John Grimek

[liftsiron]

John Carroll Grimek was born on June 17, 1910 (or June 18, 1911, as given by the Social Security Death Index) in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, son of Slovak immigrants George and Maria Grimek. Besides his bodybuilding exploits, he represented the United States in weightlifting at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. In 1948, at 38 years of age, Grimek defeated Steve Reeves in a hotly disputed (till this day) decision at the NABBA Mr. Universe contest in London. It seems that with a tie on the scorecards, good-friend and a judge of the contest, Bob Hoffman decided that the winner would be decided by a feat of gymnastics. Since Grimek was a very good gymnast, Reeves took second place gracefully. The following year he won his last contest, the AAU Mr. USA, against a field that included a sun-burned Reeves, Clarence Ross, George Eiferman, and Armand Tanny. He retired from bodybuilding undefeated.

John has been featured in many bodybuilding articles and magazines, as well as being featured on the cover of Muscular Development magazine. Despite his retirement, Grimek continued serious training for many years, and was still able to squat with over 400 pounds for reps in his late 60s. Grimek died on November 20, 1998 in York, Pennsylvania. He was inducted into the IFBB Hall of Fame in 1999.




The following measurements are from 1940/1941:

Height: 5'8?"
Weight: 195 lbs.
Neck: 17 inches
Arm: 17.5 inches
Forearm: 14 inches
Chest: 47 inches
Waist: 31 inches
Thigh: 25 inches
Calf: 17 inches
Wrist: 8 inches
Ankle: 9.8 inches
Titles
1939 York Perfect Man
1940 Mr. America
1941 Mr. America
1946 Most Muscular Man In America
1948 Mr. Universe Short & Overall
1949 Mr. USA
[edit] See also

 

[liftsiron]

Another!

 

[Dawgpound_Hank]

He was strong as fuck natty at that. Didn't he do those 1 arm overhead lifts with like a 286 lb barbell or some crazy shit?

 

[mrhtbd]

Grimmy, as Dick Smith used to refer to him as, was a great guy. He was very personable and was never rude to me. My sister worked in the snack bar at York Barbell from 1979 to 1986 (the year Bob Hoffman died) and John Grimek used to stop in quite often. He was working for York Barbell at the time in some upper-echelon capacity.

I got off work around 2 PM and would go to York Barbell Gym on Ridge Avenue in York, Pa, hang around until she got off work, then walk her home. Dick Smith was the manager and was Bob Hoffman's Assistant Coach for the Olympic Team from 1962 to 1976. He used to let me lift the dumbells in the warehouse that were set out for shipping. "As long as you put them back," he said.
There were only two other people who trained in the gym then, around 1982. They were old friends of Smitty's. I trained with them as well.

Lifters used to come and go all the time, use the snack bar to buy stuff and talk to Smitty and whoever-else would show up. Jonny Terpak used to stop by quite often as well, and sometimes Bob would stop in. They were all nice to me, a 20-something skinny-assed kid. I was a swimmer and was ripped at 6" and 154 LBS.

Boy, those were the days. Didn't know what I had, but I studied the old-timer lifts, books, and talked to them many times. They were all helpful and nice to me. Grimek even saved me one day when I got stuck under a bar on the bench in the back gym. I heard Smitty, Grimmy, and Jonny Terpak talking in the main gym as I was stuck with a 145# bar on my chest.

I was doing reps to failure, remember those in the 1980's? Got stuck and was so embarrassed at the light weight, but I had the collars on and couldn't tip the bar to slide off the plates. So in a casual voice I said, "How about a little help back here?" (Not too loud, didn't want to seem desparate.) Then I got a bit desparate and said loudly, "Hey, how about some help back here?" Wouldn't you know it, Grimek pokes his head in with a look of disdain. (Still can't get over that.) Anyway, he walked up and around me, picked the bar up effortlessly with one hand, racked it, and casually said, "You need a spotter!"

Man, I was so embarrassed. Smitty never said anything, but I know he was a bit irritated. I never used collars after that.
Yeah, I could tell some stories. Don't want to now, though. It's a bit painful to look back all those years ago, wondering where they went.

BTW, the Cyr Bell weighs 248 1/2 pounds and it currently resides in the York Barbell Museum. (I tried to lift it one time at the museum when nobody was looking and couldn't budge it.) It has a narrow and thick handle, which fit Louis Cyr's hand perfectly. That's why most people couldn't lift it, because of not being able to get a grip.

