Could Mark Henry Have Won WSM?

[@mitchellhooperstrongman]

Get a program written by me! moosecoaching.com Check out our PLUS SIZE shop, which is now available! www.lhbk.shop/collections/plus-size

[@Sugefut]

Aye, a Mark Henry vid... a true natty legend and legit one of the strongest men in history

[@assymcgee7217]

Howdy Moose , was that German dude you mentioned on atlas stone bit the vegan strongman? Maybe you could do a video on him & what a vegan diet "suitable" for strength would look like.

[@twistedstrength.]

There is an old video clip from a news station of Mark Henry slam dunking a basketball at 410 pounds. This was right before he went to the Olympics. At the time, he was the heaviest weightlifter to ever represent America. Very impressive that someone that heavy has the athleticism to do a slam dunk on an official basketball net, considering his height.

[@MrRabiddogg]

I saw that. he also could go in the ring when he was in his prime. it may be predetermined, but you still need a gas tank to do it.

[@richardsanchez5444]

That's insane I just saw that. How the fkk is that possible??

[@Tim82ATW]

Mark Henry is a beast!!!

[@loneponderer495]

He has done this later in life also, and I think he did it on video then also. It was something he did on a somewhat regular basis as the wrestlers went through a basketball playing faze as something to do for fun when being at the events before a show. The wrestlers were often expected to be at the arena hours before the show started.

[@grimreaper1542]

A proper interview with Mark would be really interesting

[@mtprsy]

This

[@yoeyyoey8937]

Nice

[@matthewstuart-douek5484]

Chris van vilet has done one 💪

[@joemama226]

Some of mark Henry’s gym lifts included a 1000 lb squat, 900+ lb deadlift, and 600 lb bench. That’s a 2500 lb total in training 😲

[@Bigramt]

He has deadlifted over 900 in comp along with a 950-970 squat and a 460 plus bench, done in 95 Guy's a beast

[@jazzyje5ter223]

I could be talking out of my ass and I haven’t watched the full video yet, but I think I’ve watched a yt short with Mark Henry saying he preferred to lift raw which is insane if true. Man was probably deadlifting close to 900 pounds raw lmao

[@abhinavkumar547]

he has deadlifted 924 lbs raw without straps in training and 903.9 lbs raw without straps on a stiff bar in full powerlifting meet ​@@jazzyje5ter223

[@Micheldied]

​@@jazzyje5ter223 he did lift raw. His comp numbers are raw.

[@Adam-bw6dj]

​@@jazzyje5ter223He deadlifted over 900lbs in a powerlifting comp, which was raw.

[@joshuaeason3426]

Mark has a presence on KZbin, I hope he sees this and y'all can do something together. He's a genuinely fantastic human being to be around. Also, watch some highlights of Mark wrestling. Don't sleep on his athleticism.

[@chanstoncochran]

Mark is like the Bo Jackson of strongman. Could have been an all-timer, or a very strong competitor consistently. But we'll never know and just have the stories to go off of

[@nathangerrard9792]

can't blame him though made more money than he ever would competing in powerlifting or strongman

[@shanedeiley6671]

I mean he accomplished a lot more than Bo in his areas of competition

[@danilomitic4357]

Honestly you have really good content in last couple weeks,keep going man

[@mitchellhooperstrongman]

I appreciate that! What video has been your favourite so far?

[@BuffPomsky]

@@mitchellhooperstrongman I'm not the commenter, but for me training vids are still the best. Vids with advice such as the reps, deadlifts, etc. The entertainment vids, commentary vids, and other vids are still fine, but the main reason I watch both you and Thor's vids are for training as it's pretty motivational for my own workouts too haha

[@danilomitic4357]

​​@@mitchellhooperstrongmanVideos about Nfl players and Andre Giant are really cool.Also your workouts.

[@JustinBaronofsky]

I agree the content has been great! I'd love another deadlift or squat video!

[@wa2k360]

@@mitchellhooperstrongmanI’m not the commenter either but I prefer the videos like this. It’s interesting to hear about people and stories I’ve never heard about/don’t know much about

[@effzett_]

Sounds like your background noise canceling / voice smoothing is a bit to sensitive, as it cuts your voice at the beginning and end of a sentence. Anyways, thanks for pumping out those videos while traveling. Good luck at the comp!

[@mitchellhooperstrongman]

Slight audio mishap before filming, you should have heard it before editing! Stay tuned for the next one.

[@rickymurray]

@@mitchellhooperstrongmanyou can hear it but it’s really not that bad

[@Hinodei]

​@@mitchellhooperstrongmanmakes the audio sound like ai lol

[@cyclonesfan9169]

I love these comparisons that you do. You seem fair and unbiased about them too.

