The Legendary Strength of Bronze Era Lifters

An exploration of the most legendary feats of strength from the Bronze Era.
The Mighty Atom: • The Mighty Atom & The ...
Milo Steinborn: • The First Man to Squat...
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TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Intro
00:52 - Hermann Görner
04:04 - Katie Brumbach (Sandwina)
05:58 - Louis Cyr
07:42 - Louis Uni (Apollon)
09:27 - Arthur Saxon
12:14 - Honorable Mentions

[@NattyLifeYT]

Would you guys like to see a full video about the lives of any of the strongmen covered in this video? Let me know…

[@MidwestPicker]

If you haven't already, please consider making a video about Paul Anderson, strongest man in the world from the 1950's

[@honestlynate7922]

All of them 💪

[@gunjanyadav5639]

For sure.

[@pagangoat1]

Yes we would

[@ThePitPony]

I remember seeing a photograph of WSM Jon Pall Sigmarsson with a 580lbs one armed deadlift on an Olympic bar back in the old "strength athlete" magazine in the 1980's No straps,belt only. 👍

[@antoniobuendiacano287]

Louis Cyr was so legendary that the trophy for the Arnold Strongman Classic is a 8kg sculpture of him

[@martkart5858]

Finally some respect for louis cyr 💪

[@elmaquiavelico5709]

Not an old school guy, but personally Dennis Rogers lifting a refrigerator with one finger is one of the most impressive feats of strength that I ever witness. I would love a video of him by the way :)

[@jeanbaumgartner4052]

THE SAME HERE ABOUT DENNIS ROGERS!😮😮😮😮😮

[@glynhannaford7332]

I would very much like to see that bud!

[@NtrosXo]

That sounds fake

[@sebtessier5023]

@@NtrosXo Luis-cyr lifting 536 pounds one finger is legit...but a fridge not?!?

[@NtrosXo]

@@sebtessier5023you mean the painting?

[@limo-swine6537]

Pre steroid natties setting records which are still difficult for the current Peak genetics and juiced to the gills strongman.

[@matrixyst]

goes to show that nothing matches insane dedication and hard work over a long period of time! can't juice your way into that :P

[@someguy892]

Those movements were just as much Technique as physical strength.

[@Bloodnightchylde]

Peak genes mean nothing if your using crappy training methods

[@thatoneguyencrypition2719]

Goes to show how much micro plastics have affected the average dude and gal.

[@NtrosXo]

@@thatoneguyencrypition2719 what is gal?

[@biohazard9503]

That sledgehammer stunt has got to be the one of the most badass strongman stunts ever pictured, amazing photo

[@mario8833]

If you succeed, it's a strongman lift. If you fail, you can say you were filming a new jackass movie

[@honestlynate7922]

This is quickly become one of my favorite channels

[@NattyLifeYT]

Glad you’re enjoying the videos bro :) thank you for your support

[@marcusmorrow3900]

katie brumbach was over 200lbs and looked gorgeous. her waist was so slim. I would love to see what inspired her at the time. The people you talk about on this channel is more amazing than stan Lee's superhuman show.

[@marcmcphee]

Love this content! Natty for life! ❤️💪🏋️🤩

[@NattyLifeYT]

Thank you for your support brother, it means a lot :)

[@Pantelifts10]

Yeah buddy

[@panqueque445]

It's amazing what these people achieved back then. From what I've learned from this channel, these guys had nothing. No supplements (at least not BS ones), no steroids, sometimes not even gym equipment, no special diets. Even in the beginnings of the silver era, they at least had the experience from the bronze era. It's incredible what these guys achieved with basically nothing.

[@ordinaryretrogamer6944]

They had sky high natural testosterone levels, organic food and clean water.

[@panqueque445]

@@ordinaryretrogamer6944 That has been so thoroughly debunked, it's not even worth it to bring up.

[@ordinaryretrogamer6944]

@@panqueque445 post some links buddy

[@theangrycows]

@@ordinaryretrogamer6944 we have organic food and clean water too

[@ordinaryretrogamer6944]

@@theangrycows are you American? Because if so no you dont

[@HerculesFit]

Great video bro! The lifts these people could do are really mind boggling, especially the Herman Görner guy 💪

[@NicolaiTschenow7530]

Imagine what could have been achieved if fitness/lifting was mainstream back then, also think about all the impressive physiques that likely walked around, but has never been seen since because they didn't have access to a camera.

