The Zercher Deadlift

Aris DeMarco

Of all the many ways to pick a barbell up off the floor, the zercher deadlift is perhaps the most dangerous, and definitely one of the hardest. It's a way of making a simple act unnecessarily difficult; kind of like putting a feral cat in the tub before taking a bath. It's basically the 'overly manly man' of deadlift variants.

...you get the idea. 

Ed Zercher was a lifter in the 1930s and quite a strong one at that. According to Rogert Lapointe, in one weightlifting competition Ed managed the following numbers--

One Hand Snatch 120 lbs.

One Hand Clean & Jerk 130 lbs.

Two Hand Military Press 170 lbs.

Two Hand Snatch 145 lbs.

Two Hand Clean & Jerk 200 lbs.

--Weighing only 156! 

(Check out my past blogs on continental weightlifting, Maxick, and Bob Peoples for more)

Zercher's lower body strength was even better than those numbers suggest, however. 

Wally Strosnider writes: "Ed trained a lot of different lifts. He did Hip Lifts, Harness Lifts, One Hand Deadlifts, One Finger Deadlifts, Bent Presses, Side Presses, Crucifixes, Two Hands Any How (actually the name of a lift), and more... Ed would lay on his back on the platform, place an Olympic Bar on his bare feet and do Leg Presses - full and deep. I saw him do 250 lbs. for 100 reps at a meet at the state pen. I saw him do reps with the bar loaded to 250 lbs. and his 225-lb. son-in-law sitting on the bar. Ed was in his late 60's at the time."

...Yeah... 

The barbell leg press, which was actually fairly commonly done at the time; was one way Zercher had of building leg power without a squat rack. I haven't tried it and don't intend to, but it appears that heeled boots, spotters, and ridiculous hip flexibility are necessities to perform that lift, as well as a honey badger's attitude regarding life. 

Ed patronized another variety of lifting, however, one that retains his name to this day--he took to lifting barbells in the crook of his elbows instead of in his hands or on his shoulders. 

The 'zercher lift', a USAWA/IAWA competition lift, involves sumo deadlifting a barbell, resting it on one's thighs before sliding one's arms under the bar and squatting it up from a dead stop. Here's Ric Garcia adeptly demonstrating that movement: 

As can be seen, it is a fairly drawn-out lift and involves a satisfying effort of coordination. It's also harder than it looks at first glance... the lack of stretch reflex from the 'dead stop' makes the squat portion quite difficult. 

Here I am in the start of the 'squat' portion. Way more than I can actually Zsq, by the way.

It's an excellent lift to teach grinding a lift without any momentum; wedging between the bar and the floor, and hinging properly at the hips. Due to the bar being a bit closer to the lifter's center of gravity, and not being restricted in its placement by an individual's shoulder mobility; the Zsq is quite a valuable teaching tool. Strongfirst teaches the Zsq (taken off the racks, and starting from the top) as one of its primary barbell squatting variants, along with the front and back squat. I'll leave it to Pavel to describe the benefits of the Zsq in full: http://www.strongfirst.com/the-best-squat/.

The zercher deadlift (which I've also seen referred to as the 'spider lift' and 'mansfield lift') is basically the same thing, but picking up the barbell in the crooks of your arms from the floor instead of your legs. Think about that for a second... it is an incredibly awkward lift. First, it drastically extends the range of motion of a normal deadlift--for me, it's roughly equivalent to doing a 16'' deficit deadlift; or starting with the bar 8 inches below floor level. And, of course, 'lockout' has the bar quite a bit higher than a normal deadlift as well. Second, it requires the lifter to assume a rather uncomfortable hunched-over position. Some degree of spinal flexion is unavoidable, and a lot of hip (flexion) and ankle (dorsiflexion) flexibility is required to even reach the bar. 

What's it look like? Here's my best ZDL to date: 

300x1 weighing 138, which is actually not bad.

And here is a picture of Pavel Tsatsouline doing a ZDL in Stuart McGill's lab: 

As is readily apparent, the position for the ZDL is perhaps best described as 'compromised'. The vast majority of people will not be able to perform this lift safely with heavy weights. Two simple tests:

1. Put a pair of 45s--or bumper plates of any weight--on a barbell, squat down, slide your forearms under the bar, and wedge yourself tight under the bar. If you cannot do this comfortably (i.e. without over-stretching anything), you should not try heavy ZDL. 

