Speaking of the Hercules kings of the 80s, Bill. Kazmaier is an invincible presence, Beal has won the International Weightlifting Federation (IPF) championship twice, also won the world's strongest lux championship for 3 consecutive times, and broke multiple world records for weightlifting and Hercules, being banned for being too strong because they found that Bill was dominating the Hercules Championship. (Background music sounds: how lonely invincible is ~~~)
Bill Kazmaier: Three-time world champion of the strongest Hercules
Bill. Kazmaier, born on December 30, 1953 in Burlington, Wisconsin, USA, has four siblings, the father is the owner of the Burlington "soda bottling plant", very grumpy, often abusive and beat him, and even hit him with bricks. He developed a hard-working will quality at an early age, and in order to survive, he had to cut down trees from the lake and drag them to the work truck, perhaps this is the reason for his innate divine power.
Bill has been a sporter since he was a child and has a very good physique, he has played sports such as shot put and 100m sprint, he used to play rugby in high school and college, but he dropped out after only two years of college.
After dropping out of school, Bill began his weightlifting journey at the Madison YMCA, where he was heavily influenced by bodybuilder Bill Pearl, who wrote The Key to the Inner Universe, which profoundly influenced Bill's philosophy of weightlifting. In the early stages of his weightlifting career, Bill even worked as a lumberjack, oil assembler and bodyguard to earn a living.
In 1978, Bill Kazmaier competed for the first time in the Amateur Sports League (AAU) National Championships, where he competed in the 275-pound (125-kilogram) class, with a squat record of 782 pounds (355 kilograms), a hard pull of 804 pounds (365 kilograms), and a bench press of 534 pounds (242 kilograms), and his fledgling success attracted widespread attention.
In 1979, at the age of 25, he won his first IPF World Weightlifting Championship in Dayton, Ohio, and set a world record for 622 pounds (282 kg) bench press, which he won with 865 pounds (392 kg) of squats, 622 pounds (282 kg) of bench press and 804 pounds of hard pull (365 kg), for a total weight of 2292 pounds (1040 kg). In the same year, he competed in the World's Strongest Hercules Championship (WSM) and finished third.
In the years that followed, Bill Kazmaier dominated the WSM races in 1980, 1981 and 1982, leading by far ahead and winning by a big score, the first to win three consecutive WSM titles and one of only two to win three consecutive titles.
On January 31, 1981, he achieved a bench press performance of 661.4 pounds (301 kg) in a weightlifting championship, becoming the first person to break through 300 kg of bench press.
Second, he was banned because of his strength
In 1983, despite being the defending champion of WSM, the WSM organisers decided not to invite Kazmayer to the next four WSM matches because he was too dominant. In his absence, he cleared the way for his main rival, Jeff Capex, who won the 1983 World's Strongest Hercules title.
As a result, Kazmail can only compete in lesser-known Hercules tournaments, such as the Scottish Power Challenge and the International Ten-Man Championship.
Bill. Kazmaier's weight in the competition has been constantly changing, and his physical data at the peak of his career are as follows: height 188 cm, weight 148 kg, chest 152 cm, arms 58 cm, forearm 43 cm, neck circumference 56 cm, waist circumference 102 cm, thigh 81 cm, calf 52 cm.
Bill Kazmaier's usual bench press training consisted of 5 sets of 550 pounds (250 kilograms) and 30 430 pounds (195 kilograms) in 5 sets, and he had 1.5 to 2 minutes of rest time each time, except for squats. He said that if you want to get stronger, you need to constantly increase the workload of each job, such as the calf, abs and trapezius muscles should be trained with high intensity and frequency. Karl doesn't track the amount of training, he believes in hard, fast and intense training.
Asked why 99.9 percent of most strength athletes don't come close to his record, Bill made a very profound statement, saying, "Weightlifters need to stay in better shape, they need to lean forward, build muscles, get in shape, and then move on." ”
In 1983, Bill Kazmaier competed in the American Weightlifting Federation (USPF) competition, and then participated in the "IPF World Championships" for the second time, both of which won the championship. Inspired by Jim Thorpe, Kazmaier tried to transfer his athletic talents to other sports, and he began competing in the World Wrestling Championships as early as 1981.
3. Return to the Hercules arena
Kazmaier began professional wrestling in 1986 and defeated David Barbie in a World Wrestling Association match in Calgary, Alberta, on November 10, 1986, where he struggled for promotions in the 1980s, such as The Canadian Wrestling and Continental American Championship Wrestling. In early 1991, he also competed in the Fighting Network Tournament in Japan.
In 1988, Kazmayer returned to the World's Strongest Men's Competition, where he won three of the eight events – log lift, hard pull and sack – and also finished second in two places, including truck pull, after Jon Par Sigmassen, the "Father of Icelandic Hercules".
In 1989, in the last WSM appearance of the world's strongest man, Kazmeiers suffered a serious ankle injury in the first game, his biceps had been torn, and he finished fourth.
In addition to WSM competitions, Kazmayer has successfully competed in other Hercules competitions such as the Strongbow Hercules Challenge, the Scottish Force Challenge, the Le Defi Mark Ten Challenge, the World Muscle Strength Championships and the All Strength Competition.
In 1990, Kazmaier announced his retirement.
Fourth, life after retirement
After retiring from active duty in the 1990s, Kazmaier was hired as a co-commentator for ESPN Broadcasting, where he hosted the annual World's Strongest Men Competition with Todd Harris and the 2006 World's Strongest Men Award winner.
In May 2008, Kazmail appeared in Flex magazine, which published a list of the top ten strongest men in history, and Kazmail was named "the third strongest man ever", behind Mark Henry and Sednas Savikas.
At present, at the age of 69, he lives in Auburn, Alabama with his wife and son, and his life is very happy.