[@GoldenEraBookworm]

Fantastic video, really enjoyed it

[@NattyLifeYT]

Much appreciated brother 💪

[@TheAvgJay]

Hey, glad to see Louis cyr in this video! A fellow Quebecois! ❤

[@NattyLifeYT]

He was a true legends bro!

[@samv6767]

* Tabarnacking intensifies *

[@TheAvgJay]

@@samv6767 🤣🤣

[@gunjanyadav5639]

Thank you man for such great videos. It definitely inspires many like me who want to achieve something great while being natural. Natty life rocks 👊

[@Denmirden]

It's useless and even stupid. "Natural" can injury you not less than steroids. Everything has dark side. Especially, "natural" People like you see this genetic monsters and injured yourself trying to reach them. It's impossible for 99% Don't forget that many of their results and numbers (like weight) are not true.

[@PiksiZg]

Guys check out Marijan Matijevic born in Croatia 144 years ago. He was one of the strongest people on Earth at that time and his achievements are legendary.

[@eric9822]

Thanks so much for these videos! This is my favorite topic. Training for pure strength and performance/entertainment oriented strength seems to be based on total-body small range-of-motion lifts at max weights, and hand strength, both of which seem to be lacking from modern training. Serious grip training wasn't added to mainstream college and pro sports until the last 20-30 years, despite the strength of the hands and wrist being a major component of many sports. The Venn diagram of how an old-time performing strongman trained, and how a modern recreational lifter may train, may have minimal overlap.

[@bishopaz]

You always show pics and old film clips that I've never seen before. Keep up the good work.

[@doersphysique]

InPRESSive... thank you for sharing 💪🏾⚡

[@billbosward9798]

Wow, great and interesting video thanks for producing it for us!

[@SaturnReturns]

Absolutely love this stuff. So cool.

[@NattyLifeYT]

Thank you brother

[@glynhannaford7332]

Really good video and very interesting information, thank you. The strongmen and women of that era were impressive. 👏

[@jeffmuenster5131]

Yup...the Mighty Atom was Joe Greenstein, who did feats of strength like bending horseshoes and breaking chains. Featured a couple of times in my Strength and Health magazines in the '70s.

[@hypnoticskull6342]

Too bad cancer got to him. If he didn't die from that, I bet that he would've lived till 100 with how healthy he was

[@JMorris216]

Amazing video. I love that photo with the guy carrying the horse on his shoulders. That is truly amazing.

[@Selfimprovementfortheself]

Always amazing motivation

[@EmorettaRobinson]

Louis Cur did some amazingly impressive things. And Louis Uni aka Apollon has some great definition in his arms. I enjoy learning about the people that you mention in your videos. I've seen in the past where people who did these things were looked at as bizarre, strange or weird. But the reality is that they had talent and spent time perfecting their craft. Imagine the type of training that it took to condition themselves to accomplish those things.

[@Matt-hg8vv]

according to my family he is my ancestor

[@ravenrebel3183]

Wow, Katie Brumbach was CRAZY strong! So inspirational! 💪🏼

[@TBaroon]

Great video

[@MidwestPicker]

If you haven't already, please consider making a video about Paul Anderson, strongest man in the world from the 1950'ss

[@Oldtimenattylife]

Second this request

[@aidaninsua]

So many amazing feats I had never even heard of here.

[@alwinholvast2702]

Loved this one, greetings Alwin :)

[@hello9768]

Big respect for your german pronunciation and for adding the numbers in cm and kg! Keep it up 💪

[@RoidfreeSenior]

Cool video, These Old School guys were strong!

[@tchlin]

Was on my way to pick up my kids from school but ended up at my gym parking lot. Nice video!

[@kaushiksarkar3509]

This channel is awesome. Love the video of Guru Gama pehelwan. Obviously, more to come. Love from India.

[@MJA89]

Cool video!

[@burn_that_butter6829]

Sandwina!!! OMG, my body is very similar build to hers! This makes me feel very happy and "seen".

[@Rush47.]

no you dont. you're fat. are you blind ?

[@Winterascent]

Strength really should be the focus, but we think mass or size is the metric to use. Steroids and other drugs might help make you massive, but at what cost? No man was getting a heart valve replacement, having heart attacks, psych issues, or organ hypertrophy from natural strength building in 1900. Today? Yeah...