2. Have you adapted to loading your back in a position of flexion? Unless you have done specific work towards this purpose, or are a very strong grappler (accustomed to lifting opponents at odd angles and without a flat back) or a strongman (accustomed to lifting atlas stones), or perhaps have a history of manual labor (and no back pains or injuries as a result) you should not try heavy ZDL.

2a. If you have tremendous hip flexibility and excellent T-spine mobility in flexion, you may be able to perform the ZDL with a neutral lumbar region. Do not try to do so unless you are accustomed to deadlifting heavy with a neutral low back and 'relaxed' upper back, as David Hansen and Konstantin Konstantinovs do; and have the flexibility to maintain this position for the ZDL. 

The ZDL will always have some degree of risk due to the rather extreme position, but if you keep the above in mind the danger should go way down. A few years back, a few people on an internet message board had a very motivated competition to get the heaviest ZDL possible. Safety? Ha! They liked to say that 'Crom will protect us'. As it turns out, none of them got injured and some of them went quite heavy--400 @ 220, I believe, and 352 @ 180 or so. I believe the former person had a long history of manual labor, though, and the latter was a grappler. This adaptation to loaded flexion is more likely to have protected them than Crom, but it's a nice idea nonetheless. Anyhow....

Who/what is the ZDL good for? I'm not sure if it's really worth doing for anyone, though it could be an exercise for grapplers in the offseason--bodyweight on the bar x5 slow and controlled reps with a 'silent set-down' might be a good goal. Pavel wrote someplace that Alexander Karelin did ZDL with 440 for sets of 10, which is rather sobering. The ZDL could also be a useful accessory for strongmen competitors who do not have access to atlas stones. After all, the ZDL resembles nothing so closely as a stone lift from the ground: 

Bryce Lane on the ZDL: 

"...It takes wild flexibility and some degree of reckless courage.... Gave it a shot. 300#/3r from the floor. Not so elegant on the last one though. Using a thick bar helps comfort, it also makes it easier to roll out of your arms... I just try to keep it as close to me as possible so the leverages is better and it won't roll so easily. Brian Amundsen worked up to the mid-300s on this lift to help his stone lifting a few years back."

Brian Amundsen:

"I've done 345 in the spider deadlift/zercher deads. After a few sessions getting down to the bar is not too hard. I worked up to the mid 300s... was pulling mid 500s at the time. If I could do... 405x5 I'd think the carryover would be similar."

his stonelifting-- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3PFfHhntCM

Louie Simmons:

"Zercher lifts will build every squat and deadlift muscle in your body with the exception of your hands... Ed Zercher intended for the bar to be lifted off the floor in the crook of your elbows. At 181, I made 320 off the floor and an official deadlift of 670 in 1973. But at 198, I could no longer bend over far enough to hook the bar in my elbows" (Westside Barbell Book of Methods pg 179). 

I believe Louie classified the ZDL as a special exercise for the deadlift, but I'd have to go back and re-read WSBBBM to check. He also invented a zercher harness for... ahem... larger lifters to get some benefits of doing the zercher squat/deadlift. 

Adam Glass: 

"Start light and work up... your back will round over some just like picking up anything in real life. This is an essential drill for grapplers."

Ben Edwards: 

"I used to be very flexible when my bodyweight was 150lbs (until I was 25 years old) and this was a strange lift that I was way above average on the first time I tried it.  I know I did over double bodyweight the first time I tried it, but I don’t remember if I hit 315lbs or 325lbs at 150lbs bodyweight.

Never “trained” the lift, but I do recall doing it maybe a half dozen times from 1993 to 2001.  I saw a guy in the rec center here in Lawrence (KS) doing it back in 1993.  He was about 6′ and probably close to 250lbs.  Over 50 years old, but he never told me exactly how old he was.  Very muscular guy.  He called it a “prisoner lift” – which is what he said it was referred to as when he was serving a prison sentence in the 80s.

