 1929, 1938, 1944.

Rusakov was also known for repeatedly entering into demonstration fights with bears, bending horseshoes and rails, and once in London he defeated a bull in a fight.

Ivan Poddubny

Everyone knows who Ivan Poddubny is. This is the most famous Russian strongman, weightlifter, wrestler. Interestingly, Poddubny lost his first fight. This motivated him very much: he set himself a tough training regimen, exercised with two-pound weights, a 112-kilogram barbell, gave up tobacco and alcohol, and doused himself with cold water. Until the end of his life he carried a cast-iron cane with him. He didn't lose again.

Conquered Poddubny and America. There he collected full halls, competing according to the rules of American wrestling. From the United States, he actually fled, terminating the predatory contract and leaving the Americans the fees due to him.

At the end of his life, Poddubny admitted that the only force that could defeat him was the women: “All my life, a fool, they knocked me off the path.”

Ivan Zaikin

Ivan Zaikin is one of the most famous Russian strongmen. World wrestling champion, weight lifting champion, circus artist, one of the first Russian aviators.

Foreign newspapers called Zaikin "Chaliapin of Russian muscles." His athletic numbers caused a sensation both in Russia and abroad. In 1908, during a tour in Paris, Zaikin shocked the audience by tearing any chains, bracelets and ties, bending metal beams.

Zaikin carried a 25-pound anchor on his shoulders, lifted a long barbell on his shoulders, on which ten people sat, and began to rotate it (“live carousel”).

Georg Hackenschmidt

Georg Gakkenshmidt was called the "Russian lion" and "the most powerful man of the turn of the century." He was a World Wrestling Champion and world weightlifting world record holder.

Georg went in for sports since childhood, to strengthen his legs he practiced climbing the spiral staircase to the spire of the church with two-pound weights. The merit of the fact that Gakk became a wrestler belongs to the "father of Russian athletics" Dr. Kraevsky - he convinced Georg that he could become the strongest in the world.

And Kraevsky was not mistaken - Gakk conquered Russia, Europe, and America.

Gakk with one hand squeezed out a barbell weighing 122 kg, squeezed out a barbell weighing 145 kg on a wrestling bridge.

With his arms crossed on his back, Gaak lifted 86 kg from a deep squat. With a 50-kilogram barbell, the athlete squatted 50 times. Today, this exercise is called the “hack squat”.

Petr Krylov

Pyotr Krylov was a strongman and permanent winner of competitions for the best athletic figure. As a child, he chose an idol for himself - the athlete Emil Foss, who entered the arena in silk tights and leopard skin.

Krylov set several world records. In the “wrestling bridge” position, he squeezed 134 kg with both hands, and 114.6 kg with his left hand. Press in the "soldier's stance": with his left hand he lifted a two-pound weight 86 times in a row.

Krylov was called "the king of weights". He was the founder of spectacular tricks that other athletes then repeated, and today paratroopers: bending a rail on their shoulders, driving a car over the body, raising a platform with a horse and rider.

Grigory Kashcheev

In this photo with prominent and far from small wrestlers, Grigory Kashcheev stands out with his height - 218 cm and his uniform - a simple kosovorotka.

In 1906, Grigory Kashcheev met world-class wrestlers for the first time and became friends with Zaikin, who helped him enter the big arena.

Soon Kashcheev put all eminent strongmen on the shoulder blades, and in 1908, together with Poddubny and Zaikin, he conquered Paris at the World Championship.

Having started so brilliantly, Kashcheev’s career did not work out - the wrestler became a downshifter, refused the most profitable offers, left everything and went to his village to plow the land.

Alexander Zass

Alexander Zass was called "Iron Samson". He carried a horse around the arena or a piano with a pianist and dancer located on the lid; caught with his hands a 90-kilogram cannonball, which was fired from a circus cannon from a distance of 8 meters; tore off the floor and held in his teeth a metal beam with assistants sitting at its ends.

In the famous attraction Man-shell, Alexander Zass caught with his hands an assistant who flew out of the muzzle of a circus cannon and described a 12-meter trajectory over the arena.

In 1938, in Sheffield, in front of an assembled crowd, he was run over by a truck loaded with coal. Samson stood up and, smiling, bowed to the audience.

Zass was one of the first to introduce isometric exercises into his training system. This allowed him to strengthen his tendons so much that, with his small weight, he managed to set records that have not been beaten so far.

Ivan Shemyakin

A two-meter giant, Ivan Shemyakin, at his first lesson at an athletic school, was able to push a barbell of only 72 kilograms with both hands, but this did not bother him. He began to train hard.

The training brought results: Shemyakin won the kettlebell competitions of the Cycling and Athletic Society and took the third prize at the Russian Championship.

In 1908, in St. Petersburg, Shemyakin showed a unique power number- a metal beam was bent on his shoulder.

