Ghulam Muhammad, better known as The Great Gama was a wrestler and strongman born in 1880 in British India. He was most famous for long and successful wrestling career as he remained undefeated for more than 50 years, but his training methods and feats of strength he used to perform also played a role in his popularity.
The Great Gama
Ghulam was trained by his father, who was also a successful wrestler, at a very young age. General public noticed Ghulam when he appeared at a strongman competition at the age of 10. With more than 400 wrestlers and participants in this competition (which featured many tough exercises, like Indian squats), Ghulam Muhammad managed to secure his place among the last fifteen wrestlers. Since he showed incredible dedication and endurance for his age, The Great Gama was pronounced a winner of this competition.
Only nine years later, The Great Gama issued a challenge against the Indian wrestling champion Raheem Baksh who was much taller than him. Gama himself stood at 5’7″, while his opponent was 6’9″ tall. Imagine the advantage Raheem had against Ghulam in this match! Long story short, The Great Gama managed to win this fight which marked the turning point in his career. Many other well-known wrestlers like Stanislaus Zbysko, Dr. Benjamir Roller, Maurice Deriaz and John Lemm all suffered the same fate of losing a match against Ghulam.
At the age of 22, The Great Gama traveled to Baroda to compete in wrestling. Unfortunately, he couldn’t find a match and decided to do something else instead. He lifted 1200kg stone (2645 pounds) up to his chest and dropped it down after carrying it for a while. It was 2.5 feet in height and it’s still kept at Baroda Museum for display.
Gama performing hindu pushups as part of his regular training routine
Gama’s diet included 2 gallons of milk per day mixed with 1.5 pound of crushed almond paste and fruit juice. He trained every day, performing 5000 hindu squats and 3000 hindu pushups. He performed squats while wearing 200 pounds apparatus and had someone rub him with dry mustard after every workout session.
Another interesting fact about this great man is that he had a major influence on many, including Bruce Lee himself. After reading about Gama’s amazing strength, Lee decided to incorporate Gama’s training methods in his own routine, which probably helped him to achieve the legendary status he has today.
The Great Gama died in 1960 after a long history of heart-related conditions.
Don’t forget to check out this page for 12 Classics on Strength and Health by old-time strongmen.
Comments
I dont understand the purpose of the dry mustard?
It is believed to help relax muscle after a workout.
The actual idea is not to let the body cool down quickly. In fact they apply Mustard oil before exercising and after the workout they rub it off with mud.
Man wrestler gama gives 48 hours of rest for his muscle this article is wrong.
it’s tasty
he got licked by goats afterwards well its like chinaoil or sportscream for making the muscles tender
i just want to know that if i do 1000 hindu pushups and 500 hindu squats will it be enough workout or i should reduce these rep and do something else too?
It depends on your goals. They’re great for endurance, but if you want to increase your strength on top of that I’d work with harder exercises.
Genral rule is you do twice squats as of push ups. So if you are going to do 1000 push ups then you should do 2000 squats
The point is if you are doing it right or wrong.
Just a thought here and maybe you can share your input but it seems that many of the great old time strongmen and wrestlers used regimens of high rep work. John Grimmick and even Bruce Lee come to mind. Even though many believe it only builds endurance, lifting that stone is a huge feat of strength.
My thought then is this: time under tension is supposed to build tendon strength and is what the great Alexander Zass believed gave him his awesome strength, even though he used isometrics. If muscular strength is inhibited by the Golgi tendon similar to the chip in a car that prevents it from going too fast, wouldn’t it seem plausible that it was in fact the high reps that built strong tendons that build great strength? I’m assuming the answer lyes in do both but I just wanted to throw it out there. It’s something I’ve been wondering about even though high rep work bore me to tears. Great post!
Yes high reps is one of the keys to strength, including the tendons. Anyone that only limits themselves to one method misses the benefits of other methods.
Very interesting Jeff.
Jeff Exactly, Finally someone noticed the connection between high reps and unusual strength. People keep making bullshit excuses like Charles below, truth is, Gym exercises are stupid and easy and less painful while high rep bodyweight workout is more difficult. Look up angamardana taught by Jaggi vaudeville, this works directly on joints, tendons and ligaments but needs preparation before attempting.
I Had heard of the gama back in the day via matt furey, but awesome youve expanded on it a whole heap. Great article logan
There’s something to be said for high reps, but I’m not sure if that many reps on each exercise is really necessary. Some people might develop joint issues with overuse injuries. I guess it depends on how you are built if you can take it. I think that about half that many reps would yield the same results. He should have also cut down on the milk and perhaps he would not have had so many heart problems. What do you think?