[@JaceLovesStrength]

The fact that he walked into one of the main international comps, with zero experience, and beat the reigning WSM champion, the answer is, "Yes." Enough said. But if you want me to say more... let the man (who already beat the reigning World's Strongest Man) train specifically for strongman and his already impressive results are going to improve by a great deal. The man could have been a dominating force. I find it really shocking (and honestly completely wrong) that you had guys like Ronnie Coleman and Tom Haviland faring better than Mark Henry. And the question you posed was, "Could Mark Henry Have Won WSM?" You didn't ask, "Could Mark Henry Come In Off the Street WIthout Prep and Win WSM?" Those are two very different questions. That being said, I'm inclined to believe that if you win the Arnold's you can probably win ANY strongman competition, up to and including WSM. Am I guaranteeing a win? Definitely not, but that wasn't the question either. It was COULD HE? If you can win the Arnold's, you can win other competitions too.

[@Number69]

The thing is, Mark trained for strongman. He won the first ASC before it was as competitive as now and was a static strength monster... could he have beaten Marius etc at the time in WSM (as Andre was compared to Kaz)? I do not think so... I see the logic that someone who showed their hand in strongman and may well have been top 3 all day is more of a known quantity than someone who did not train strongman so could have been 1st or last

[@yoeyyoey8937]

I think he would win. He’s the most terrific athlete, if he trained strongman seriously and didn’t have to be tested then he would for sure be all up in there

[@bruuhhhh]

11:30 that was exactly Mitch's conclusion too though?

[@sbdftw1702]

@@Number69He really didn’t though. He left WWE for a brief period to train a couple of months for it, that’s not long at all if you know anything about competing.

[@sbdftw1702]

Great explanation. I also liked how Mitchell says you don’t have to win WSM to be considered the world’s strongman. Some normies would disagree but in this case you heard it straight from the horse’s mouth. I’ve even said that. WSM is the name of a competition, it doesn’t mean you’re the literal world’s strongest man.

[@souravsingh999]

Mark Henry will always be the first WSM for us 90s kids.

[@killamackay]

I was 1990, loved wwf/when, but the 1st wsm winner I remember was zydrunas savickas

[@xXJeReMiAhXx99]

​@@killamackaynah man mariusz, he was the man, 5 time

[@jacobgrzanowicz2337]

But he was never the WSM. Never even competed

[@matthewainslie3092]

90s has to be Magnus ver Magnusson

[@ESP500]

In the wwe his gimmick was world strongest man. So for kids watching wwe in the late 90’s or early 00’s he was to them the world’s strongest man.

[@miked2721]

I worked out at the same gym (51st Gym in Austin) as him when I was a junior at UT in 1996/97. Dude would come in and warm up doing db rows with 200s. Super nice and funny. My thighs were the size of his forearms. There’s strong then there’s Mark Henry strong.

[@TehRealChruZ]

Mark was one of those guys who didn't just break records, he absolutely demolished them. Like when he became the first man to one-hand clean the Thomas Inch dumbbell and then pressed it for the hell of it

[@user-sx6ck2zq1y]

WWE did him Dirty along with Big Show,they should have used them as a monsters not as a toys,being beaten by everyone.

[@jaydog77]

Well they did play their roles extremely well both champions but were just never the most entertaining people. Aswell as a 230lbs trained fighter would beat a large untrained man in a fight ( I know they are not trained fighters but it's how the WWE portrayed it, David vs Goliath situation

[@jd9119]

The problem with Mark Henry was it took him 20 years to do good promos and learn to put on a good match (with his moveset).

[@nathangerrard9792]

@@jaydog77 there is actually a few trained fighters amateur wrestlers are common and you've got an Olympic gold medalist in Kurt Angle plus ufc champion in Ken Shamrock

[@JimmyJones-w3p]

What brings more views though? You just want to see Goliath stomping David again and again? 😂

[@yoeyyoey8937]

@@JimmyJones-w3pno but they coulda done better. Pro wrestling Defo drops the ball on a lot of great guys

[@dgthe3]

One of the things that people tend not to realize with pro-wrestling is that it takes a lot of cardio and endurance. At the end of a 15 minutes match, you still need to be able to lift and throw and do whatever to your opponent in a safe, controlled manner. Its not exactly the same sort of thing as blitzing on a 1 minute event, but there is a certain sort of stamina that he'd have which a standard power lifter wouldn't.

[@Philo68]

Mark’s Inch dumbbell lift is to be saluted. The man was/is a complete Titan! A generous and respectful analysis of what’s what - from someone in the know. Thanks. P.S. Edit for autocorrect - AGAIN!!!

[@stephenp4563]

Mark's fake retirement speech is still my favourite wrestling promo of all time.

[@Peep24]

Hell ya

[@joshuaeason3426]

He still had a lot left in the tank.

[@jd9119]

And then he inducted John Cena into the Hall of Pain

[@CannibalShadow]

The salmon jacket just added to everything 🤣

[@DrewxGaming]

He was so underrated on the mic

[@joshfuller5076]

Mark is quick with an observation. Was on the Jericho Cruise a couple years ago. I usually don't pay extra for photos with folks. I did for him. I was wearing my Strong and Pretty shirt, on purpose, he immediately upon seeing it said "Oh shit, at least one of us is!" Super nice guy.

