Anderson’s lifts were way ahead of their time, while his charismatic personality served to further his mystique even decades after his 1956 retirement. With the passage of time and the lack of this mystique among the younger lifting writers, we now have the phenomena where many of the claimed feats of Anderson are being questioned.

The Legend of the 1,200-Pound Squat

One of these feats that had become a canon over the years was his purported 1,200-pound squat. This claim has been repeated many times by his admirers, although it has never been authenticated by anyone who may have witnessed it all those years ago. And, as is known, it never was done in public.

The closest we can come is a lift Anderson performed in April 1957 at the Mapes Casino in Reno, Nevada. He performed there for only two weeks, just a few months after his Olympic gold medal performance in Melbourne, Australia. He probably only had a short window to put on this routine because I’m sure the casino would have realized it would grow stale after a while. So, we’re looking at only a narrow window of opportunity for anyone, especially knowledgeable weight people, to have witnessed even this performance.

At the Mapes Casino, Anderson reportedly performed several squats each day with 1,160 pounds on a specially made barbell device. It consisted of a bar with two boxes that looked like safes, but had glass walls. The hook in the act was that the ends of the device were filled with 15,000 silver dollars, a site familiar to casino habitués and residents of Western silver states going back to the days of William Jennings Bryan and his 1896 campaign for the free coinage of silver. (People out west like real money, not paper money. Casino operators like them because they fit in the slot machines nicely.) Even better all those dollars would be handed to anyone who could duplicate Anderson’s stage feat. But none ever even tried.

Did He Squat It Every Day?

But the big question remains, did he really make this 1,160-pound squat every day? Then, as now, a certain amount of skepticism was understandable. After all, this weight was nearly double what anyone else even thought of squatting, and here he was doing it several times a day.

Also remember this was several years before steroids were available. Hell, even if they were available, the same feat still has not been done by modern power-men even with all their pills, suits, wraps, and whatnot. Thus, the lifting world accepted Anderson’s claims for many years, but now a more detached generation is starting to question the veracity of this lift. Let’s see what we have and then make up our own minds.

Could He Have Done It?

Let’s start with the U.S. Peace dollar, the kind available in 1957. It weighed 26.73 grams, was 38.1 millimeters in diameter, and measured 2.4 millimeters thick. 15,000 silver dollars would weigh 884 pounds, give or take their fine tolerances. (Trust me on the calculations).

Now, how many really were in the safes? The most efficient way to fill these boxes at the ends of the barbell was by stacking the coins one on top of the other, cylinder-style, with a number of such cylinders packed side-by-side as the box was filled. Stacked this way a thirteen-inch cube box could contain 7,500 silver dollars easily.

The boxes on the ends of Anderson’s barbell-like device appear to have been slightly larger than that, maybe by several inches. I assume the safes were cubic in shape, or nearly so. It is hard to tell, but that seems that would have been the most likely case. Therefore, they could have contained $15Gs. (“Gs” didn’t become “K” until decades later).

The exact number is still a bit problematic, though. This is because the dollars were not packed in nice columns. They were just thrown in to settle at random. This probably means there was a bit more space between the coins, but I doubt if there was enough space to throw into doubt the $15,000 figure.

By the same token, there would not have been $25,000 worth of coins there. Some stories have it that Anderson was offering $25,000 to anybody who could duplicate his feat. If they did, the weight would’ve had to have been greater than the weight of the barbell device. 25,000 silver dollars would weigh 1,473 pounds. Even Anderson’s most ardent supporters could not claim a squat with such a poundage.

Was It Even Mathematically Possible?

So now we must determine that 15,000 silver dollars could have been squatted by Anderson. We also must add in the weight of the barbell device to determine how much he did in fact squat in total. If the 884 pounds of coins is correct and if the 1,160-pound squat is correct, then this barbell device must have weighed weigh 276 pounds.

For this to be believable, the boxes would have to have been made of pretty heavy metal. We can only guess what these actually weighed 57 years after the fact. The 276 pounds is perhaps believable. After all, they would have to have been pretty sturdy to hold all that weight. And that bar in the photo is bending quite nicely.