Dear all my friend specially i want to tell one about incident of Gama ,
once upon time the one person asked to Gama how you achieve your all goals and you have not been defeated by anyone in your life …….
so he told that person, ” in my whole life I always look at any every women is my mother and i always follow the brahmacharya i always read shreemad bhagvat gita
and taken the meaning of gita i always have the meditation with that
I guess..it’s saying of professor Rammurti naidu…….
Gamma was not hindu, stupid
Was he actually able to really lift that?, no doubt he was incredibly strong but still, just wondering is all.
Gama was a great athlete much loved and admired……. I’m not a big movie fan but come on Bollywood lets have a movie based on Gama. I’m sure the fans on this website would agree. Our generation needs to know about Gama…. a great inspiration.
Thanks for the article,
I have heard many outlandish claims about people being able to perform thousands of hindu squats and hindu pushups on daily basis!
But I cannot help feeling sceptical: I have still to see someone actually performing these feats! The only video I have come across was of Indian man, Aswin Pathrudu, on youtube of him performing 1001 hindu psuhups. he was cooked, and he didn’t even resemble a man of “strength”, no matter how you understand the word.
Personally I have done 250 Hindu Pushups in a single set, up to 500 per days several different times. I’ve also done 1000 Hindu squats once in a single set, and 500 per day for a week straight.
Sure I would say its doable, but like a marathon to me it’s not worth the time it takes to do.
I have to respectfully disagree, I use Hindu Squats and regular pushups to supplement my endurance running. Which I have found to be extremely beneficial, my speed and ability to power up hills has increased dramatically. Dropped my time and increased my pace during a half marathon by several minutes. Not by adding mileage, by adding Hindu squats. Usually 500-700 per day. Takes me about 20 minutes. Not a bad investment.
Actually John, that is exactly too my point. You’re focusing on endurance and running marathons. I am not.
Also 500-700 hindu squats is quite a bit different from doing 5000 a day, as the claims go. Let me ask you, do you think it would help your half marathons any more to do that much?
No, I would rather put in more running rather than Hindu squats, however, if I was unable to get out on the road for whatever reason, I may try one of those 1000 rep workouts. Only on an occasion like a snowstorm or what have you. I guess I read that wrong. Not trying to start any friction.
I just want to clear some doubts some people are having. These are just my views, based on whatever I have come to learn over the years. So, the high rep training was at a pretty fast pace. And with each squat, Gama would jump to about 1-2 feet ahead of him, before coming back to the original spot. For the wrestlers, high rep training was not just for endurance, but also speed and agility. So, as can be imagined, initially, almost every day was a day with muscles close to failure. This was when Gama was a child, and his body would recover quickly. As he aged, the workload did increase, overall, but the high rep training remained about the same (once he reached adulthood), allowing him to focus less on hypertrophy and more on speed and stamina. He himself said that strength was an internal thing, something akin to prana, and he didn’t understand why the westerners were mad about having muscles and cuts all over their body.
Also, it was the digestive enzymes in the fruits he had, like papain, bromelain, etc. plus the roughage, that ensured he could eat huge amounts of food and have a healthy gut still. Must have shat like an elephant though.
Huge respect to him. 1200 kg stone lift is unearthly, and I would say that his strength was as much a result of his attitude and thoughts as his regimen. He used to utter God’s name with each reptition of the squat and would constantly think about what his late father had in mind for him: To be the greatest wrestler on the planet.
hello brother i think the 1200 kg lift by gama is bull shit gama may be a well wrestler in the world but i think 1200 kg lift is hard to digest.but i wanted to know few things about strength if i do 30 kg barbell squat every day and do 30 kg dumbell curling every day what will i going to achieve.
Go .. …….take a visit to vadodra my friend.. .there’s a museum …..based on this ….
people who are talking about recovery doesn’t understand those guys slowly worked up to those numbers..even gama pahelwan would have started at 50 reps for each as a child..also indian wrestlers still perform thousands of squat and pushups everyday..some that i personally know do about 2500 squats and around a thousand pushups..this kind of high repetition training not only builds endurance but very strong tendons and ligaments..you might not bench alot using this training but it gives you the type of strength with which you can grab someone by the throat and lift him off the ground..it is the kind of strength that you would find in farm boys
Also in today’s there have been many strong guys like charles bronson, who said that he does around 2000 pushups a day and is strong enough to lift a pool table ..all while training in prison with very limited food…also there are other legends like herschel walker who use similar methods.