[@Coach_BigMac]

I'm West Texas and I competed in a high school powerlifting competition in which Mark Henry was there. He's 2yrs older than me, he was beating grown men with ease with his numbers. While the rest of us lifted with the high schoolers, Mark lifted with and against the adults and smoked them. My uncle Robert Patterson was both OD Wilson and Steve Goggins training partners and best friends. They all agreed that Mark was the strongest human being they ever met and saw compete. Even OD was impressed with Mark. And unlike every other legendary strength athlete, OD, Steve and my uncle all agreed that Mark was natural for most (if not ALL) his career. Not only is Mark a helluva strength athlete, he's an incredible person. His son is a freakishly strong kid too.

[@bryan-matthewmckeen5310]

OD Wilson is on my Mount Rushmore of strength athletes

[@adking18]

Theres absolutely no doubt mark could have won WSM. With what he achieved across powerlifting, weightlifting and strongman being drug tested the entire time he may well be the strongest man who has ever lived. Outrageous grip strength (thomas dumbbell pressed overhead with one hand), outrageous athleticism (he was dunking a basketball at 400lbs when he was an olympic athlete) and much better stamina than anyone would give him credit for (his wrestling career required him to go for way longer than any strongman event ever will and it wasn't like he just meandered around at a slow pace, he worked hard in there for 15 mins+)

[@yoeyyoey8937]

Yup

[@siffoine]

In WWE he must have had quite an aerobic endurance

[@danb2083]

This is a no brainer. He beat the reigning WSM Sven Karlsen, and future WSM Phil Pfister at the Arnold's.

[@jacobivy2854]

Except they don’t use the same lifts…

[@lonestar2495]

@@jacobivy2854he still beat them you put him at worlds he win

[@jimmyr545]

WSM generally has lighter weight for more reps and more mobility than the Arnold's. Mark could have been better at Arnold's events. There's definitely a difference in the competitions. Look at Mariusz - won WSM 5x but never did that well at the Arnold's.

[@Micheldied]

​@@jimmyr545 I agree with everything you said, but just want to note that Mark's mobility was very good.

[@holt2706]

Would love to see you interview mark,love when he talks about strength! Vince actually said if you don’t win the Arnold don’t come back to the WWE and there’s also a dumbbell feat of strength of removing a dumbbell that was made for mark too heavy and impossible to remove from its box 💪

[@DrKoopPhD]

The other thing to take into consideration for Henry is the era he would have competed in. If we give him '97-'02 for a six-year competition range, WSM was won by Jouko Ahola/Magnus Samuelsson/Ahola/Janne Virtanen/Karlsen and then Pudz' era fully kicks off. Outside of Samuelsson it was an era of lighter athletes across more mobile events. There's no doubt that Henry is a static monster and would be the static monster of that time, but as we saw with OD Wilson that doesn't guarantee a win. Combine that with event inexperience, how much would he be competing outside of WSM, and you've got a recipe for someone who could finish on the top half of the table, but might not be able to seal the deal. I think 1999, with events of 363kg Super Yoke, Max Deadlift, 300kg Arm over Arm, Stones, Plane Pull, 121kg Viking Press, and a closing medley would have given Henry his best chance to win. He cleans up on the two fully static events and has a good chance of good finishes in the others. At the very least a podium is very much in play.

[@GuyBuckton]

Really cool video, thank you. I agree with your analysis. One thing that I think is interesting is that as a pro wrestler he would have had a decent level of cardio and mobility, I wonder if this would have transferred across to strong man - no idea how you quantify it. Have a look at another wrestler, Paul Wight aka The Big Show, particularly his early years in WCW - another giant a la Andre...

[@davisjohnson7691]

There’s no telling what Mark could’ve been. His Arnold win was only 4 months of training. Meaning, what he did was only scratching the surface of his potential. He could’ve won at least 1 WSM, I’m sure of that. Or at the very least, he would’ve been a top 3 placer consistently. But it’s hard to say, his era was incredible in terms of the talent in it. Big Z, Mariusz Pudzianowski, etc.

[@joshuadiaz8986]

Mark Henry is extremely underrated

[@gabeschoenfeld317]

Oh shit watup

[@nathangerrard9792]

always seemed like a really cool humble guy as well it's crazy how many giant human beings have the kindest most humble attitudes

[@yoeyyoey8937]

Def my fav athlete

[@TheSophisticatedSavage]

No, he isn't.

[@doctorgorgomel]

I think he's pretty well rated. Evidently from all the vids and conversations popping up from time to time.

[@Vipinnnn17]

You can also argue that Mark was supposedly training for Arnold for months with the kit that was gonna be used at the show, Whereas for everyone else it was a first time on an Axle.

[@abhinavkumar547]

No not months , he did 6 weeks event specific training for Apollon's axle on the replica.

[@dsj859]

You are doing great content and well done on the SMOE victory… that said, I think that him being a professional wrestler for 20 years shows that muscular endurance, mobility, and anaerobic capacity wouldn’t be a weakness of his. In all fairness, it may actually be his strength, considering the amount of time he was spending in the ring playing house shows, PPV, and televised events in roughly the same timeframe as the WSM you’re comparing him to.

[@thomastennison852]

Thanks for doing this episode. I grew up with Mark and he’s such a great person. Our small town has always been so proud of what he’s accomplished in his life.

