What is Strength? A Question of Philosophy

Who is the strongest man or woman in the world? A more important question to ask is how do we test them? Do we rely on the Olympic lifts (snatch and clean), or the powerlifting lifts (Squat, bench and deadlift)? What about strongman/strongwoman events like timber carries, max deadlifts using straps, Atlas stones or yoke walks? These are serious questions and one’s which cause spirited and fun debates among strength fans.

Earlier this year I had the pleasure of working alongside Dr. Adrian Kind, Dr. Walter Veit and Dr. Eric Helms on a philosophical question about the best means of testing strength. Ultimately focused on the sport of strongman/strongwoman, the paper is a glorious mixing of philosophy, sport science and history. It comes off the back of a great paper by Adrian and Eric on whether Bodybuilding is, or is not, a sport.

While the article is available here, I want to give a brief historical overview of how strength standards have changed over time.

Why Does This Matter?

In 2002 the inaugural Arnold Strength Summit was held in Columbus, Ohio. Its creation was born from the very question, ‘What is Strength?’ Writing on the Summit’s creation, co-organizer Terry Todd revealed a conversation between Terry, his wife Jan, Arnold Schwarzenneger, and Jim Lorimor. The Todds, who know  a thing or two about strength, suggested that the World Strongest Man competition did not produce the strongest winner. The reason was simple – the competition did not test static strength and was, instead, focused on a sort of elite strength cardio.

Think about it. At the WSM, athletes often lift objects for reps, do loaded carries and do timed events. Are they freakishly strong? Of course! But, and this is a key distinction, there is a difference between seeing someone lift 500 lbs. for 6 reps versus 600 lbs. for 1 rep. Is strength endurance more or less impressive than a single maximum effort? The result of these conversations was the creation of the Arnold Strongman Classic, and in time, the Strongwoman Classic. Here strength is tested more so on maximum effort rather than a sort of strength endurance. It is for this reason that many regard the Arnold winner as the truest strongman and woman in the world.

Below are some of my ruminations in the preprint article on how strength standards, and how we test them, have changed over time. Please do check out the full article as it continues to examine both the philosophy of strength and strength from an exercise science perspective.

From Early Strength Tests to Sports

Records of strength training and competition predate the formalisation of strength competitions by several centuries. While John Huzinga is credited with helping to popularise the study of play (1938), strength has served both a utilitarian and recreational role globally. Often ‘pre-modern’ strength feats were conducted by soldiers, sailors, stonemasons or farmers; those for whom strength played a role in their day-to-day livelihoods. Work elsewhere notes strength cultures and practices in Ancient Europe, Asia and Polynesia (Kyle, 2014). Objects used in the pre-modern period varied between swinging heavy cauldrons in China (ding lifting), heavy clubs in India and Persia (joris and meels), bags of sand in ancient Egypt or lifting heavy stones either to the chest or overhead in ancient Greece (Kyle, 2014). This variety continued into the seventeenth century when precursors to modern strength athletes like Englishman Thomas Thopham lifted objects overhead, rolled pewter dishes using his bare hands and lifted heavy weights in a harness. No singular object existed to prove one’s strength, rather objects known to mass audiences were chosen (Kent, 2021). Strength historian Terry Toddexplained that strongmen, and at times strongwomen, used common objects to display their strength (Heffernan, 2022) to ensure the general public was familiar with the weight or the impressiveness of the feat.

While no single object or lift ever universally typified strength, humans have displayed their strength in one of four common ways: lifting a heavy object overhead; swinging an object, lifting an object to waist or chest height, and carrying a heavy object. Of these four movements, lifting an object from the ground or overhead, and carrying a heavy object, continue to hold the most cultural relevance (Webster, 1993). As strength technology and commercialism grew in the nineteenth and twentieth century, squatting a heavy weight was added. These four, or five, movement patterns have many variations . For example, while a deadlift starts with lifting an object from the floor with bent knees and finishes when the individual stands upright with straight legs,  in the sport of powerlifting (established in the 1960s) deadlifts can be ‘conventional form’ with the feet inside the hands and hips roughly at shoulder width or as a sumo deadlift with the feet wider, outside the hands (Warphea, 2013). In different powerlifting competitions and federations, athletes are allowed to use different forms of equipment (straps, belts, deadlift suits etc.) (Morais, Todd and Pollack, 2021). In other sports, such as strongman or strongwoman, deadlifts might be conducted from a slightly higher height than in powerlifting or using entirely different implements (a barbell in powerlifting versus a thick grip barbell or oddly shaped object in strongman). Further, many non-competitive deadlift forms are used in training with different stances or implements. Basic movement patterns hold largely true across the various strength sports which exist in the modern age (weightlifting, CrossFit, strongman/strongman, highland games etc.)