For those pros or amateurs who ve commented till now, here are my views. Not every fast runner is Usain Bolt, not every soccer player is CR7/ Messi, not every pugilist is Md. Ali, well not every businessmen become Dhirubhai Ambani or Bill Gates, not every innovator is Steve Jobs and blah blah blah….c’mon lets accept the fact that Great Gama was also a ‘freak’ in his discipline like the ones mentioned above, something he was born with and destined to become. Infact, with rigour n disciplined regime, he took his inner trait to an insurmountable level (poor 1200 kg stone!). Such a kind of athletes or in whatever sphere of domain are freak…one in million!
Thanks for reading.
yeahhh im sure he was formidable but the 1200kg rock is bull crap….and chances are he probably did 300 push ups and 500 squats instead of the laughable numbers given….old school strongman were known for embelishing their strength numbers.
There are videos on Youtube showing men in india and Iran lifting 600-700 lbs stones, doing thousands of reps of hindu squats and pushups, and breaking stone with their hands. Its all on Youtube, there called Pahlavans and Pahelwans. Just because you’ve limited yourself to a specific standard of strength doesn’t mean other men haven’t gone beyond those limits.
One thing not mentioned here is that someone of medium height has a great advantage over someone 6’9″ tall. It’s a matter of leverage. So, I would have to say that Raheem Baksh was the greater wrestler. Besides, he was older than Gama who was in his prime. I have always been an admirer of Gama but Raheem Baksh deserves to be recognized for the greater wrestler he was. I recall John Grimek’s account of his experiences with the Cuban weightlifting team when he visited Cuba. He arm wrestled the lightest member of the team who put up such a great fight which Grimek won. So, because of this, when the time came for Grimek to arm wrestle the heavyweight Cuban champion, Grimek put everything into it and busted the guy’s biceps. Look at Franco Columbo. He, I believe, lifted more than his pal, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Again, leverage was responsible. Considering. Arnold’s height, he was disadvantaged.
I think we should try it and see what happens.
Easy to understand why he was great: Firstly, Genetics, was a Central Asian Kashmiri of the Bhat (Butt) caste, great genes for wrestling. Secondly, worked very hard. Thirdly, exceedingly intelligent. Fourthly, stuck to the Kashmiri died of eating lot of meat. Was a pious man thus had divine aid was thus never defeated. A great human being, a gentleman and possibly one of the best wrestlers ever.
some of his So that why hewas not real just make up like for example second match with stanislau zbyszko who was paid to lose. he never lose.
but this is not real wrestling and these hindu push ups was only move ass up down not to straghten arms up. easy way.
Gama lose one fight in india and some of his matches was not real just paid of to win, so much for undefeated. Also these days was enough
throw other wrestler down on shoulders and was finish of fight when in real life one can stand back and still fight.
This is absolute propaganda/trash. If you really cared about strength and fitness, you wouldn’t post something saying someone lifted 1200kg to their chest. Then you go on to say he did squats wearing a 200 pound apparatus, that’s nothing compared to 1200kg and a 200 pound squat is achievable by the average man
Glory be unto the Great Gama! he was raja raja! lion of the Punjab!,
Many of us Butts (Bhats) from Kashmir valley were overjoyed to see your site and the contribution of Kashmiri Butts to wrestling. All The Butts in Pakistan today are from Kashmir Valley who left for many reasons sadly few speak Kashmiri though the pure ones look exactly like Butts in the Valley. We Muslims are quite recent converts (via Sufis) to our beloved Islam from Hindu Butts, thus both are exactly the same people in Kashmir valley. The Butts have not only contributed in wrestling alone but have produced great intellects as well. Butts have a genetic advantage they belong to the Aryan Race. Gamas hue Pehalwan haken ne sahel peth bey neerith. Gama was a true Kashmiri in every manner. Remember never call a genuine Butt a Punjabi. We like all including the Punjabi but are distinct as Central Asian Aryan People.
What is the thing The Great Gama is holding?
It’s a mace for swinging around, known as a gada in India.
Truly one of the greatest genuine wrestlers ever. Dara Singh a fine man was not a wrestler but entertainer fought Noora Khusti. Gama was in the same class as Alexander Karelin. He was lucky had Aryan Central Asia Genes (was a pure Kashmiri and not a Punjabi. Often if one refers to a Kashmiri as a Punjabi it is an abuse), worked very hard, was pious, was intelligent, modest, etc. Thus had it all.