[@gsftbeast9761]

Mark Henry’s the most gifted strength athlete ever. Imagine mark with Brian/thor mindset and special supplements

[@Jacksonboe21]

He won the Arnold going away against top strongmen of the time. He could have absolutely won WSM

[@TheSaxon.]

Not much mobility at the Arnold though. WSM requires you to be an athlete too.

[@davisjohnson7691]

@@TheSaxon.Mark was an incredible athlete. He’d have no issue with that

[@kizzmitten1]

I love how you broke down Marks potential. Great stat relevance. Also, very nice of you to bring awareness to other strongmen. Thx Mitch!

[@AbsoRuud76]

Looks like I got part 1 of my three part wish. Obvously Mark could have won WSM, if he trained for it. He wrestled in WWE, that takes stamina. He also was a leam mean dancing machine. Mark is one of the most legendary strong men ever. Next, John Cena and Kane. :)

[@bammatthews9092]

You named his high school numbers. But not his world record powerlifting totals. 1000 plus pound squat.

[@Sldumas1983]

🫡 no doubt, I used to watch Magnus Samuelson back in the day the dude was a Legend. I would have loved to see Mark Henry in the world’s strongest man competition.

[@jk-tn8ry]

Something that's not mentioned is that he trained under Dr Terry Todd, who set up the first Arnold's and had the advance being able to train on the equipment.

[@abhinavkumar547]

That's fair when u look all the other guys who were training and practicing for strongman events for years and Mark never did any strongman prior to that point. That was still disadvantageous to mark. Mark trained on the replica of Apollon's axle for 6 weeks and he already was clean and pressing a heavier , 400 lbs axle in the training . That's the weight they use currently in asc. In farmer's walk , Dr. Todd let Henry try and practice them ,because like every other guy who was about to compete in that competition, he never did any farmer's walk. The other two events were deadlift and Hummer push. He was obviously a very strong deadlifter already and vehicle pushing or pulling is the standard strongman event , which is done by every strongman but mark didn't train or practice for that. And his natural raw strength was beyond every one else in that competition as he lifted Thomas inch db upto stomach area whereas none of them , except Pphister who rested the db on his knees and push press it and as a result was given no lift , could budget that dumbbell.

[@jk-tn8ry]

@abhinavkumar547 Good points made, but I still feel was set up to win the first Arnold's.

[@jk-tn8ry]

@@abhinavkumar547 plus 4 static events with a very high crossover from weightlifting and powerlifting

[@abhinavkumar547]

@@jk-tn8ry incorrect. Read Dr. Todd's article on the first edition of Arnold's. I can't name that article here as KZbin has this bad habit of deleting my comments whenever I take names.

[@Jacksonboe21]

Hey Mitch, by your calculations this wouldn’t have given mark the win (unless he won the event outright) but you forgot the carry and drag event of 2001 WSM. Opening event. Also you’ve got to add another point per place in each event due to 11 guys being in the final.

[@Nirsterkur]

12:14 Mitch don't forget Mikhail Koklyaev.

[@user-strength10]

bro's got a 2500lb overall in his prime and was the first to lift the thomas iinch in over one hudred years, i've seen plenty of mark henry's wwe matches (though scripted) to know this dood had plenty in the tank (the amount of PT WWE wrestlers at the top level go through is insame, yes scripted but they still need to get the job done), he would be in the top 5 these days (probably over taking luke stoltman and and evan singleton)

[@VTPSTTU]

Thanks for the video. You produce some cool content.

[@stephenthompson8840]

I gotta say I think he would have the speed and endurance, just off of how taxing pro wrestling is. I think he would at least podium if he walked up. But like u said a good year or 2 of training he was taking the #1 spot

[@kappaferret6052]

Could Mitchell Hooper have won the Magnus Ver Magnusson classic?

[@DavidVirtanen]

No

[@Poundcakebowler]

2002 Arnold. The only person to lift the apalon wheel 😊 He beat the reigning WSM and I believe several of the top 5.

[@lazur1]

Hey Mitch: Who's the best strongman-marathoner? :^)

[@NathanRhysGeorge]

About his endurance around the time he won the Arnold's: he had already been a wrestler for 6 years. Even big guys in WWE have to have a good level of muscular endurance to be able to do even an 8 minute match (fairly short). He won the Arnold's on a couple of months of training. He was not a strongman at the time, he was firmly a pro wrestler. His endurance will be better than you think.

[@lazur1]

Mark's always been strongman-built. (Others began relatively lanky.) Thus, His lifetime-natural claim's eminently believable, which makes him *_world's strongest natural man in modern history_* .

[@Iamtongue]

I saw a footage of mark Henry dunking he built different

[@jasonlloyd3335]

I find it a bit odd his athleticism and stamina shown In WWE wasn't taken into account. The guy could go and go long. Mitch kept bringing up stamina as an issue but I'm not to sure it would of been a problem.

[@bigtank1982]

I got hit by the by the unsub bug! Glad I noticed, don’t wanna be missing your content.

[@Training4Life-q4w]

Seeing as you brought up Mark Henry, do you think you could clean and press the inch dumbbell with one arm as Mark did. Would be nice to see a video of you trying that.