[@ru8775]

100%

[@NattyLifeYT]

I disagree. If strength is what you’re interested in, then great! Go for it. But bodybuilding doesn’t have to involve steroids and one can just as well train for size and mass naturally if that is their goal. While researching old school strength fascinates me, I personally have no strength or functional goals attached to my training. I am only interested in natural muscle mass. If I could get bigger only working out with 1kg dumbbells I would, for me strength is just a tool to craft my physique. The point is that everyone’s different and we don’t all need to share the same goals.

[@Pantelifts10]

Strength is great but as a natural lifter a good balance of strength,muscle mass and healthy bf levels is ideal. If you're strong but morbidly obese for example then it's not the healthiest really

[@ru8775]

@@NattyLifeYT strenght is for every human being it's logic Building muscle mass and not using it is illogic I'm a logic thinking person and don't like like doing illogic things That's not what life if for at least in nature Logic thinking helps you go forward and not die 😂 Absolutely serious , seen it more than often Go ask any worker out there 👍

[@dylanpiazza6358]

William Bankier is my favorite old school strongman/performer. Wrote an amazing book too called "Ideal Physical Culture"

[@metal-lm6ue]

That arther lift is incredible ❤

[@trancemadmaz]

1:26 Abs showing while weighing 240 lbs. Insane genetics

[@saeedmadani7949]

You should see about the man from Iran, his name was Khalil Okhab, a few months ago he died at the age of 94 he could lift an elephant.

[@PayneKiller23]

Poor horse, let me just carry you to safety 😅, damn this guy's were strong! They really had good genetics and good food!

[@jeanbaumgartner4052]

ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!😮😮😮😮😮

[@demoncore5342]

Cool. Now I want to start doing one arm deadlifts...

[@FarmerDrew]

Fun fact: Hermann's arm was 3cm longer after that world record pull

[@blocksource4192]

Joke or are you serious?

[@skeletorlikespotatoes7846]

This a real thing or

[@tob324]

Bro 😎

[@KenanTurkiye]

@@skeletorlikespotatoes7846 Dude!

[@mikeseier4449]

Bronze era strongmen are my favorites indeed..

[@matiasmartin3875]

Excelent video! I wish a video about Max Sick weight lifters

[@pAyAsO_07]

New subs here. More content for bronze era bodybuilding thanks

[@elyaguara]

My shoulders are so weak they always let me down in competition. Just when I think I'm stuck being mediocre in that department I see just what humans with basically nothing compared to what I have now were able to do. And it's motivating as hell. Heck . I can deadlift 3X my weight but now I want to reach 3.5X lol. Thank you for this video. And thank you for the time and investment into the history of lifting that you've done

[@johnbartender3451]

Nice ! I’m a little over twice my weight (deadlift, working my way to 3x. My core is not strong enough at the moment to lift more. Anyhow, I train much more like bronze-silver era body builder. I love the way I do thing now. Been at it since 2004 but had a 7 years break since then. Got back last October.

[@dominic.h.3363]

I didn't pay enough attention to the numbers and made a baseless critique. My apologies. I can admit when I am wrong, and I made this a separate comment so it doesn't get lost in the noise of my false claims. Keep up the good work.

[@NattyLifeYT]

No worries bro, I appreciate your clarification and support 💪

[@othalee]

I believe the average man back then was much stronger than the average man today. Much higher testosterone. Just think when they were born they grew up without cars, electricity, running water. Etc etc. The food they lived on was real nutritionally dense whole foods. Everyday life was incredibly physical to say the least. No power tools, no air-conditioning, no safe space to run to. Our ancestors were way tougher and stronger than we can imagine. Tendon and ligament strength out of this world. Imagine these guys on steroids.

[@firebird7479]

I did some heavy calf work in my day. They were strengths of feet.

[@BigUriel]

There were some really impressive feats of strength back in the day before standardized plates and whatever you said the weight was people just believed you lol And the strongest man today is Brad Castleberry of course.

[@cirosantarpia9231]

Grazie per queste preziose testimonianze 💪❤

[@juanrodriguez5404]

Total badass the men and women of the bronze era.