We still have another problem, though. A few paragraphs back I said that the ends could hold the $7,500 apiece. The operative word is could. If Anderson had wanted to make his job a little bit easier, he might have found a way to put fewer coins in the ends. That could have been done if there was a certain amount of empty space all nicely surrounded by coins and totally invisible to the audience. Could this have been what happened?

Well, it is possible, but that in turn creates more problems. Remember that there was indeed a $15,000 reward to anybody who could squat these weights. There was always the risk that some monster would rise up out of the audience and claim that fifteen grand. The more the plates were hollowed out, the greater the chance of someone being able to lift it.

Fortunately for Paul, few people in 1957 could squat more than 600 pounds. You can count them on the fingers of your hand and Anderson would probably have known most of them on-sight. With the shortness of his performance gig and the difficulties of timely travel in those days, he could probably have counted on none of those lifters showing up.

Another thing Anderson could have possibly counted on was the warm-up situation. We do not know if there was an extra barbell backstage where challengers could have warmed up before tackling the monster. Any experienced lifter who could squat really big weight would not have been so foolish as to try and attempt it cold. Anybody else could confidently have been predicted to fail the weight, whether they warmed up or not.

With that in mind, there was still a bit of a risk on Anderson’s part that with hollowing out the ends some knowledgeable barbell man might have tried unracking the barbell to test its weight. If the weight was significantly lighter than the 1,160 pounds, a strong man would have been able to tell if any monkey business had been attempted. They wouldn’t have won the fifteen grand, but they still could have said that the advertised weight was bogus. Neither Anderson nor the casino would have wanted that to happen.

How Low Did He Go?

All that said, another question remains, as it does with every big squat made in history – did he go low enough? Unfortunately, there does not seem to be any picture of Anderson in the rock-bottom position with this device or even known eyewitnesses. Anyone is capable of a large squat if they do not go as low as the rules now demand. And given that Paul had huge thighs that made a legal squat difficult, some doubt must remain.

Where Does All This Leave Us?

And that is where we must leave this discussion. Few people are around today who witnessed the event and can critique it knowledgeably. But maybe that’s for the best. Until human males squat 1,200 pounds on a frequent basis, weightlifting enthusiasts can discuss Anderson’s strength feats like they have been for a half-century already.

In my opinion, whether we know if Anderson’s squats were legit or not, they still required a very strong man. Just holding that much weight on the shoulders and not even moving takes a lot of strength. Rather than worry about the bona fides of his claims, I prefer to remember a man who brought weightlifting to new heights and inspired the birth of powerlifting. He was a pioneer in both sports and inspired many to take to the iron. I’d like to challenge anybody to refute that claim

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Did you ever take a moment to consider the feats performed decades ago by the old-time strongmen? Arthur Saxon would put 300lbs over his head with one hand as a part of his show, nightly, sometimes for multiple shows in a single day. If you were like Saxon and your job was lifting heavy things night after night as a performer, how would you approach it?

Strongman Arthur Saxon

Old-Time Methods for Old-Time Strength

Would you apply modern, high intensity training “wisdom”? Would you push yourself to fatigue and near exhaustion? Maybe let your technique get a little sloppy? Oh, and make sure you were very tired, laying on the floor sucking wind like a fat kid chasing an ice-cream truck when you finished, and so sore you walk funny for the next few days?

If you took this approach, then you would also most likely wind up some combination of weak, injured, and unemployed. Sure, you could keep at it for a little while, but the “no pain, no gain” mentality would eventually catch up with you.

I much prefer the concept of “no pain, know gain.”

The No Pain, Know Gain Approach

What if, instead of all that silliness, you approached training like it was your job? What if you got paid to not only make the lifts, but to look good and be entertaining while you are doing it?