[He did] 315lbs for a single as a “warmup” lift in the Zercher Deadlift,[which was] remarkable.  He moved the bar so fast with 315lbs on it that the bar jumped off his elbows at lockout.  Given the ease of the lift, all of us in the weight room were surprised when he dumped the bar (no bumper plates) from above waist height.  Then he loaded the 90lbs back on and left the weight room for so long that I thought he had gone home for the day... about 30 minutes later he strolled back in (he addressed the room and said that he had “fallen asleep” in the locker room) and did an ugly Zercher Deadlift with 405lbs.  It was an amazing lift.  One I will never forget witnessing."

The strongest ZDLs I've seen online come from a quadzilla named Matt Hastie. Here's 440x5, he also has a video of 400x10 and claims 510x1. No idea of bodyweight. 

Technique for the ZDL? There isn't a whole lot, but for those of you who believe you can perform the lift safely (or don't, but are using substances impairing your better judgement) here are some pointers. If you've ever lifted atlas stones, most of these cues will come pretty naturally to you:

-Put your feet somewhere around the stance you use for your conventional DL. Turning your feet out more than your normally would is probably a good idea, it'll help get your knees out of the way. The bar should definitely be right up against your shins... leverage is everything with this lift. 

-Wedge your elbows in along the insides of your legs and get the bar on the meat of your forearm right below the inside of your elbow. A lot of chalk here will help keep the bar from rolling away. Don't use a towel or pad unless you want the bar to slip. You'll get some interesting bruises the first time but it doesn't hurt as much as you might think. 

-Get TIGHT. Push your feet into the floor, maximally depress and protract your scaps, squeeze your glutes and clench your fists. Try to 'connect' your abs, lats, glutes, and erectors. Hollow position!

-Start slow. Definitely do not yank the bar off the floor. Begin by 'pushing your feet through the floor', but try to get your hams and glutes to take the brunt of the load. Optimal leverage will be different for everyone; for me my hips are actually above my shoulders when the bar leaves the floor. 

-Once the bar gets above your knees think of rowing it back into your belly with your lats. This seems to be the most dangerous portion of the lift, as the bar tends to drift out in front. Don't let this happen--get it in close to your stomach and only then push your hips forward to finish. 

-Do not drag the bar up your legs or rest it on your thighs. 

-Do not try and put the bar down slowly from the top. Just drop it and make sure it doesn't hit your knees on the way down. 

-If you are ever in any doubt of completing the lift, just drop the bar. I haven't had a heavy weight pull me out of my braced position with this lift but would not like to find out what happens if it does....

For those of you who do not plan on doing heavy ZDLs but have read this far: 

I've got a little something for you too. It's a warmup drill that kinda mimics the ZDL and will help stretch out your hips and hamstrings by adding an extra step to the goblet squat. Basically, do a prying goblet squat: 

But as you 'pry' at the bottom, place the bell on the ground. Slowly raise your hips while keeping the bell on the ground, and your elbows inside your knees. When you feel a strong stretch in your hamstrings, curl the bell back up to the top position and slowly hinge forward to stand up (think of a barbell good morning). From the top: 

-squat down

-pry back and forth

-bell down

-raise hips

-bell up

-hips forward

Potentially, reverse the movement from there: 

-with the bell held at the top...

-hinge back until your elbows touch your knees

-slowly lower your hips into a full squat

-pry

-raise hips again and hinge forward to finish

I'm not sure what to call it (goblet good morning?), but 'discovered' this move when I was fooling around with ways to make the ZDL useful and... I really like it. I'm going to be incorporating it into my warmups from now on. 

(If my explanation isn't good I can take some pictures/videos when I get a free moment). 

As always--hoped you enjoyed the article. I've been frightfully busy as of late but learning a lot, much of which will be the subject of future blog posts. 

Lillian Leitzel

Aris DeMarco

part one
part two

Continuing with the 'athlete profile' series, I figured it was time to introduce a woman into the mix and spare everyone another blog post featuring men in gladiator sandals.

Not sure if this is any better, but you can't say I don't try...

...our heroine is on the far left of the picture

In the early 20th century, strength-based physical culture was beginning to spread rapidly among the male populations of both Europe and the United States. However, among women it was virtually nonexistent, the traditional arts of dance and acrobatics were still basically the only athletic pursuits females engaged in. Aerial performers (ring and trapeze artists) were the big draw at circuses and many of these artists, like the performing strongmen, pushed their boundaries to do something new or exciting in order to succeed.