Therefore, the subjective and constructed nature of strength competitions is worth stressing. Official strength contests underwent the same ‘sportification’ as other activities during the nineteenth century. Emblematic are weightlifting, powerlifting and strongman/woman activities, the most prominent strength sports, which encountered internal schisms and debates when deciding how best to test strength. Weightlifting has three origin points. A World Weightlifting Championship was held in London in 1891, the 1896 inaugural Olympics featured weightlifting and, in 1920, the sport welcomed a world governing body which survives to present day (Bonini 2019). This complex history stems from interpersonal, and even geo-political disputes about strength.

Strength Sports: From the 19th to the Mid-20th Century

Gottfried Schodl decried the chaos of early weightlifting. Specifically, there was no global governing body and various movements were used in competition. The 1891 World Weightlifting Championship featured several lifts, none of which were used in the 1896 Olympic Games. Between 1891 to 1914 over twenty global weightlifting contests (including two Olympic games) took place with little to no continuity between contests (Schodl, 1995). One year a weightlifting championship focused on pressing a barbell overhead with two hands, while the next year it centred solely on one-handed lifts. Vitriolic debates about what constituted legitimate strength compounded matters, centred on what was described at the time, as whether athletes used the German or French method of weightlifting (Bonini 2019). Under the French method, athletes had to use strict form and rigid body positions. For example, when pressing athletes were only permitted to rest the barbell on their clavicle before pressing it overhead without leaning backwards, and they were not permitted to touch their body with the weight during one-armed lifts. The German method (or ‘continental method’ as it is now known) allowed athletes to drag barbells up their torsos, resting it at several points. When pressing overhead, they could jerk their bodies or lean backwards, allowing them to use more weight.

Twice during 1901 to 1914 efforts at centralising weightlifting under a single federation failed because national representatives refused to use an opposing style. Edmond Desbonnet, a French physical culturist and fitness writer, led the French charge against the German method, describing it as vulgar, unhygienic and done only to appease those of lower descent (Schodl, 1995). On their part, multiple German representatives accused those French method promoters of fearing the heavy weights used with the German method. Other voices came from Russian, Italian and Danish federations favoring and opposing both systems in equal measure. Further complicating matters was whether or not strength should have a stylistic or aesthetic component. At the 1896 Olympics a tie between weightlifters was decided based upon who lifted the weight with the most graceful form. This decision so incensed one judge, Britishman E. Lawrence Levy that his angry outbursts became lore within the weightlifting community (Bonini 2019). And yet, rules continued to be arbitrarily applied within the sport. In 1905 three separate World Weightlifting Championships were held, each in a different location using a different set of rules. In 1912 another effort at organising weightlifting resulted in the creation of a global body, the Internationaler Weltverband für Schwerathletik (International Federation of Heavy Athletics), but again, no formal rules were agreed upon. It wasn’t until after the Great War (1914-1918) that the Fédération Internationale de Poids et Halteres (International Federation of Weights and Dumbbells) finally organised the sport around a set number of exercises, all executed in the French style (Heffernan & Boucher, 2023). Critically this was possible due to deliberate exclusion of German and Austrian sport organisations in the aftermath of the Great War. By the time these nations were re-admitted in 1925 to weightlifting, the sport had enjoyed several years under the new rules and a status quo was reached. This was further solidified in 1928 when weightlifting changed to include only  three movements considered objective tests of strength: the clean and jerk, snatch and clean and press. Note that each movement features pressing a weight overhead as the ultimate test of strength. By 1972 judging protocols for the military press had been repeatedly questioned, leading the International Weightlifting Federation to remove the military press at the Olympics because they felt athletes were compromising the agreed upon postures and forms in the lift to allow them to lift heavier weights (Fair, 2001).  It is worth noting that from the 1891 contest, which is generally regarded as the first international strength contest, competitions were scored on a points system, adjudicated by independent referees, mimicking the broader standardisation of sport across the nineteenth-century.

