I thought I would turn my rest day into a look back at one of the strongest
men of grip and possibly of all time.
If you've been involved in grip strength for any time at all, sooner or later the
name Hermann Goerner comes up.
In this short article I'll mention some of his most stupendous feats of grip
strength ever performed.
Goerner was born in Haenichen near Leipzig on April 13th, 1891 and was the
youngest of 3 children.
Goerner begin lifting weights at 10 years of age and during the years 1911-1913,
Goerner was the leader of a Strong Man Trio. The members consisting of Hermann
himself, his brother Otto and a friend named Otto Brauer.
The feats i'm about to mention come from Edgar Mueller's book, Goerner The Mighty,
published by the Vulcan Publishing Co. in 1951.
Goerner's Grip Feats:
Probably, Goerner's most famous lift was his right-hand Dead Lift with barbell.
On October 8th, 1920, Goerner lifted 727.5 lbs. from the floor to the fully erect
position.
Two-Hands Curl with barbell: November 4th, 1932 Hermann curled with two
hands a barbell weighing 242.5 lbs. from dead hang, without any body swing using
sheer arm power.
Four Finger Two-hands Dead Lift: This lift was made using the first two fingers
of each hand only. Hermann lifted 595 lbs. on November 30th, 1933, in Leipzig.
Right-hand Pinch from outside of foot: 111 lbs. 2-3/8" thick. July 10th, 1934.
Keep in mind Hermann didn't specialize in pinch lifting at all and according to Edgar
Mueller, Hermann could have easily done more. He held the weight for several seconds
before setting it down.
A few more feats worth mentioning out of the hundreds mentioned in the book are:
Writing his name on a chalk board with a 110 lb. kettlebell hanging from his thumb.
On June 2nd, 1912, Hermann ran 100 meters in 18.4 seconds while carrying a 110 lb.
kettlebell in each hand.
Hermann tore 110 playing cards in half in exactly 1 second.
Snatched 231 lbs. with his arms crossed.
It should be stated that he was the only strength athlete in the world who, over a period of twenty years, could do at anytime of the day or night a Two-Hands Clean and Jerk of
330 lbs. on his Stage Barbell without warming up! This barbell had a shaft diameter of 2-3/8".
In his prime, Hermann weighed 265 lbs. and was 6' 1" tall.
It's worth mentioning that the author of the book, Edgar Mueller was the most dedicated
of record keepers. He was very accurate of his recordings and if he said it happened, it
happened. He documented nearly all of Goerner's feats.
I hope you've enjoyed this brief journey back in time to (in my opinion) one of the strongest
humans to ever live, Hermann Goerner.
Stay tuned and stay Strong!
men of grip and possibly of all time.
If you've been involved in grip strength for any time at all, sooner or later the
name Hermann Goerner comes up.
In this short article I'll mention some of his most stupendous feats of grip
strength ever performed.
Goerner was born in Haenichen near Leipzig on April 13th, 1891 and was the
youngest of 3 children.
Goerner begin lifting weights at 10 years of age and during the years 1911-1913,
Goerner was the leader of a Strong Man Trio. The members consisting of Hermann
himself, his brother Otto and a friend named Otto Brauer.
The feats i'm about to mention come from Edgar Mueller's book, Goerner The Mighty,
published by the Vulcan Publishing Co. in 1951.
Goerner's Grip Feats:
Probably, Goerner's most famous lift was his right-hand Dead Lift with barbell.
On October 8th, 1920, Goerner lifted 727.5 lbs. from the floor to the fully erect
position.
Two-Hands Curl with barbell: November 4th, 1932 Hermann curled with two
hands a barbell weighing 242.5 lbs. from dead hang, without any body swing using
sheer arm power.
Four Finger Two-hands Dead Lift: This lift was made using the first two fingers
of each hand only. Hermann lifted 595 lbs. on November 30th, 1933, in Leipzig.
Right-hand Pinch from outside of foot: 111 lbs. 2-3/8" thick. July 10th, 1934.
Keep in mind Hermann didn't specialize in pinch lifting at all and according to Edgar
Mueller, Hermann could have easily done more. He held the weight for several seconds
before setting it down.
A few more feats worth mentioning out of the hundreds mentioned in the book are:
Writing his name on a chalk board with a 110 lb. kettlebell hanging from his thumb.
On June 2nd, 1912, Hermann ran 100 meters in 18.4 seconds while carrying a 110 lb.
kettlebell in each hand.
Hermann tore 110 playing cards in half in exactly 1 second.
Snatched 231 lbs. with his arms crossed.
It should be stated that he was the only strength athlete in the world who, over a period of twenty years, could do at anytime of the day or night a Two-Hands Clean and Jerk of
330 lbs. on his Stage Barbell without warming up! This barbell had a shaft diameter of 2-3/8".
In his prime, Hermann weighed 265 lbs. and was 6' 1" tall.
It's worth mentioning that the author of the book, Edgar Mueller was the most dedicated
of record keepers. He was very accurate of his recordings and if he said it happened, it
happened. He documented nearly all of Goerner's feats.
I hope you've enjoyed this brief journey back in time to (in my opinion) one of the strongest
humans to ever live, Hermann Goerner.
Stay tuned and stay Strong!