[@yoeyyoey8937]

Exactly what I’m thinking

[@lomachenko5074]

I think mitch could comfortably do that

[@Training4Life-q4w]

@@lomachenko5074 Mark didn't even do it comfortably. Plus he is the only person in the world to ever do it. Mitch could definitely pick it up easily, but cleaning it is a different story.

[@Whocares66672]

​@@Training4Life-q4wmark is not the only person. Bill kaz cleaned and press the thomas inch as well. There's photos of it online. They are the only two however

[@DennisGr]

imagine the immense honor when mitch hooper say yeah you could have done it with 24 months training probably. that is high praise for mark and rightfully so, his overhead pressing always impressed me most, it came effortless and without much leg drive.

[@LatimusChadimus]

I really enjoy hearing him get interviewed these days. I miss seeing him perform.

[@Some_Dude_88]

Great Question, No. Also Svend Karlsen should have won the 02' Arnold Strongman

[@lloyd011721]

in terms of what ifs... i think mark henry was the strongest man to ever walk the face of the earth. if he would have not done wwe he could have put up so many world records

[@abhinavkumar547]

True

[@IbrahimAl-Khwarizmi]

Mark Henry could move pretty well tho, i don’t think hed be as bad at the moving events as u say, He could still dunk a ball when he was at the height of his power in oly lifting

[@M1keDaly]

I think I'm most impressed by his high school numbers. To be so young and lift such heavy loads. Much like my opinion of how Andre the Giant would have done, I think the speed events would have been his bane. The "My god, y'all have to chill out a bit." comment gave me a good laugh man, thanks for that.

[@rickymurray]

Andre was skinny back then, zero chance he gets near these numbers

[@Psalm_107.31]

Andre would not have

[@yoeyyoey8937]

He’s a fast runner tho. He did wrestling, I’m sure he’d have no problem with speed events if he trained

[@IbrahimAl-Khwarizmi]

@@yoeyyoey8937yea, he was handtimed at 5.2 second 40 yard dash and sometimes lower, he can probably run faster than any strongman of his size and some lighter

[@mjareacts2731]

With all due respect Mitchell Hooper clearly didn't know more Henry back in the day, but as an actual friend of Mark Henry I can promise you he was extremely mobile back in the day. I've been friends with Mark since the '90s, and what slowed him down outside of aging was knee injuries that he had sustained doing his pro wrestling career. Mark is in the process of training his son right now, so you may be eating your words one day when a Henry takes the title of WSM.

[@propain_accessories]

The man could go in the ring, don't forget, he's got a lot left in the tank. I really don't see endurance being that big of an issue for him, or mobility for that matter. Mark Henry had jumps and agility no man that big should have.

[@BroCactus]

Do Kirill Sarychev. 900 pound squat at age 19. 600 pound bench press in high school. 728 WR at age 23. And a dozen other wordly feats

[@RMILLSMMA]

I think I'd put prime Henrys pure athletic ability against any current WSM and I think he'd be competitive, dude was a pro wrestler and moved super well. Sure he was able to dunk a basketball at some crazy weight too! 😮 Side notes these hypothetical videos are super fun! 👍🏼👍🏼

[@dakotafish9804]

Mitch, awesome video. Another athlete you could do is Mikhail koklyaev. Arguably one of the greatest strength athletes ever, just like Mark!

[@howy3333]

The craziest thing about Mark is that he may have been legitimately lifetime natty. I know this seems crazy but his lifts were insane in high school where I assume he was natty. He was tested stringently for the olympics many times and even for the wwe. His strength never really dropped at any time. This to me makes Mark potentially the strongest natty human ever!

[@dillonmcannnell]

mark is not slow, that man can move like a 200lb man watch him in the ring dude was a freak!

[@littlethuggie]

Imagine WSM being who is actually the strongest

[@japanesecar1501]

He wanted to squat 1100 raw, and to deadlift 1000 if possible. Recently he said he would indeed be good for the 1100 in time, and that he would manage a 925 deadlift for sure(he already lifted 903.9, but a meet is a meet, and higher BW is also what it is, his goals as stated by Terry when Mark was young, were 1100 and 1000). I think that with time he had enough for the lifts, and some 650, or better bench. That would be a 2750 lbs All raw, and natural. Mark is the first to clean and press the Inch dumbell aswell, he almost did it the first time touching it at the ceremony of ASC 2002, where he was pulling it almost armpit high, but he wasn´t rotating it/making it move where it needs to. While he said he would do it next year(which he did, the Met-Rx wearing Mark on video was 2003), he surely had enough to do it back then anyway. At the same occasion Phil Pfister picked it up, but he couldn´t pull it that high. He made a show of picking it up, setting it on the knee, and the eventually getting to the shoulder and push pressing. Mark is one of a kind, even to someone like Eddie, Brian, Thor, Biby, Z or Kaz. He is Big, and rotund, with the proper organics bolted on. Mark is the most amazing kind of athlete, and as far as "obvious strength" and overall strength, the freakiest strong man of modern history. Ed is awesome, Biby, Thor are awesome, but Mark would be 520lbs at "Biby shape". Did I say he could dunk at 6´2"ish and a bit over 370? A 5.2 40yd dash with little running? Mark would be good for 4.9s or 4.8-somes.