At the time, though the rings were not nearly as sophisticated in terms of needing pure strength as in today's gymnastics (I believe that change came with Albert Azaryan's cross obsession a few decades later) they were still very much a 'male' art, requiring more strength than most women had or cared to develop.

Azaryan.

Lillian Leitzel was born in 1892 as Leopoldina Alitza Pelikan and brought up by her grandparents in Germany. She was trained in music and dance and became fluent in several languages--several of her instructors believed she would go on to become a professional pianist. However, she began teaching herself acrobatics and at the tender age of 14 joined her family in the circus, performing with her mother and two aunts. She cared nothing for her stereotypical role as a female aerialist, though, and eventually created something a bit more demanding as a performance routine. 

Leitzel putting me and Alex to shame with (what appears to be) a one arm lockoff on a rope

In 1910, Leitzel moved to the United States and performed with Barnum & Bailey. Her primary routine was done on the rings like those of the male performers, but unlike most other routines hers was done fifty or more feet in the air, without safety nets and only a thin rubber pad to break her fall--of course, from that height, most mats would be doing more breaking than padding, so such a safety measure was dismissive at best! 

Leitzel quickly became known for her quick temper, flirtatious performing style, and tremendous strength. She was reputedly able to do 250 'back revolutions' (a sort of 'one arm dislocate', or momentum-aided 'skin-the-cat', seen at 1.40 in the video). One of her crowd-stealers was to encourage her audiences to count each repetition with her as she did them, swinging around and around in quick succession. She could also do 27 consecutive one arm pullups on one of the rings; David Willoughby states that these one arm chins were undoubtedly done with a high degree of swing or 'kip', but that Leitzel could probably do, at most, 6 strict one arm chins (he worked this out by comparing her to a contemporary male gymnast with one of his typically complicated mathematical formulas). This is still mindblowing, of course, for a female athlete--an excellent effort for any athlete, for that matter, and would make Leitzel perhaps the most capable female athlete of all time when considering this particular feat of strength. 

Something else worth noting is Leitzel's 'behind the back holds' (seen at 1.03) which also seems to be a typical move for male acrobats--I've seen cirque du soleil extraordinaire Igor Zaripov do it in several of his performances: 

Taken together, Lillian's feats show that she had a very high degree of strength and flexibility throughout her shoulder girdle, arms, and hands (though I'm assuming she used straps to hold onto the rings for some movements) as well as excellent coordination and flexibility throughout her entire body; and, of course, a complete lack of regard for heights. Moreover, they show that she can be favorably compared to a male acrobat in terms of ability for many movements, which is insanely impressive for an athletic endeavor that mainly involves upper body strength. 

As far as her personal life is concerned, I wasn't able to find out much just through the internet. Apparently she married several men (in succession) out of a constant line of suitors, never bore any children, and eventually died during a performance in Copenhagen when she was 39--through no fault of her own, I might add--the rope holding her snapped at its base. I suppose adding a safety net to her performances at some point would have been prudent, but Leitzel doesn't seem the sort to have cared for that kind of thing at all.

In short: Lillian Leitzel was smart, talented, succeeded in a highly competitive field of showbiz through nothing but her own raw talent and hard work, eschewed the commonly accepted limitations of female physical ability, and continued performing in front of adoring crowds until she was nearly 40. 

Get after it, ladies. 

Sources:

Willoughby, David P. The Super-Athletes. 

http://www.npr.org/2013/06/29/195971072/lillian-leitzel-the-tiny-high-flying-queen-of-the-circus 

http://www.ringling.com/ContentPage.aspx?id=45835&section=45825 

http://www.rarenewspapers.com/view/587705 

Wikipedia. 

Eugene Sandow

Aris DeMarco

I had a few questions regarding part one of part one after sharing it around a bit. Jason asked:

why do you say that the old timers were less flexible? What is that based on, and what do you think led to modern weightlifters being more flexible?

