Guest Euclid Posted May 1, 2002 Share Posted May 1, 2002 If John Davis could clean Apollon's wheels which weighs 370 lb. and has a 2 in diameter bar at under 200 lb., why havn't any of these strongmen weighing 300 lb. or more been able to clean the Thomas Inch dumbell? Their hands probably dwarf Davis' hands tremendously. This probably sounds very naive, but shouldn't these huge men be able to clean at least 450# or more on the same diameter bar to equal Davis' feat? Davis did this in a pre-drug era, too, which makes his accomplishment even greater. Was Davis lightyears ahead any lifter in his and our time at cleaning thick bars, or are lifters today just plain weak? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AP Posted May 1, 2002 Share Posted May 1, 2002 2 things, 1. a strongman must have oly experiance to lift that kind of weight, even a 300lb'er would have trouble on a regular bar if they never learned technique. oly lifters these days specialize a lot more than in the past. John davis did a lot of grip work to help him lift the axle- he also lifted it with a reverse grip which makes it a bit less of a grip feat. 2. john davis was a world champion in his day but the oly world champions of today have never tried or trained for the inch or apollon's axle. it's hard to clean something you've never even heard of and i suspect that the world champs of today don't consider many strength feats outside of their sport. shame... don't worry, it's only a matter of time before someone cleans the inch... if henry can get it chest high, we may see the day when someone slightly stronger can snatch the d@mn thing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarBender Posted May 2, 2002 Share Posted May 2, 2002 Testosterone was isolated in 1937 but I agree that John Henry Davis was drug-free except for perhaps smoking cigarettes. He died in 1984 of lung cancer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roark Posted May 2, 2002 Share Posted May 2, 2002 What grip training did Davis do for the Apollon attempt? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sybersnott Posted May 3, 2002 Share Posted May 3, 2002 Oh Roark, you silly!! :p On his third attempt, after he was using a suponated/pronated grip to pull it up, he got it to shoulder height, then changed his grip - and pushed it overhead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Euclid Posted May 3, 2002 Share Posted May 3, 2002 Until someone smaller than Davis lifts the wheels, he is the strongest pound for pound to lift them. I don't think it's that big a deal when guys like Mark Henry lift the wheels. These 'strongmen' need to add at least another 100 pounds to the lift to come anywhere close to what Davis did. They should also use a thicker bar to make up for their larger hand size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarBender Posted May 3, 2002 Share Posted May 3, 2002 The story that I heard from J.V.Askem was that it was John Henry Davis' ninth attempt in which he finally lifted the wheels overhead. He passed out. The wheels fell resulting in a warped axle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Say Posted May 3, 2002 Share Posted May 3, 2002 I wish Doug Hepburn had the chance to attamp a clean & press with the axle. I bet there are lifters today who could snatch the wheels, like lifters in the 90-super classes. Hossein Rezazadah & that Jaber guy could probably do it easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sybersnott Posted May 4, 2002 Share Posted May 4, 2002 Nathan, Doug Hepburn HAD the chance - and missed it. I agree with you.... we shall never know if he could or not (and he probably could). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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