[@shanedeiley6671]

Yeah Mitch is really underrating his athleticism

[@japanesecar1501]

@@shanedeiley6671 I undersatnd where Mitch is coming from, just the HighSchool lifts "could" say all that needs to be said, but the lifts after that still reflect the same freakiness, so I was tempted to add that on, the records in PL that he managed in spurts of training hard in between the Olympics..then the wrestling, then the freak ASC win... Mitch has already done a good bit about the sports, and Mark was a big part of the landscape and tone used anyway. I still felt compelled to be perhaps a bit onbboxious and "obvious", that Mark was right about the strongest man of all time in the 90s, and right after 2000, and he was taking the loooong way, as far as improving his lifting(Which Mitchell also mentioned). Mark had a great shape, and then there was the size. If Mark wore and "L" shirt, an "M" would be kinda loose on Eddie. Mark is in his own weight category beyond the "usual" HW strongman. Potential wise, he is a true SHW competing against 105ers that have the boon of a 48 hour weigh in. Overall Mitchell was IMO very fair and accurate and considerate with how he saw Mark perform in a competition such as WSM as he was back then, I think he quite nailed it as far as facts, though "my nitpicky ass" would see Mark "in the right mindset" do better in farmers, as Mark could move like "any" 340lb strongman could, and at 380 to 400ish. He could have been 5 months away from winning such a show, or ze-ro. Perhaps Mitch accurately "preceeds" my "unneeded" additions, but Mark was just never refined in what he was doing, and what he did, was working for him for what he did. I believe with more casual failing and less "strength pandering". he would ahve done much better at the Olympics. He was WAY too strong and focused on that, there, for what he was trying to do. Personally, I would bump his ability to win "lighter" WSMs a bit. To me, it seems more about properly pacing himself, than not being fit enough, and he would never be weaker than the opposition at just about any shape he would bring, even if he were to drop below 370. His SM would be dependent like the Olympics. Mark lifted his weights with such "ripping it" margins, that he was definitely the strongest lifter in the Olympics or the ASC. As good as Mark was, he has kind of compartmentalized himself into "just ripping", "just dominating" and built his success around that, for better and worse. The showmanship "machismo" getting in the way of properly soaking it in. It is hard to believe a man like him could not snatch 450lbs after half the time trained, or to C&J 255-260kg. A good general athlete already has a Lot of their Oly work behind themselves. I won´t lobby for saying Mark was "not into it", or "was intimidated", but he surely left a lot on the table doing "look at me(am happy)" kind of "raawr" lifting. Once a guy like that has confidence in his lifting, he should have been unstoppable even in Oly lifting. He had the strongest front squat by a mile. Strongest deads/pulls by a mile, but on the day in the second Olympics, he still looked 10 months in. Now, IDK how much time he really spent training for the Olympics, but he must have been eyeing something else, or been too apprehensive of letting PL and his perceived status get away from him/ or was just too ingrained into certain functioning- the coaches wanted him, knew he was prodigiously\ unbelievably strong, but doing psychologically taxing and purposeful training seemed to me too removed from the soup that Mark was a part of. He did atleast a 770 front squat, and Tobias Alder who is a pretty superb and knowledgeable lifter(not a teammate or anything, but a superb natty powerlifter), had said that, as far as he knows, Mark´s best FS is 832 lbs. Nobody in the Olympics could do 770 FS at any point of their career, probably ever(before Atlanta 96 and Sydney, guys like Taranenko or Kurlovich, Nerlinger or other didn´t quite reach that in any strength prep- those were the strongest lifters of the 80s). Mark still was improving dramatically as far as the strength base. He was still prime 20s then. Not doing a 210kg+ snatch and a 260kg some C&J is almost "WTF dude" level of "how did that happen". He picked that 220 kg some C&J like he was going to rotate it 90 degrees clasp it Conan style, and slam sleeve first it into the podium.

[@abhinavkumar547]

@@japanesecar1501 832 lbs front squat has come from Mark Henry himself last year in an interview. Tobias Alder just repeated what Mark said , though Mark's wikipedia has his best front squat as 770 lbs.

[@japanesecar1501]

@@abhinavkumar547 Coolio. I had an itch that Mark did atleast 800. I think the 770 PR is true for doing two(probably). I have a vague sense this was cleared up in some way older interview from 2010s, or older.

[@littlemoo52]

Super total…. unmatched (squat, bench, deadlift, c&j, snatch) Inch dumbbell Strongman feats Could dunk a basketball….athleticism. Absolutely the could have won WSM.

[@buuddha77]

Mark Henry is a living legend, pure and simple.

[@Coach_BigMac]

You forgot to mention that during the hummer push at the Arnold, they forgot to take the E-brake off for his attempt and he still won the event.

[@abhinavkumar547]

He didn't win the Hummer push event at Arnold's. He was 4th in that event. They deflated the tires for Hummer for every strongman competitor there , not just for mark , to make it harder for them to push.

[@ScotB-j7o]

Cool video, and cool shirt!

