Another article in the Strongman Profile series has been put up on Breaking Muscle.
Strongman Profile: Hermann Goerner Teaches Us the Deadlift (and Elephant Wrestling)
Hermann Goerner lifting his famous Challenge Barbell in 1923
Hermann Goerner is not a household name, but he could easily be considered once of the strongest people of all time. Even amongst old-time strongmen he’s not as popular as some of the others like Eugen Sandow or Arthur Saxon. Yet he should be, as his strength borders on the unbelievable. To give you an idea of it let’s look at a few of his feats of strength.
This Man Wrestled an Elephant – Can You?
Goerner lived from 1981 to 1956 and performed with Pagel’s Circus in South Africa, where one of his stunts was to wrestle with an elephant. At the beginning of the tour the elephant weighed in at 700lbs. but by the end was over 1,500lbs. How’s that for progressive strength training? In fact, Goerner never said the weight of the elephant was a problem, but instead cited its rough hide, which would leave his skin raw.