[@Beauty_SWEET]

Real talent and hard work

[@helioselexandros]

Imagine hanging out at the beach and seeing a guy carryibg a horse walk by😂

[@lucasreinert3030]

You pronounced Hermann Görner perfectly 👍👍👍👍👍

[@christopherseat9871]

Love OLDSCHOOL STRENGTH 🏋️‍♂️🙏💪♥️♥️♥️♥️

[@chrisdiaz4876]

Such legendary power, i literally have dreams about Super Strength. My power is growing too fast, i'm legit training multiple times a day (Weight Training class in HS, Wrestling Practice, Training at home, etc.). My hunger isn't satiated until i surpass these Bronze Era Giants.

[@BastardX13]

Right attitude Diaz. Don't underestimate the value of the grappling. Be patient. Your man muscles and strength will arrive in due time. A noble endeavor, train well.

[@fractal_gate]

An era of chads for sure.

[@youtubecreators384]

Peter Fransisco! A forgotten war hero from the American Revolution who defeated many Brits on the battlefield. In the Battle of Camden, he picked up a cannon that being left behind all by himself and onto his shoulder. No ordinary man could perform that feat until 300 years later when Brian Shaw copied this feat, carrying a cannon tube for a great distance.

[@hulkthedane7542]

True freaks of nature! Very interesting.

[@bernhardjordan9200]

Thanks for the metric

[@DraftyRum]

You should cover Rachel Mclish she's a natural bodybuilder during the golden era and first ms olympia

[@Dud-in9iu]

The Arthur lift is not done anymore b/c it is probably the most dangerous lift ever

[@filipzuzo6901]

Side bends feel different. I guess they allow different strength gains.

[@61pwcc]

Goerner's One Hand Deadlift was a stone called "Steinheben" aka Bavarian Stone Lifting. There's a photo of Arnold doing it as well when he was a teenager. Olympic bars back then were OVER a foot shorter so you'd have a hard time loading 500lb on the bar never mind 600lb or 700lb. The heaviest plates available were 20 Kg and ~2" thick. A few years later, Hermann was One Hand Deadlifting 602lb @ Bill Pullum's gym on a CAMBERED BAR which turned the weight into the hand making it much easier to grip. His best would have probably been somewhere around 500lb on an actual Olympic Bar. Malcolm Brenner did 600lb on an Olympic Bar in front of THREE AAU judges at a meet in 1949. Bar length had increased to 7' so there actually was enough sleeve length to fit that many plates on the bar.

[@NattyLifeYT]

I have come across photos of him lifting a stone. But nevertheless both the Guinness world records and his biography clearly write that the record was done on a barbell.

[@michaelhurley545]

Goerners one arm deadlift was indeed done with a barbell with 727 pounds

[@61pwcc]

@Natty Life If you're referring to "Goerner the Mighty" that's written from MEMORY! ALL thre documentation was lost in a fire years before the book was written...by his MANAGER! It's common knowledge in the Olde Time Strongman world that the book is suspect at best. I have competed for years in Olde Time Strongman and have been coached by the best in the World on the One Hand Deadlift. My coach still has an IAWA World Record of 255Kg/561lb. We are quite familiar with the history of the lift. Believe what you will, but at best, Goerner would have pulled in the low 500s on an Olympic Bar. If you dig deeper, you'll find the truth! Good Luck & God Bless!

[@skeletorlikespotatoes7846]

​@@61pwcc 😂 stfu. Idiots like you are the problem. You simply don't know. You don't know how much stronger these guys were. It might upset you....but the fact is there are so many feats they did that nobody can replicate. Please stop this speculation ....a grown ass person should be able to admit that you don't know. Simple as that.

[@FinalLychee]

Don't forget dudes carrying every grocery bag at once.

[@EmorettaRobinson]

As a female I can honestly say that I've done that for no other reason than I refused to make multiple trips to the car. Lol.

[@justinw1765]

lol

[@conlear]

Big up the naturals !

[@JohnSmith-vg5gz]

Thomas Inch and his dumbell could have got a mention 🙂

[@BigEightiesNewWave]

I must admit, I never saw any of them in the waiting room of Dr. Robt. B Kerr back in the 1980s. Saw many power-lifters and Nattys in there though.🤣

[@airthrowDBT]

I found it inspiring....

[@fernandonaz1174]

These bronze era muscles are something different. Imagine juicing them at max strength. I'm sure many world records will be still unbeaten.

[@maximisatwat]

If you click the cog and put speed 0.5 the opening vintage clips look normal speed

[@mukhtarzotder896]

Make a video of professor ram murti, who holded a elephent on his chest for more than 5 minutes

[@drip369]

2:15 2:22 call Cailer Woolam with his hook grip

[@konstantinkalashnikov8123]

Bronze Era is Amazing.