[@shades4313]

I saw an interview with Mark henry and he said his best squat was 1006. I’m not sure if that was raw or equipped, but I’m guessing it was raw. Which would make 700lbs/318kg around 70%. So yea I’d give him 10+ reps on that

[@abhinavkumar547]

He has squatted 1000 lbs 3 times in training with his pb being 1006 lbs raw with knee wraps. He has stated he hated lifting with equipments and wasn't using any equipments while lifting except knee wraps for squat. The only time he used bench shirt was when he was 18 years old and it gave him 40 lbs on bench press but it felt uncomfortable so he decided to completely abandon the equipments.

[@shades4313]

@@abhinavkumar547 nice, thanks for the info. I figured his 1006 had to have been raw. Or raw with wraps I guess, but I still consider that raw if there’s no single or multi ply suit being used

[@michaelrabich9635]

Mitch what are your thoughts on Mikhail Koklyaev, he was a more accomplished weightlifter than Mark.

[@JohnSmith-wo2fz]

Can you do a video on.. comparing strongmen from early 2000's to current ones. But! Yes their numbers won't be as big, but I'd like to see why the numbers aren't as big. What are the main differences. Yes, diet, sports science has come a long way. But what is that 'way' that's been traveled.

[@yoeyyoey8937]

It’s just competition over time. People aren’t liftin big weights out of nowhere, they’re trying to outlift the last guy

[@JohnSmith-wo2fz]

@@yoeyyoey8937 So your excuse is that modern strongmen are simply 'trying harder'. You should go outside. Get some sun.

[@noahc8997]

Gear

[@MuhammadAhmedMuddie]

Analyse John Cena, Kane, Batista, Big Show and others.

[@Sugefut]

Respect for doing a Mark Henry video and this guy was 100% natty, competed in drug-tested events and left the sport because of the rampant PED abuse. I'll never leave another comment about PEDs on this channel again, Mark Henry and Paul Anderson (Paul Anderson was the reason the Russians started taking steroids).

[@DavidVirtanen]

nAtTy 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@Sugefut]

@@DavidVirtanen Yep, only competed in tested competitions.

[@abhinavkumar547]

​@@DavidVirtanenYes he was. Go cry somewhere else

[@frankzed7684]

Love the content lately. I don’t have a favorite honest, I love it all. One question: are you planning on going for your Doctorate?

[@boo-hoo972]

It’s still insane to me that Mark Henry was able to dunk not saying he not athlete but with his size and weight that’s insane

[@tentoesdownchristianity]

Does anyone else here know who Jonathan Ogden is? He was the Ravens left tackle. 6'9 345 lb a very good shot putter and unbelievably fast and athletic for that size. Had he competed in strongman I'm quite sure he would have competed somewhere between 390 and 450. I know that's a big range and it would have limited his athleticism but we're talking about Giants here

[@Icannottolerateit]

Ogden is a freak. But when you’re making top tier offensive lineman money you don’t have much of a reason to do strongman

[@mbutts255]

@@Icannottolerateit and Larry Allen is probably THE NFL player to say could've dominated strongman or any strength sport

[@tentoesdownchristianity]

@Icannottolerateit that is true and it's a shame because my favorite sport by far is MMA, but strongman is second. The NFL and to a lesser extent NBA and MLB had some guys I thought might could do well in either mma or strongman

[@IbrahimAl-Khwarizmi]

Or Andrew Billings, who is not as tall as Ogden, but broke Mark Henrys HS records

[@tentoesdownchristianity]

@IbrahimAl-Khwarizmi yeah I forgot about him but he's a unit he would definitely be a static monster. I like to think about the hypotheticals like the guys who were very strong before strong men really kicked off. Do you know the boxer Primo Carnera from the thirties and forties he was a tank of a man and probably never lifted weights a day in his life. If there had been competitions at the time and he decided to do it or he decided to really trained for it I can't imagine a ton of people would be better at the sport of strong man than him. Back in that day I mean

[@matthewshiell822]

The one thing about mark i always respected about his competitions he competed in is that they were tested for steroids. Which mark never took. He wasnt gonna lose to a guy on drugs when in reality the guy without the drugs couldnt lift close to what mark could.

[@walkerdumontj]

Great topic love the breakdown. I think you may underestimate Mark's aerobic ability. But I don't think you're observation is far off.

[@CJ-gi1jh]

I think you're down playing how good Henry was at the Olympic lifts. That shows a level of athleticism that most strongmen, including you, just don't possess. Henry being a top Olympic lifter, powerlifter, and Strongman at the same time, while not taking massive amounts of steroids 😉 Cements him as one of the strongest ever, easily. It's not like you take PEDs, right? 🤣

[@adamc8409]

He once ripped a chain off that was supposed to be pre cut but an oversight occurred and the chain was real.

