Strength Sport Legends Series: Bill Kazmaier

At HouseOfMuscle.com, we always strive to motivate and educate our readers. We figured a good way to inspire some hard training and educate our readers would be to do a series of profiles about strength sport legends. These elite athletes have performed so well in their fields that their names should be known and respected. It is easy to lose track of the past in today's fast-paced society, so keeping in mind these athletes who laid the groundwork for today's progress is important. We couldn't think of a better way to kick off a legend series than with possibly the greatest known strength athlete of all time: Bill Kazmaier.

Bill Kazmaier is 6'3" and his weight ranged from 275 lbs as a younger lifter to around 330 lbs as he gained mass and peaked his strength and physique later in his career. Some sources report Kaz weighing as much as 350 lbs. He was and still is a mountain of a man. Kaz went on to have one of the most successful powerlifting and strongman careers of all time.

Let's first look at some amazing facts from Bill's legendary powerlifting career. In Kaz's first national powerlifting meet, he squatted 782 lbs, bench pressed 534 lbs and deadlifted 804 lbs in the 275 lbs weight class. He was only 24 for that competition.

The next year, at age 25, Bill won the IPF World Championships and set a new world record in the bench press of 622 lbs. He would continue to push his bench press higher and higher, until he became the first man ever to bench press 300kg, 661 lbs, in 1981. At this meet in Georgia, Bill also squatted 926 lbs and deadlifted 838 lbs. The squat was done with a very primitive squat suit and the bench and deadlift were done raw. His personal best, mammoth 3-lift total of 2,425 lbs at this meet was unsurpassed for over 10 years.

Equally as impressive but perhaps more popular for Bill was his strongman success. The World's Strongest Man contest was just beginning in the late 70s and early 80s. Once Kaz came onto the scene he dominated. Bill placed 3rd in the 1979 WSM at age 25. He went on to win the World's Strongest Man title in 1980, 1981 and 1982 by such a large margin that contest promoters did not invite Bill back to the contest for the following few years. Kaz would compete in a few less prestigious strongman contests for a number of years, and continued to be dominant. He returned to WSM in 1988 but never took the title again, as he was hampered by injuries.

Bill Kazmaier was not only a dominant physical force, but he was a very focused and mentally strong individual. He is credited with the mantra of "Conceive, Believe, Achieve", which illustrates his emphasis on mental toughness and preparation before a contest. During the 1982 WSM contest, Kazmaier had won the first three events and was interviewed mid-contest. In this interview, Kaz stated, "I am the strongest man who ever lived." Kaz beleieved he was the strongest man ever and he put those beliefs on display in his numerous dominant powerlifting and strongman contests.

Here are some of his mind-blowing strength feats:

915 lbs raw deadlift at Highland Games in 1981

1,055 silver dollar deadlift during 1982 WSM

495 lbs strict standing overhead press without leg drive

675 lbs gym bench press

475 lbs seated military press

Those are just a few incredible accomplishments completed by the strength legend Bill Kazmaier, possibly the strongest man to ever live. Kaz now lives in Alaska. He works closely with a few companies doing speaking engagements and attending expos to continue to be involved in the world of strength.

Hopefully you can take some of Kaz's incredible accomplishments and use them as inspiration to fuel your efforts.

Train Hard!