Here's a caption I read about Grimek and the bell.
John Grimek had his eye on lifting the Louis Cyr Challenge Dumbbell for a long time.

Needless to say the ponderous weight defied his attempts to lift it, just as it had for the better part of nearly a century.

Finally, Grimek succeeded in bent-pressing the thick-handled dumbbell overhead and added his name to a very short list.

You can currently see the Cyr Challenge dumbbell at the York Barbell Hall of Fame in York Pennslyvania.
http://www.oldtimestrongman.com/blog/labels/Louis Cyr Challenge Dumbbell.html

Also is a photo of Grimek trying to get the Cyr Bell up with what was called the "anyhow lift," of which "bent pressing" morphed from.

 

[Mr Incredible]

Awsome

 

[Dawgpound_Hank]

mrhtbd killa story! :igok: Hey I was off by about 38 lbs, but I was in the ballpark haha. Damn that would be hell just to CLEAN that weight, let alone get it overhead.

 

[mrhtbd]

Yeah, Louis Cyr had unique hands for as big as he was, they were long and very narrow at the knuckles. He had the weight made specifically for him. Nice little trick he used to pull during his "Strong Man" shows whereby he would "challenge anyone in the audience to lift it." Of course, because of the somewhat bizarre dimensions of the handle and how close the bells were, very few ever could. Just another reason why John Grimek was such a great weightlifter.

 

[liftsiron]

Yeah, Louis Cyr had unique hands for as big as he was, they were long and very narrow at the knuckles. He had the weight made specifically for him. Nice little trick he used to pull during his "Strong Man" shows whereby he would "challenge anyone in the audience to lift it." Of course, because of the somewhat bizarre dimensions of the hAndle and how close the bells were, very few ever could. Just another reason why John Grimek was such a great weightlifter.

Quebec, Canada has a long history of famous strongmen but the strongest and most famous is undoubtedly Louis Cyr.

From the age of 12, Louis laid the foundation for his great strength by working in an lumber camp during the winters and on the family's farm the rest of the year.

Even back then he impressed his fellow workers with his prodigious feats of strength.

In 1878, the Cyr family immigrated to Lowell, Massachusetts in the United States. At seventeen years of age, he weighed 230 pounds (104 kg) and a year later, entered his first strongman contest in Boston (which he won by lifting a horse off the ground.)

Back in Montreal in March of 1886, Cyr entered a strongman competition in Quebec City against the reigning Canadian strongman David Michaud.

During the competition, Cyr lifted a 218-pound (99 kg) barbell with one hand (to Michaud's 158 pounds) and a weight of 2,371 pounds (1076 kg) on his back, to his opponent's 2,071 pounds (940 kg).

Cyr finally lifted an unweildy granite boulder weighing 480 lbs (which Michaud failed to budge) to win the title of Strongest man in the country.

Cyr's other well-documented strength feats include:

# Back-lifting a platform holding 18 men (and later 4,337 pounds)


# Lifting a 500-pound (227 kg) weight with one finger


# Pushing a freight car up an incline


# A bent-press of 273 pounds (besting Eugen Sandow's then-record mark)


# Lifted 525 Pounds on a dumbbell with a 1.5" handle )


# Restrained four horses - two pulling in each direction, in the human-chain feat


On May 7, 1896 Louis Cyr is credited with the following lifts:

Hand and Thigh Lift: 1897 lbs.

One Hand Jerk Push: 254 lbs.

One Arm Jerk of 132 lbs. for 36 reps

Crucifix hold:

Right hand: 94 lbs.
Left Hand 88 lbs.


Cyr returned to Canada in March 1892, where he and fellow strongman (and protoge') Horace Barre signed a one-year contract with the Ringling Brothers Circus of the United States. Louis Cyr had a standing challenge of $25,000 for anyone who could duplicate any of his feats - needless to say the money was never in danger, no one ever came close.

A few years later, in 1894, the two men started their own circus, which featured athletes, jugglers, acrobats, and strongmen performances. The Cyr-Barre Circus performed on Canadian and American stages for five years.
Louis Cyr World's Strongest Man

 

[Mr Incredible]

That was real entertainment lifting, I'm not swallowing a 500lb one finger lift though lol!

 

[Dawgpound_Hank]

Cyr's grip must have been infuckingSANE. I bet if you tried to play the ol' shake hand game to see who "gives first", he would make ya scream like a lil bitch!lol

 

[-JP-]

Damn great stories and history lessons...