[@hypnoticskull6342]

This is why I think steroids aren't as important as people say they are. If these people were alive today, everyone would say they're on gear

[@brucejensen3081]

185cm 111kg, that disqualifies him from the classic Olympia because he is too heavy. It's confusing the classic Olympia, everyone in it is juiced to the gills, but some natties are too muscular to compete in it, and they look much better. If he got down to 6% bodyfat he might have been light enough, but wouldn't look better

[@manishmalviya1620]

But he can compete in weighlifting in super heavy weight category

[@xavier3922]

Did this guys train everyday😮

[@nicolamarco7110]

Now guys which of these Feats of Strenght should we try ?😏

[@Luca-uc2ro]

Bending iron

[@Lordoftheswollen]

No steroids, but also no plastic in their water. These guys have double the natural testosterone of modern man.

[@pnwfisher2144]

You can have near the same test levels by living a similar lifestyle.

[@Lordoftheswollen]

@@pnwfisher2144 Not really. There's melted plastic and birth control in our water supply

[@Rush47.]

@@Lordoftheswollen *Fountain*

[@zoomorrow]

5:49 "god I wish that were me"

[@TheDirthound]

How did bronze age lifters get so strong naturally, what was their training program like?

[@ATomRileyA]

Lots of heavy weights low reps, ate tons of meat and eggs Hermann Görner ate for dinner 3lbs of beef mince with 24 eggs in it lol. Also used to drink beer while training and they had a shelf with beer steins at the gym so you could keep drinking and lifting :). I think the big thing is all their food was a better quality than ours is now with all the poisons and chemicals they put in everything to keep us down, also they came from a time where everyone was busting there ass in some kind of physical job so good genetics and Epigenetics.

[@simonpetrikov3992]

@@ATomRileyAwhen it comes to decreasing testosterone alcohol can have a noticeable impact on testosterone

[@TheDirthound]

@@ATomRileyA I like lifting and beer, just not sure I want to drink while lifting.

[@roadsectoradventures]

Anatoly is my idol!

[@DisperseThisRabble]

Ohh the Bronze Age of Liftingg... i was waiting for an 8 foot tall Ajax

[@mrmustache-et1uq]

I think a lot of the reason for these juggernauts were as that everything had to be done by hand think of farming they didn’t have equipment back then something weighed 350 lbs someone had to lift it they wasn’t no hand trucks back then and food was much more natural so yea people were way stronger back then

[@BigEightiesNewWave]

12:56 A horse is a horse is a horse of course, unless he's Mr. Ed.

[@randybarnett2308]

Wonder how Bill Kazmire would stack up to these guys?💪😀

[@SylvesterStaline.]

Im curious about norbert schemansky, he look pretty normal, do someone know him?

[@neredan1182]

big thanks for stating the Kg on the screen, this way i didnt have to listen to the pounds that i wouldnt understand anyway haha

[@biblebill6206]

It's all about the food . "Whole" foods milk , bread free range eggs , fruit with seeds , whole grains not white bread . Spring water . That is the secret to why without drugs supps they were so naturally strong . Simple eat right lift right .

[@pnwfisher2144]

Yep

[@rustinjarrell2717]

Who is the guy in the thumbnail photo?

[@NA-yi5yl]

Have you looked into Victor Delamarre?

[@KenanTurkiye]

The commanality amoung them all are thick mid sections that is strong core, they are lifting with their core muscles. Certainly not Steve Reeves.

[@samv6767]

You should write both lbs and kgs, I think its easier that way

[@ru8775]

Absolutely , all the people in Europe have to think what is that ? 😅

[@NattyLifeYT]

Yeah you’re probably right

[@chris_carter]

Which bodies do you like better, those from the past or from today?

[@NattyLifeYT]

In terms of aesthetics? I personally believe the silver era lifters showed us something close to peak natural potential. They are my goal and biggest inspiration.

[@chrisarchard2009]

​@@NattyLifeYT what did you think about Steve Reeves? Was he the apex?

[@NattyLifeYT]

@@chrisarchard2009 He is my favourite bodybuilder of all time

[@MacLeodRoy]

My profile pic is a giveaway for why I bring this up but have you ever done a video on W.A. Pullum?

[@jackisperu9766]

6:48 that was a way of killing people