The Old Timers Had It Right – Feats of Strength For Fun, Variety, And Another World Of Hard Work

The following is a guest post by Josh Hanagarne.  You can read more of his musings on strength and other librarian interests at World’s Strongest Librarian.

By Josh Hanagarne

My training life has gone through the predictable and unrealistic phases:

• Bodybuilder “It’s all you bro!”
• Daydreams of running an Ironman triathlon (never even ran a step)
• Becoming a certified kettlebell instructor

And now I’ve gotten into old time feats of strength.

Why? Why, you say?

I officially invite myself to pretend you asked.

What Sorts of Feats?

Back in the days, you wouldn’t go to a show and watch someone bench press.

You would go see men who could:

• Burst full soda cans with their hands
• Bend wrenches, horseshoes, steel thingies
• Roll up frying pans with their hands
• Bend steel bars over their throats (never going to try this one)
• Hang themselves by their flexed necks (or this one)
• Burst raw potatoes in their fist
• Tear phonebooks in half
• Drive nails through boards with their hands

And so on…

There are things that sound impossible. But now I have close friends with names like “Unbreakable Adam Glass.” This stuff is real.

Better yet…

It’s fun

My good friend Kat Ricker—Olympic lifter, bodybuilder—is always saying “Keep it fun or you won’t keep it.” This is applicable to a lot of different things, but describes my argument for feats of strength better than anything.

About the Author: Josh Hanagarne writes World’s Strongest Librarian, a blog with advice about coping with Tourette’s Syndrome, book recommendations, buying pants when you’re 6’8”, old-time strongman training, and so much more.

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