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Old Forum What is the most inspiring physical performance you know?

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Mattsirpeace

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Hi all.

Instead of asking about New Year's Resolutions, I thought I'd ask:  What physical performance stands out in your memory and has influenced you?  It could be a sports event, but it could also be an historical event, a war story, overcoming a disability, or making a baby.

On a recent thread Eric Reichelt asked Pavel, "what left you scratching your head?"

Pavel answered "Seeing Andy Bolton deadlift 900+"

I know my answer and I'll post it in a day or two.  Please post yours!




 

 

 

 

 

 




 

 

 
 
This year I'm most inspired by Mark Reifkind's blog. As I get older and try to work through  my own limitations it has inspired and motivated me to see him still swinging, snatching, and prsessing as he recovers from his total knee replacement.
 
As far as sports related performances go, I'd have to say Serge Redding's 228kg Clean & Press:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nJrYPVJ88M

I just cannot fathom how that kind of a weight can be pressed overhead.
 
Good answers, keep them coming.  Charles, who is Chen Xiang?

The physical performance that stands out to me is actually not about lifting.  It's called "The Grand Traverse."  The Teton mountain range is in Wyoming, just south of Yellowstone.  You've seen them whether you know it or not because they are in movies, fine art, and postcards.  In Rocky IV, "Siberia" was really the Tetons.

Normally climbing a mountain in the Tetons takes a fit, competent person one or two days.  The Grand Traverse involves climbing roughly seven mountains.  The speed record was set by Rolando Garibotti.  Six hours, forty-nine minutes.  So instead of climbing one mountain per day, he was climbing one mountain per HOUR!

This feat requires elite trail running ability, elite rock-climbing ability, and route-finding memorization only a musician can appreciate.  Half the route is on cliffs where one mistake means death.  Just one guy, alone, without a stadium of spectators or a million-dollar sponsorship.

Every guide, ranger, alpinist, and local climber is utterly flabbergasted by Rolo's performance.  It hasn't been touched in twelve years.  Even though attempting it is free -- no permits, no special equipment, and cheap travel.

Climbers are almost never physically imposing.  They tend to be short, light, and have caved-in shoulders.  Even so, many are "present", just like a strong person.

That's what left me scratching my head.
 
Hmmm. No way I can narrow it down to just one (or even a few).

Lifting: Benni Magnusson and Bob Peoples' deadlift and Zydrunas Savickas and Gennady Ivanchenko's overhead lifting abilities.

Bodyweight: Gilbert Neville's complete mastery of handbalancing and chinning power. Yuri van Gelder and Yan Mingyong's strength on the rings (back lever press through to maltese cross, anyone?)

Kettlebells: Valery Fedorenko, Ivan Denisov, Denis Vasiliev and Ksenia Dedyukhina.

All around: Lu xiaojun, marvin eder, chuck sipes, john grimek. Also Bryce Lane, Jeff Steinberg, Mike Bruce, Sergey Rudnev.

Lotta incredible athletes out there who I like watching. Chen Yibing, Jan Hojer, Usain Bolt, Richard Hawthorne, David Hansen....
 
Don't know why  there is 2 posts, and in blank ???

Sergey Rudnev is my answer, IKFSA.
 
I am not a big endurance guy, but this is just awesome. From The Warrior Ethos by Steven Pressfield.  "There was a footrace in Sparta each year among the boys. They ran ten miles, barefoot, carrying a mouthful of water. The boys were not allowed to swallow any of the water but had to spit it all out at the end of the race."  Pressfield, Steven. The Warrior Ethos. Kindle. Loc 252.   I highly recommend this book if you like to read!
 
One of my best friends hiked the 220 mile John Muir trail in seven days, which is just nuts to me.  He made a video about it, including passages from his journal, though it's 45 minutes long.  Many inspiring moments about wanting to give up, feeling rekindled, etc.

<a title="Winer is Coming: Seven Days on the John Muir Trail" href="https://vimeo.com/7851505">https://vimeo.com/7851505</a>
 
I am bodyweight maniac, so first of all - Brad Johnson. His book and his feats are amazing!

Second - Maxick for screwing all excuses and doing things that most people think it is impossible. And in addition he has got the same bodyweight and body structure like me. Cool.

I have many heroes in my life.
 
Not quite sure whether I am inspired or appalled by this but it far surpasses any goals I ever had even though down same path in general.  [Warning: surfing footage ;)]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7woVTuN8k3c
 
In a sport full of amazing athletes that garners little attention in the USA comes a story that boggled my mind.  MotoGP, Grand Prix motorcycle racing, is the apex of two-wheeled motorsport.  It's the Formula One of two wheels.  Speeds surpass 200 mph on a few tracks, the bikes themselves require impressive strength and mobility to fling around and now generate so much cornering grip the riders routinely drag their elbows in the corners, mental mistakes are immediately punished either by another rider or physics, and the races last long enough to require massive stamina.  Okay....that's the setup - offered mostly for Americans.  Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo is the defending champion, upholding Yamaha's hopes in the face of the Honda juggernaught of Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez.  On June 27th, during practice for the the Dutch GP at Assen, Lorenzo gets spit off his bike at 120ish mph, very badly breaking his collarbone.  Having broken mine in the same way and remembering how much it hurt and how weak I was, I felt for the guy figuring his championship hopes were a goner.  That evening, Lorenzo flies to Barcelona, has his collarbone plated and screwed back together and flies back to Assen the 28th, leading everyone to comment what a good teammate he was to Valentino Rossi what with showing back up to support the team and all.  No.  Lorenzo announced he would race on the 29th.  Every follower of MotoGP - including me - figured he'd circulate the track in the bottom third of the order trying to salvage as many points as he could.  Instead, Jorge came from mid-pack where he was gridded 12th based on his pre-crash practice time, passed a bunch of guys, rode at nearly the same pace as the leaders despite being in obvious pain on the bike, and finished 5th in a sport where the top 5 is rarified air on the best of days. He kept his championship alive all the way down to the wire, finally succumbing to the Marquez phenomenon at the very last race.

He's Spanish but if he was an American, he could be a bull rider.
 
This has been fun to read.  Really like the diversity of feats.

For me, it is one that does not often get a lot of love here at Strong First.  My active lifestyle started with endurance sports, then I dabbled in weights, then I went head on into endurance stuff (running, cycling, nordic skiing, etc.) for over a decade, and now I am fully invested in the kettlebell and barbell.  But the things that amaze me most always come back to my first loves.

This fall Wilson Kipsang lowered the World Record for the Marathon to 2:03:23.  Every time that record drops I am in awe.

This article puts it in an interesting perspective:  http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/world-of-sport/long-could-run-marathon-world-record-holder-134257860.html

I'd like to see a similar breakdown comparing the 900 pound deadlift Pavel saw, but I'm not sure how that would work.  A couch potato could pick up 1/20th? Your average gym rat could pick up 1/3?
 
Thanks all for the interesting answers.  Pretty cool how StrongFirst is coherent without being centered around any one sport, and being larger than strength for its own sake.
 
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