To which I responded:

It’s not ‘the oldtimers’ as a group so much as the European superheavies, the ones who lifted in the ‘continental’ style. They didn’t have good technique, they didn’t bother to become fast or flexible, so their competitions revolved around brute power. In the olympics today, even the fattest guys are gonna be doing squat cleans. The German ‘continental’ lifters just did a sort of high pull, rested the bar on their bellies, and then shouldered it (continental). Same goes for layback in the press. They didn’t want to be limited by the ‘military’ form, so layback was allowed. This wasn’t a sophisticated double layback olympic press either, just leaning back as far as they could/needed to, to press the bar out. They allowed their off hand to be placed on their leg/knee in the one arm snatch, too, unlike the ‘clean’ style of lifting. Basically, continental style lifting was big guys moving big weights, just like the WSM today–judges won’t be calling anyone on hitching deadlifts, using leg drive on overhead ‘press’, etc.

Modern weightlifters are more flexible because it’s advantageous to be flexible, given the rules. The Chinese have so much usable flexibility that many of them can do bottoms-up overhead squats with nearly the same poundage that they use on front squats. Because of that, they can drop right to the bottom to catch a squat jerk. This gives them an advantage over lifters who have to catch the bar higher. These enormous refinements in technique have made weightlifting an entirely different sport. In the ’50s and ’60s, lifters just pulled the bar up high and stepped forwards under it, to snatch it. In the 1900s, they probably didn’t even bother to step under it, that’s why snatch poundages were relatively low.

Anyway, flexibility was more of a thing for the french, who loved ‘clean’ lifting; and the guys who did gymnastics as well as heavy lifting (sandow, maxick, sig klein, otto arco). Saxon, Aston etc. were doubtless more flexible than the ‘continental’ competitors as well, at least in some places, because they could bent press. I doubt that steinbach, swoboda, et al could bent press at all.....

Just the other day I found this bit written by Sig Klein in 1936:

"The Bent Press was never very popular with the continental lifters . . . most of them were too bulky to perform it . . . they could not lean forward or sideways enough to make a good lift in this style. Not that they didn't try . . . they all wanted to make good in this lift since one can put up more weight with one hand this way than it is possible with any other one-handed lift. There have been men who could put up more weight with one hand in the Bent Press than they could with two hands in any other style. Continental lifters called the Bent Press "a trick" . . . said it was harmful . . . that it was not a true lift, but a supporting feat. As a result of their wails the lift was eventually barred from competition on the continent."

So, there you have it. This, of course, brings us to the man who probably most influenced the entire course of western physical culture at the time--Eugene Sandow.

5'9'' and 180 pounds of shoulders and leopard trunks.

Real fur, probably, too. 

Sandow was born in Prussia in 1867. His was a common tale among strongmen and weightlifters-to-be. He grew up with physical ability that was average at best, but a chance encounter--in Sandow's case, visiting a museum that held classical Greek statues--drove his desire to become strong. 

By all accounts, Sandow trained himself by (against his parents' wishes) stealing away to wrestling clubs and sneaking off to the circus to work out with the strongmen and acrobats. It isn't exactly clear how strong he became during this period, however, after meeting several well-known 'professors' of physical culture for the first time, it was noted that he was stronger than many of them even at this early stage in his career so clearly, Sandow had tremendous natural gifts. A few of these individuals were impressed enough to sponsor him and allow him to teach classes at their facilities. 

"Sandow? Oh... he even." 

--'professor Attila'

Eventually, Sandow left home and began travelling, using his newfound talents to make money along the way. In late nineteenth-century Europe, physical culture was experiencing something of a boom at the time and, apart from teaching gym classes, there was plenty of money to be had for weightlifters as part of circus acts, street shows, and as models for the classical era-obsessed artists and sculptors of the time. Undoubtedly, Sandow's rather unique combination of agility and strength served him well as an 'attraction' while doing this: Most performers at the time were either acrobats/handbalancers or weightlifters, not both!

Sandow's fame gradually grew not only from his pure physical talent, but also through rather uniquely brazen publicity stunts. For example, in Amsterdam one night he drove around the entire city in a cab breaking the fragile pulley machines set up in public places for normal passers-by to workout with. 

Kinda like this. 