 

Strength Sports After the Second World War

Weightlifting was the dominant strength sport, globally, from the late nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century. As John Fair noted (1999), it was only after the Second World War that oddlifting (what eventually became powerlifting) rose in popularity. Weightlifting tests dynamic strength by lifting a barbell overhead. Powerlifting, however, focuses on more static movements: the squat (squatting down then up with a barbell on the back), the deadlift (lifting a barbell from the floor to an erect stance) and the bench press (pressing a barbell from the chest to full arm extension while lying on a bench). During the 1950s, several breakaway federations in the United States and Great Britain began holding competitions featuring these lifts, in direct competition to weightlifting. Peary Rader (1956), editor of one of America’s most influential fitness magazines during the 1950s – Ironman magazine – wrote of this time as a conflict between weightlifters and powerlifters. Those interested in powerlifting believed the squat, bench and deadlift were ‘truer’ tests of strength than weightlifting. Those in positions of power, like head of American weightlifting Bob Hoffman, believed these movements were useful only as accessories to weightlifting (Fair, 1999). Again, philosophical questions arose about what constituted strength. Further complicating matters were differences in opinion between British and American powerlifters. In the early 1950s the British Amateur Weightlifting Association (BAWLA) began hosting squat, deadlift, curl (lifting a weight in the hands, from the waist while standing to chest height with the biceps) competitions, while the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) in America used the squat, bench and deadlift. Thus, powerlifting experienced two schisms: one between powerlifting and weightlifting and the other within powerlifting itself.

In powerlifting, national competitions were held using both the British and American standards for several years before BAWLA removed the curl in favour of the bench press. This was done to help unify the sport and, in 1971 the first international powerlifting competition was held featuring athletes from both the United States and Great Britain (Warphena, 2013). While powerlifting resolved their internal question of ‘what is strength?’ quickly, the tension between weightlifting and powerlifting took on serious sporting and legislative complications. During the 1970s weightlifting campaigned heavily against powerlifting receiving Olympic status or recognition. The argument was that because weightlifters used the squat, bench and deadlift in training, it was spurious to have a competition focused on what were, in effect, ‘training’ movements (Schodl, 1995). Powerlifting, organised under the International Powerlifting Federation, countered that the powerlifting movements were separate feats of strength from weightlifting. Eventually the war of words dissipated and powerlifting remained a non-Olympic sport but the tensions became legitimate points at an IOC level. It is useful to conceptualise strength in three phases or eras. During the 1950s, when weightlifting was the dominant strength paradigm, the ‘Strongest Man in the World’ title was usually informally bestowed on the reigning heavyweight weightlifting champion (i.e. the man who could press the most weight overhead). During the 1960s and 1970s, some powerlifters were given this title based upon their three-lift ‘total’ or by achieving certain milestone lifts (say a 1,000 lbs. squat). Thus weightlifting was the dominant strength paradigm from the 1890s to 1960s, then it became powerlifting from the 1960s to 1980s. Currently the most accepted third paradigm is the rise of ‘strongman’ competitions from the 1980s to present day.

During the 1970s, ABC produced a new, popular program Superstars, inviting athletes from various sports to determine the best athlete across ten unknown events. Superstars indirectly led to the creation of the WSM, or “Strongman” as a purest (Webster, 1993). Created by CBS, it followed Superstars’ format; strength athletes from several disciplines  (shot put, wrestling, bodybuilding, powerlifting etc.) competed in a series of unknown events ranging from keg lifting, bending bars and tug of war. The 1977 inaugural WSM set the scene for strongman for the next decade. Critically, ‘modern’ strongman’s origins in television, rather than strict sport, caused problems for athletes. In 1977, competitors had to race with refrigerators strapped to their backs due to its entertainment value despite organizers’ concerns about athlete welfare. One athlete broke their leg under the refrigerator’s weight. Nevertheless, the WSM became annually televised. Initially, the WSM was a decidedly American affair, hosted in the United States until 1983 when it came to New Zealand, with most competitors being US athletes (Edmunds, 2019). The first WSM’s judging format has been replicated in subsequent competitions with few, if any, deviations. Competitions are split between a series of events, with points awarded in each. A first place finish earns 10 points, second place 9 points and so on. While the metric for success varies from event-to-event (highest repetitions, weight lifted, or distance etc.) the point system remains stable. Therefore, athletes oftentimes have  both strengths and weaknesses, requiring strategies to make up ground, e.g. an athlete weak in lifting Atlas stones may attempt to overstretch themselves in a max deadlift to compensate. Whereas traditionally strength was judged purely by the weight lifted or the number of repetitions,this system’s origins stem from the predecessor, ABC Superstars programme, which first used this system, rather than strength sport.  Interestingly, no rival judging system has ever been seriously considered in the past fifty years.