• Would you train to failure? (Hint: I doubt it)
• How often would you attempt to set a new record one-rep maximum (1RM) in any lift? (Hint: very, very rarely)
• How ambitious would that record be, in relation to your old 1RM? (Hint: very conservative)

Keep it in perspective that missed training (performing) time from an injury would be time that you couldn’t do your job and that there are always wolves at the door in the form of up-and-coming, would-be strongmen who want to challenge you for the position of being the star of the show. If you don’t lift – for whatever reason – then you are unemployed.

Train Like It’s Your Job

What if you decided to train as if your livelihood depended on it? Not as if your life depended on completing this maximal lift, but as if your life depended on the completion of this feat – and the next one, and the next one, and the twelve feats in the next show at 9:00pm, and the two shows tomorrow, and three on Saturday that you have to do.

The commonality of the training of the old-timers as well as the modern performing strongmen is constant practice and progressive overload. Not constant extreme effort, constant straining, constant “feeling the burn,” or constant pushing yourself to exhaustion. I am not just recounting history here.

Modern Grandmaster Strongman Dennis Rogers told me the exact same thing. If you don’t know who Dennis is, search YouTube and prepare to have your mind blown. In his mid-fifties, Dennis is about 5’9” and 170lbs – and bends wrenches, frying pans, screwdrivers, and all manner of other things. The Association of Oldetime Barbell and Strongmen proclaimed him “Pound for pound the world strongest man for the feats he performs.” He is my mentor in the art of the old-time strongman.

How Working Strongmen Approach Training

There have been times I have spoken with Dennis about a particularly tough feat he wanted to test out and heard him say words to the effect of, “I think I can do that, but I have nine shows in the next two weeks and I don’t want to risk hurting myself. After that I have a couple weeks off. I will try it then.” This is the essence of a professional attitude.

Dennis’ mentor, old-time strongman legend Slim the Hammer Man told me that if you attempt a maximal lift in front of a crowd for a show, then you are an amateur (unless of course it is for a documented record). His reasoning is simple. You can only run wide open all the time for so long, and then something will break. The thing that breaks almost certainly won’t be any kind of a lifting record. “People didn’t pay to see me try to make a lift. They paid to see me make a lift, and look good doing it,” he said.

See the theme here? The greatest strongmen in modern history, absolute legends of strength, all have a similar attitude and approach in training.

Dennis Rogers and Me

My Free Four-Week Program

If you want to test yourself and see what you can do in an all-out attempt, I am certainly not opposed to it. I am a fan of occasionally flipping the crazy switch and seeing exactly where I stand in a given lift or feat of strength – but it should be a very infrequent and planned thing.

The majority of your training will likely be in the 70-85% range. If you constantly test the limit, you will find it. If you constantly work within your limits and focus on making your practice better and better, then your limits will move without having to push them. This can be a difficult thing to stick with. We hit a new all-time personal record, then we immediately want to see if we can do just a little more.

I recommend focusing on doing just a little better instead of a little more. Remember: your goal is to get stronger, not make yourself tired or sore. With this in mind I have put together a four-week program for you. It keeps with the idea of practice and making incremental progress. Treat it like a performance. Give this program a try and let me know how it goes.

Click Here to Start Dave Whitley’s Free Strength Program

Photo 2 courtesy of DLAB Photography.

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The interesting thing about Peoples is that his deadlift ran contrary to everything that is taught today. Not only did he round his back, but he blew the air out of his lungs before lifting. Why would he do such a thing? Bob studied the form of his lift by viewing himself in a mirror. It was this process over time that led him towards his unique and controversial style of lifting.

I than started lifting on empty lungs and with at round back – that is I would breath out to normal then do my dead lift. I feel this is much safer than following the customary advice of the experts to take a deep breath and than dead lift. Breathing out you lessen the internal pressure and by lifting with a round back you lessen the leverage – all of which helps add many lbs. to your lift. I realize this style may not work well with everyone but in my case it seems ideal.