Sandow purposely got himself arrested while in the act of doing this, claiming that he had committed no crime--he had merely attempted to exercise, but he was simply too strong for the machines! He rapidly gained fame throughout the city; crowds followed him wherever he went, and he gained a deal at a local theater that paid him 1200 guilders each week to perform. (Apparently that's about 2000usd. I have no idea about the inflation rates on Dutch currency from 1900, but it's a ton of money to be paid for, in essence, lifting and then posing for an audience for an hour every evening.)

Not sure if this ridiculousness is worth the equivalent of a six-figure salary, but whatever works....

As you can see from the clip, Sandow's posing looks a bit strange even for those of us who have seen modern bodybuilding competitions. However, the clip shows just how famous Sandow grew to become--not many films were being taken in 1894, and according to the video description one of Thomas Edison's associates was the one who did the filming here. 

We can pretty safely assume from the massive fame and monetary success that Sandow gained, that he was indeed much more popular than the massive, beer-bellied strongmen who had been more popular before then. Apart from his more outrageous publicity stunts, he knew exactly what people wanted. In a time completely taken by the classical era, a man who looked exactly like some of the ancient statues--and had many, many professional photographs of himself taken to prove this fact--was a 'must see' attraction. Especially for women, of course. When the average 'really fit' guys at the time looked something like this:

Seeing Sandow must have been quite a shock for the ladies. He capitalized on this, too, arranging even more showings and performances for eager audiences. I can't find it online but in a book someplace I saw a picture of Sandow literally surrounded by a group of fascinated women with the stereotypical long skirts, fans, and feather boas of the time period. Unlike the street and circus strongmen, Sandow specifically marketed himself to the higher-paying members of high society and it paid off in terms of both money and reputation.

He didn't forget his roots in the circus, though, and accepted weightlifting challenges from other strongmen. He made shows out of these, too, of course. These were something like high-class versions of professional wrestling, with a great deal of posturing from both lifters and their entourages, bets being placed from the audience, and so forth. Here's part of one account from when Sandow faced 'Hercules':

...The regular contest then began, Hercules setting the first task, which was to raise with the left hand from the ground at arm's length above the head a weight of 170 lbs. The challenger accomplished the feat, and Sandow was also successful at the third attempt, the limit allowed for each trial. Sandow then, amidst renewed applause, raise a dumbbell weighing 226 lbs. with his right hand at arm's length above the head. Hercules declined to attempt the feat, his decision provoking loud cries of disapprobation and a good deal of hissing...." (from Sandow on Physical Training). 

From this report, it's difficult to tell exactly what lifts the two men were doing, as most of the lifts of the time ended up with either one or two arms overhead. However, it seems likely that the first lift was a one arm snatch, the second, the bent press--wherein the lifter tipped the barbell on one end, held it in one hand with his elbow firmly supported on his hip; then commenced bending forwards and down away from the weight. The upper arm actually stayed supported against the lifter's side until it was completely straight, so the 'bent press' really was not a press at all, but rather a supporting feat. Once the arm was straight, the lifter would slowly squat under the weight and stand up with it overhead in one hand. As noted by Sig Klein above, the 'poundage potential' of the bent press was absolutely tremendous, bodyweight on the bar was considered a good beginning lift and many accomplished weightlifters could do more in the bent press than in the two arm press, or even push jerk. 

Poster showing Sandow completing a bent press with human weights

This, of course, brings us to the question of what Sandow could lift. He was known to exaggerate his numbers (perhaps the first of many men to claim a 'twenty inch arm') and in some advertisements, said that he was the strongest man in the world. He did one arm military presses with what he claimed was a 150-pound dumbbell, and said he could bent press 300 pounds several times in succession. However, the heaviest weights he lifted in a competition wherein the barbells were actually weighed (i.e. not an exhibition with his own weights) Sandow did much less. He apparently put up a 180ish-pound one arm snatch, alternate pressed a pair of hundred-pound dumbbells for a few reps, and did a backflip with a pair of 35-pound weights (he claimed they were 55 apiece). According to David Willougby, Sandow's only official weightlifting record was a 269 1/2 pound bent press, which was soon surpassed by several other lifters, and of course was much lower than Sandow's claimed ability. He was apparently seen by many to do two hundred consecutive strict pushups, in addition to doing a one-finger one arm chin with any of his ten fingers, (get started on that here, Alex is already well on his way to a one-finger OAC!) though he used a sort of 'hook grip' arrangement on a strap to assist his thumb (Willoughby). 