In 1913, participating in the world championship, held in the St. Petersburg circus "Modern", Ivan Shemyakin defeated the famous Ivan Zaikin, and the powerful, evil on the carpet, Nikolai Vakhturov and took first place. Shemyakin also defeated other world-famous wrestlers, but his meetings with Ivan Poddubny always ended in a draw.

Ivan Lebedev

In 1916, Ivan Lebedev (strongmen called him "Uncle Vanya") published the book "Guidelines on how to develop your strength by exercising with heavy weights." Lebedev not only developed athletics and wrestling in Russia, but he himself was a noble strongman. He studied with the same coryphaeus of the "Russian power" Vladislav Kraevsky.

Lebedev published the Hercules magazine and was the first promoter in Russia. His notes are interesting even today.

Concerning the mode of life, he wrote: The human body does not tolerate constraint, but every excess is harmful. As for food, I definitely do not advise eating meat: it introduces putrefactive decomposition products into your body and forms uric acid, which poisons the body. The basic rule for eating: chew as slowly as possible. Drinking alcohol and smoking is not advised at all. Sleep - 7-8 hours. Dress without wrapping and without wearing warm underwear. Fresh air and water (souls or washings) - necessary for every person who wants to be strong and healthy».

Vasily Alekseev

Vasily Alekseev - the last hero of the Soviet era. The “Russian Bear” (as foreign fans called it) twice became the Champion of the Olympic Games, six times the World Champion, six times the European Champion, and held first place in the USSR championships for seven years.

During his sports career, Vasily Alekseev set 80 world records and 81 USSR records. He is also the "eternal" holder of the current world record for the amount three exercises- 645 kg (now there are no competitions in this discipline).

Vasily Alekseev competed with himself, from time to time setting new records in the championships. It was he who opened the era of the "six hundred", the first to conquer the six hundred kilogram peak. From 1989 to 1992, Alekseev coached the national team and the United Weightlifting Team. During his coaching work, none of the members of the team was injured. One of his devoted fans is Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Yuri Vlasov

Another brilliant Soviet weightlifter - " iron Man Yuri Vlasov. Olympic champion(1960), silver medalist of the Games (1964), 4-time world champion (1959, 1961-1963), 6-time European champion (1959-1964; in non-Olympic years, championships were held as part of world championships), 5-time champion of the USSR (1959-1963). Yuri Vlasov set 31 world records and 41 USSR records (1957-1967).
Yuri Vlasov was twice the standard-bearer of the USSR delegation at the opening of the 1960 and 1964 Olympic Games.

Ivan Denisov

Let's move on to modern strongmen. Traditions kettlebell lifting in Russia are strong today. One of the strongest kettlebell lifters in the world is Ivan Denisov, a representative of the Chelyabinsk kettlebell lifting school, a master of sports of international class. Ivan Denisov - multiple Champion Russia, Europe and the World, multiple record holder of Russia, Europe and the World.

In 2005, at the World Championships in Moscow, Denisov set absolute world records in clean and jerk equal to 175 lifts and a combined total of 281 points. Previously, the records belonged to Sergey Mishin and have been unchanged for more than ten years.

Alexander Karelin

"San Sanych" Karelin at birth weighed 6.5 kilograms, at the age of 13 he had a height of 178 cm and a weight of 78 kilograms. Already 4 years after joining the section, Karelin became the world champion among youth.

For my sports career the wrestler collected all kinds of titles, won in 887 fights, lost only two times. took three times Olympic gold, 9 times became the world champion, 12 times - the champion of Europe, 13 times took gold at the championships of the USSR, CIS and Russia. Alexander Karelin was awarded the Golden Belt four times as best wrestler planets.

On February 20, 1999, Karelin fought the Japanese fighter Akira Maeda. "Russian Bear" used only native arsenal in the ring Greco-Roman wrestling. Maeda managed to land a few kicks at the beginning of the fight, but within a minute, he turned into a training dummy for practicing throws.

Fedor Emelianenko

Fedor Emelianenko, the last Emperor”, remained undefeated for almost ten years, which is unprecedented in the history of MMA.

Emelianenko is a four-time MMA world heavyweight champion according to Pride FC, two-time according to RINGS, two-time according to WAMMA, four-time world champion and seven-time Russian champion in combat sambo. Honored Master of Sports in Sambo and International Master of Sports in Judo.

Vladimir Gilyarovsky

Another Russian strongman from literature is Vladimir Gilyarovsky.

At the age of sixteen, he ran away from home. Having traveled two hundred kilometers on foot from Vologda to Yaroslavl, he was employed in a burlatskaya artel. At first, barge haulers doubted whether to take the boy, but Gilyai had amazing physical strength, pulled out a penny from his pocket and easily rolled it into a tube.

Mikhail Chekhov recalled the first visit of “Uncle Gilyai” to Chekhov’s house: “He immediately became “you” with us, invited us to feel his iron muscles on his hands, rolled a penny into a tube, twisted a teaspoon with a screw.”