By the mid-1980s, WSM copy-cats emerged such as Britain’s Strongest Man, Ireland’s Strongest Man, Iceland’s Strongest Man, etc. Despite rival strongman competitions and leagues emerging, the depth and diversity of competitors at WSM increased and the WSM became the sport’s premier competition. By the late 1980s and early 1990s, a new generation of athletes emerged. Unlike previous generations, they were not from other sports, but ‘professional’ strongmen focused solely on strongman competition. Events became increasingly standardized, revolving around stone lifts, overhead pressing, loaded carries, and heavy pulling, aideing strongman’s ‘sportification’ (Webster, 1997). This evolution culminated in the 1997 World Strongest Woman (WSW) competition being hosted for the first time, defined by rules, judging processes and known equipment. Critically the WSM remained an entertainment/sporting event, televised and informed by media concerns, whereas the WSW was run by a private entity.

 

Strength Sports in the 21st Century

 

In 2002, Arnold Schwarzenneger and his business partner, Jim Lorimer, hosted their own strongman competition known as the Arnold Strength Summit (later Strength Classic) – causing a critical split in strongman (Todd, 2003). Co-created with strength historians and competition organizers Terry Todd, Jan Todd, and David Webster, the Arnold Strength Show was part of a broader health and fitness exhibition with roots from the 1980s. In Terry Todd’s retrospective on the origins of this show, he explained how he and the other organizers felt that many WSM events, such lifting implements for timed maximal repetitions, or carrying them over 20-40 yards for time were not ‘true’ tests of strength, because they rewarded athletes with higher endurance rather than maximal strength. They set out to determine who was stronger, who could lift 1,000 lbs. from the ground once, rather than a WSM event determining who could lift 800 lbs. five or six times. Thus a distinction was created between the WSM testing strength and endurance and the Arnold testing strength in its ‘purest’ form.

The creation of a rival WSM competition, the International Federation of Strength Athletes (IFSA), in the early 2000s created a conflict among athletes. WSM Athletes were not eligible to compete in the IFSA and vice-versa (Heffernan, 2022). However, both groups of athletes could compete at the Arnold. But, for several years the WSM winner did not compete in the Arnold, which led to debates about which man was stronger. Anecdotally, the fan consensus indicated that the Arnold winner was the strongest man in the world. While the distinction between the competitions, and the athletes who compete in them, has diminished in recent years, their organizing philosophies (entertainment versus maximum strength) remain. Strongman professionalized in the 1980s as a sport but still operates on an entertainment/sport nexus. This predates the WSM, mirroring the Vaudeville days of music halls. Both the WSM and Arnold rely on strongman lineage. The WSM has used strength objects from the Ancient World such as heavy cauldrons in China (‘ding lifting’) and more contemporary objects such as French strongman Louis Uni’s ‘Apollon’ wheels from the early twentieth-century. Likewise the Arnold uses heavy stones from eighteenth and nineteenth century Scottish and Icelandic strength cultures. This ‘invented tradition’ adds legitimacy and cultural longevity. A fascinating example is the use of the ‘Cyr’ dumbbell in both competitions. Named after strongman Louis Cyr (1863-1912), the dumbbell was originally a loadable dumbbell reaching 270 lbs. at its highest weight. In modern strongman competitions Cyr dumbbells come in a variety of weights, the heaviest being 320 lbs.. This use of naming highlights the continually evolving use of history in strongman.

Modern strongman and strongwoman uses both single maximum lift attempts and maximal repetitions efforts. Harking back to its show-business origins, these competitions also include distance efforts of some sort, like carrying or pulling heavy objects (often theatrical in style like cars, logs, fridges, planes, or trucks) . Competitions follow a sporting format with judges, point scoring systems and qualifiers. Thus, the sport marries ‘legitimate’ sporting structures with the need for entertainment.