As to how he trained, he built the majority of his ability in his formative years, and from then on primarily maintained it with his daily performances. He did a great deal of advertising for his 'system' of training with very light dumbbells--which probably played no role in his own development, but were definitely easier to sell than full barbell sets!--in addition to publicizing various methods of physical training for men in the military. This is perhaps what we should give him the most credit for; being a tremendous spokesperson for lifting, health, and physical culture, and playing a huge role in popularizing being lean, agile, and 'in shape' as well as strong. Of course he was a very good lifter too, though only average for the time, in comparison to the massively powerful 'continental' lifters (of course, his overall athleticism was far beyond theirs) but his legacy is by far his greatest accomplishment: Simply put, he was the right man at the right time to truly bring physical culture to the masses. Moreover, he's considered by many to be the 'father of modern bodybuilding' for his obsession with aesthetic goals. The 'Mr. Olympia' professional bodybuilding trophy is, and always has been, a statue of Sandow himself for a reason.

Yep, Arnold has seven of these. 

Finally, of course, Sandow paved the way for many individuals who came after him. The next 'lifter profile' I'll do will be for either Arthur Saxon or Max Sick--and I'll have a lot more actual information on his training in that blog post. Stay tuned!

Sources:

Klein, Sig. How much can you bent press. 1936. 

Adam, G. Mercer. Sandow on Physical Training. 1894. 

Willoughby, David P. The Super-Athletes. 1970. 

http://www.sandowplus.co.uk/ 

The seven-lift total: continental weightlifting competitions at the turn of the century

Aris DeMarco
This is part of a series that'll include both 'iron game history' and 'lifter profiles', the first is here: Marvin Eder

The 'old(e)time strongmen' are always something of a hot topic in the strength enthusiast's world. I mean, what's not to love about the oversized stage weight-toting, heavy overhead lifting, beer-swilling, mustachioed, leotard-wearing weightlifters who started popping up everywhere near the end of the 19th century?

"Clothing? Oh no, thank you, I couldn't possibly ask you to go to the trouble..."

The fact that wearing both a fig leaf and gladiator sandals, with nothing else but a mustache, as Eugene Sandow (pictured) was wont to do, is a bit of an overkill, I'll chalk it up to the fact that the Victorian era was a bit of a strange time, especially in terms of their various homages to the classical era, and leave it at that.

Anyway, wardrobe choices aside, as a group the 'turn of the century strongmen' were a seriously powerful group of guys. For lifters today who have a bit of nostalgia for the drug-free era of overhead lifting-obsessed European fellows, there are, of course, two relevant questions that everyone asks:

1. What did they lift, really? After all, numbers were often exaggerated, and fake weights were very popular in stage and circus shows. 

2. How did they train? 

This latter question is especially relevant when we consider the fact that some of these fellows could lift prodigious weights in a manner that no one today can duplicate. The most commonly used example: Arthur Saxon and his 370-pound bent press. 

Saxon definitely deserves a 'lifter profile' written about him....

At the time, weightlifting competitions were not really regulated as of yet, but in Germany, Sweden and Eastern Europe, a 7-lift competition was the most popular (In his book The Super Athletes, which I'll reference heavily, Willoughby says that 8 lifts were involved, but only lists seven):

One arm snatch, right and left arm

One arm continental and jerk, right and left arm

Two hands snatch

Two hands continental press

Two hands continental jerk

The lifter with the highest total of those seven lifts was, of course, the victor. 

Now for a bit of explanation regarding the lifts themselves....

The one arm snatch was done squat-style, which enabled the use of some pretty fair poundages. Many lifters could one-arm snatch their own bodyweight or more. 

The one arm jerk was done 'continental' style--in this case, taken to the shoulder with two hands; with the lifter's elbow resting on his hip, or the bar on his shoulder, and jerked overhead with one. This, too, was done in a 'squat' style. In most cases, it seems that a skilled lifter could one arm jerk roughly the same weight he could military press. 