[@tyrelharris1615]

Interesting fact; the WWE would’ve fired Mark if he didn’t win the Arnold Classic. Vince said there’s no room in his company for the World’s SECOND Strongest Man

[@abhinavkumar547]

To answer your question, Mark Henry would have won the strongman competition that actually tests the pure brute strength, rather than the combination of pure strength, explosive strength, strength endurance, agility, coordination etc like world's strongest man competition. The heavier the weights would have been , the more chances it would have been for Mark to win the overall competition, that's why he was suited for Arnold strongman classic.His rivarly with Big Z would have been a treat to see at Arnold's during mid 2000s. Here r some of the speed and athleticism stats of mark Henry that people are not aware of : Running a 40 yard dash in 5.2 seconds at bodyweight of 370 lbs , broad jump of 10 feet , vertical of 32 inches which was not surprising as he could easily dunk basketball even at 410 lbs bodyweight and was able to cart wheel in the air like how Iron biby is capable to do now. If that is not athletic, specially at his bodyweight I don't know what is the meaning of athleticism. His explosiveness and athleticism were the reason he was able to transition from powerlifting to olympic weightlifting in only 10 months. He lacked really good technique for clean and jerk and relied more on his brute strength as he had trouble splitting his feet. There have been very few guys in the world in history that have seen succesfull in transitioning from powerlifting to weightlifting ( or if there r any ?) and very few guys that have been successful at the elite levels in both powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting ( Mikhail Koklaev is another one) and then he trained for only like 4 months and beat the then reigning world's strongest man competition winner Svend Carlsen, future world's strongest winner and the no. 1 ranked strongman competitor of Usa at that time Phil Pphister , America's strongest man of 97 - Mark Philippee etc who all were doing and practicing strongman for many years , at the inaugural Arnold's strongman classic , that made Henry technically the world's strongest man at that time. World's strongest man competition specially at that time period was never testing the actual world's strongest man anyways. His powerlifting best lifts in training were 601 lbs raw bench press , 924 lbs raw without straps deadlift and 1006 lbs raw with wraps squat alongwith his best competition lifts of 518.1 lbs raw bench press, 903.9 lbs raw without straps deadlift done on stiff bar ( the world record in raw deadlift from 1995-05 in tested competition as well as in untested competition) and 953.5 lbs raw with knee wraps squat with very solid depth ( the world record in raw with wraps squat from 1995-10) and has 2336.9 lbs raw with wraps powerlifting total ( which was the world record in tested meet and 4th highest in untested meet at that time). Add to that he has done 832 lbs front squat which is 2nd best to my knowledge after Jezza Uepa's 903 lbs lift.

[@Jac833]

What about the thomas inch dumbbell, still not that many people have lifted it (think u should have added it part of the consideration)

[@jvette38]

Nathan Jones Australian. Won the highland games after getting out of prison. Would definitely be worth the video

[@AbirZenith]

I would truly appreciate an analysis on Derek Stoneman

[@DavidVirtanen]

You Mean Derek Poundstone Right?

[@phyrexianagent4655]

Always love this style of video, it would be really cool to see you make one on an old time strongman like Paul anderson. Good luck at the log lift world champs!

[@JoeTaylor-w2i]

I would like to see one on Hugo Girard. I met Douglas Edmunds in Scotland and he said Hugo was the strongest man to never win World Strongest Man…

[@captaintaco979]

I think what also makes Mark’s strength so insane is the high probability of him being 100% drug free. He only competed in drug tested competitions, and openly lamented the high drug use. If it comes out that he was doping, I’ll delete the comment.

[@Thermolizer]

I honestly believe Mark Henry is the strongest true natural athlete of all time. I actually believe his natural claims after looking into his progression and development from a young kid. Some people are simply built different and Mark is one of them. He could dunk a basketball at 410lbs that's absolutely insane.

[@DavidVirtanen]

nAtUrAL 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@Thermolizer]

@@DavidVirtanen In the history of mankind there exists someone who is the strongest natural person of all time. I believe that person is Mark Henry. Guys like Eddie Hall, Thor, Brian Shaw etc were not naturally big guys, their bulk came after they started juicing. Mark was big and strong since he was a kid and steadily progressed over the course of decades.

[@abhinavkumar547]

​@@DavidVirtanenR u a mark or something?

[@TallMidwestCyclist]

Wouild be interesting to see your take on Olivier Richters who is the worlds tallest bodybuilder.

[@cammackk]

I think it would be cool if you analysed lighter lifters too, and used comps like OSG to see if they could be competitive, be interesting to see analysis of a guy like John Haack for example

[@christopherdetourbet725]

I'll say it again. If you put Prime Mark Henry in todays age with standard of training, diet, recovery etc. He's the strongest man of all time.

[@TDHOFBAMA]

I think with 2-3 more years of good training he could have won. He had the freakish strength but just lacked a tad of mobility. He could be a top 3 contender almost every year though if he lifetime trained for WSM I think.

[@howardmenkes2926]

Yes, and his record proves it. And passed every drug test.

[@georgepalmer6762]

Mark was waaay ahead if everyone else heading into Atlanta Olympic but hurt his back. He also had several years of wrestling before he won the Arnold that would beat him up

[@atodaso1668]

Mark Henry is a legend. He still has records that stand today

[@Jeff-cs5vq]

With a few years of specific training, I agree he could definately win. He is simply a freak.

[@robfitfifty50]

Analyse Manfred Hoeberl. He of the 25.75 inch arms please.