Human lifting is one of the most visually impressive and functional feats of strength. While lifting 500 lbs. on a barbell is impressive, it often doesn’t look as strong as hoisting a 200 lb. person—especially to the average observer. That’s because everyone intuitively understands what it means to lift a fellow human.
Whether it’s carrying someone overhead, supporting multiple bodies, or pressing a person with one arm, these feats of strength work.
I’ve always loved the utility and spectacle of this feat. After all, lifting another human being is a living weight. Unlike static barbells or kettlebells, humans move, shift, and often squirm. That unpredictability makes this challenge both harder and more rewarding.
Different Ways to Lift a Human
There are numerous ways to demonstrate strength through lifting a person. Here are some of the most iconic methods:
1. The Human Getup
The Turkish Getup, also often just called the getup, is a challenging move. This version uses a human in place of a kettlebell or sandbag. From lying down on your back, you move through a full-body rise to standing while holding a person balanced on one hand or shoulder.
You can watch that and the next human lift in this video from a strongman show I performed.
2. The Human Support
Think of this as the “tabletop” of feats—literally supporting one or more people lying across you while you hold a static bridge or similar support position. A classic example is the Roman Chair Support or back bridge support, where multiple humans lie across the body.
In the above video, you can see me support a large man on my legs while in a neck bridge, combined with tearing a deck of cards.
There was also the half-ton support on the wrestler’s bridge that combined humans with weights.
There are a wide variety of ways this can be done.
Arthur Saxon demonstrates the plank lift below. See more in Weight Supports.
Louis Cyr does a back lift with 14 people here as a type of partial lift.
3. Shoulder Carry and Walking Carries
Hoisting someone onto your shoulders and walking around showcases both your back and leg strength. The fireman’s carry or cross-shoulder style are classic here.
These are often used in strongman shows to carry women across the stage—or even up ladders. Going overhead is even better.
Bud Jeffries came up with the inventive method of having two people hanging from a barbell while he spun around in circles. You can see that at the 51-second mark.
At the 41-second mark, you can also see him holding a person while doing a sledgehammer lever to the nose.
4. Overhead Human Lifts
This could be a clean and press or a military-style lift—hoisting a person (sometimes even two!) directly overhead. Bent pressing can also be used. Showmen often press women or children overhead with one or two arms.
Arthur Saxon does the bent press with two human weights on a bar.
As you can see, there are a wide variety of ways to lift humans. This list was not meant to be exhaustive, but to give you some ideas if you’d ever lift to try these feats of strength.
Safety Considerations
Because humans aren’t iron, you must take care to:
- Communicate and trust your lifting partner.
- Make very clear their need to stay tight or whatever instructions are necessary.
- You should be able to lift weight greater than what they weigh, as they are an odd object.
- Ensure soft flooring or crash mats if attempting more dynamic lifts is a wise idea.
- Mind your grip—especially if lifting by limbs or clothing. Squeeze too hard and you can hurt people.
For instance, in the human getup above, I practiced outdoors on grass with the person before I did it on that stage. With the bridge, as I had done a lot more weight before, I was confident in it, but still practiced with the person so that he knew what to do.
Why Human Lifting Is Special
Unlike tearing decks of cards or bending nails—lifting a human being has immediate, emotional impact. It’s playful and it’s primal.
It’s a great way to test real-world strength. After all, what’s the point of being strong if you couldn’t carry a loved one to safety?