The snatch, of course, should require no introduction--it's the same two handed barbell snatch used in weightlifting today. Of course, given the size of the bigger lifters in Europe at the time, and their general lack of flexibility, it's unlikely that they would have been able to do full squat snatches. Press-outs likely would have been allowed as well, though to what degree I'm not sure. Either way, these were most likely shallow power snatches. 

The 'continental', of course, referred to the method of bringing the weight to the shoulders. The barbell was either lifted 'clean' to the shoulders (like a power or squat clean), which at the time meant not contacting the body on the way up; or it was 'continentalled', i.e. touching the body on the way up. Most lifters rested the bar on their stomachs and from their boosted it to their shoulders. It's still commonly used to shoulder heavy thick barbells, too heavy to power clean, in strongman competitions today. 

Zydrunas Savickas using the 'continental' to shoulder and press/jerk a 437lb axle at the 2010 ASC

Thus, as you can see the term 'continental' clean is a misnomer--as Willoughby notes, "certain writers, presumably unfamiliar with weightlifting... have used the term 'continental clean'. This is meaningless, since a lift to the shoulders has to be either 'clean' or 'continental'. It cannot simultaneously be both!" 

The 'continental press', unlike the 'military press'--in which the heels had to be together, and no back lean was permitted--allowed an unlimited degree of back bend, and the feet could be spread wide or 'split' for balance. Anything really, as long as leg drive was not used. 

Arthur Saxon military pressing

Karl Swoboda 'continental' pressing. 

Finally, the 'continental jerk' was brought to the shoulders in the same manner as the press, and then jerked overhead with leg drive and a catch at lockout. It's worth noting that many of the strongest European lifters were so large and relatively inflexible that they did not split or squat under their jerks, instead using a 'heave press', i.e. a push press followed by laying back under the weight and pressing it out. Moreover, they did not yet have the 'double layback' technique in the press that eventually got it banned from the olympics. 

Looking for numbers to beat? Here are a few of the more notable 'continental' lifters of this period:

Josef Steinbach (5'10'', 250lb)

Mustache: check. Leotard: check. Beer gut (not pictured) check. 

Dan John wrote that "if all you did was clean and press, you could be awesome." Steinbach was a living example of this--as well as being the archetypal big, brutish, not-very-technical European lifter in the 1900s. He did all the competition lifts, but as you can see by his official records, he really liked pressing. 

Right hand snatch 188.5lb (these are official measures, obtained by weighing the uncalibrated barbells Steinbach competed with)

Left hand snatch 176

Right hand clean and jerk 234

Two hands continental press 329

Two hands continental jerk 392 (also 347x7)

Two hands continental press with dumbbells 309

Two hands continental jerk with dumbbells 335

Two hands seated press (sitting in a chair, not on a lifting bench with back support) 264

As you can tell, given the "relatively slight superiority of Steinbach's jerks over his presses" (Willoughby) his jerk technique was most likely the aforementioned 'heave press', similar to what Zydrunas Savickas does (see video above). 

Josef Grafl (6'3'', 285lb)

Mustache, leotard (bonus points for animal skin), beer gut....

Right hand snatch: 194.88lb

Left hand snatch: 180.76

Two hands snatch: 258

Two hands continental press: 317 (also 100kg x18 consecutive reps, feet together)

Two hands continental jerk: 389

Two hands continental press with dumbbells 286

Two hands continental jerk with dumbbells 330

Karl Swoboda (5'10'', ~300lb--picture above)

Right hand snatch 179lb

Left hand snatch 168

Two hands snatch 231

Two hands continental press 352.7

Two hands continental jerk 409

Hermann Goerner (6', ~250lb)

Goerner was more than a little awesome. He mainly lifted in the 1920s and '30s, after the 'first generation' lifters I mention above, but he did many of the same lifts so I'll reference him as well. I'll also definitely be writing an article about him in the future, anyone who can 'dance' with an elephant (pictured) as part of his performing strongman routine deserves to have his training studied, don't you think?

Right hand snatch 100kg/220lb

Left hand snatch 90kg/198lb

Right hand C&J 120kg/264lb

Left hand C&J 100kg/220lb

Two hands snatch 297 1/2lb

Two hands military (not continental) press 276

Two hands clean (not continental) and jerk 390

...So there you have it. A bit on how (and how much) they lifted, some numbers to chase, and some history, as well! Part II is now up here. 

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