Peary Radar, bodybuilder, writer, and publisher, said, “His dead lift style is a little different than we usually feel is ‘correct’ in that he performs his lifts almost straight legged. This style however, is not ‘incorrect’ for him because his type of physique with rather long legs, short trunk and very long arms makes it the best style for him.” I’ve been round-back deadlifting and doing it successfully for some time, and after studying up on the method Peoples employed I plan on experimenting with his style. Looking at pictures, I don’t quite have the arm length he did, but perhaps I can find a better position that may be closer to what he used.

Although the deadlift was the favorite lift of Peoples, and what made him famous, he was no slouch in the other lifts. He performed a 225lb press and 530lb squat as well as many other impressive lifts. But for this article we’re going to focus on what he was best at, and the inventive and rarely seen today methods he employed to gain a quadruple-times bodyweight lift.

In a previous article on Hermann Goerner, we discussed the many variations of the deadlift Goerner used in training. These were mostly grip-oriented variations. Bob Peoples was much more focused on just the deadlift, but working it from various partial and extended heights, as well as doing it in rare forms like the negative. If you combined the two you’d have nearly endless deadlift variations to work on.

The Deadlifting Exercises Used by Bob Peoples

Dead Hang Deadlifts – Peoples started at the top out of a rack, lowered down to just above the ground, then came back up. Using the negative first, you can lift more than starting from the ground as is normally done.

Extended Range of Motion Trapbar Deadlift – This required Peoples to go into a full squat and bent-over position. This exercise was specifically used to build more starting strength.

Deadlifts From a Partial Range of Motion Just Below, At, or Above Kneecaps – Anyone with experience using partials knows they can strengthen different parts of the lift making you strong throughout. You can handle bigger weights than a full-range lift and the benefit carries over. In fact, Peoples created his own form of a power rack for these purposes before there were power racks.

Stiff Leg Deadlifts – These were sometimes done in normal style and sometimes with dead hangs. It was probably the mixing of these with regular deadlifts that help build the strength Peoples had in the near straight leg deadlift position.

Holding Heavy Weights in the Hands at the Finish Position – Peoples focused on the fact that grip strength was often the weak point in training some of these exercises. He used hooks and straps for that reason, but also focused on exercises like this one to strengthen his grip.

Various Deadlift Isometrics – In addition to all the moving exercises, Peoples employed different isometrics so he could pull as hard as possible against immovable objects at different heights along the deadlift path.

Rapid or “Hopper” Deadlifts – These were done by bouncing the bar off of the floor or pins. The added momentum used in combination with the negative allowed Peoples to handle more weight than without it, and thus it was helpful in breaking into using heavier loads.

The Training Program Used by Bob Peoples

As with anyone’s workouts, the training program used by Peoples evolved over time. But there were some principles he stuck to for the most part over his lifting career. Peoples explained, “You will note that I did not use any set schedule but varied the program between the lifts according to the way I felt, some days doing just one lift and on others doing several. Most of the time I worked every day but never did more than 3 to 5 reps in any lift.”

In training for a world record in the deadlift back in 1946, Peoples trained daily in this manner. He worked on the three Olympic lifts (the press being included with the jerk and snatch back then), followed by the deadlift. He started at 350lbs, adding 50lbs in each set and doing three reps until reaching the max he could handle. And remember, this was daily training. Peoples also worked the squat into his training:

Another method of training that gave me good results was to alternate between dead lifts and the squats. I’d work on the dead lift alone for a time. I’d start out with single attempts and work up to my limit. I would work at this every day until I began to go stale, then I quit the dead lift and went to work on the squat with the same system, and so on back and forth. This system gave me very good results.

I find this interesting because I felt my deadlift progress was going somewhat stale and thought that to further improve it I would best focus on the squat, which I have not done nearly as much. Although I don’t care so much about what I can squat (hence, my not doing it), I do want to drive my deadlift up higher, so it’s great to see this confirmation about how the squat can help. Try incorporating some of these exercises or training styles into your own workouts and you may find your own deadlift gets higher and higher.

References:

1. Iron Man, April/May 1952 – http://www.myosynthesis.com/training-methods-bob-peoples
2. Iron Game History, November 1992 – library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/IGH/IGH0204/IGH0204c.PDF

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