How Strong Was Ken Patera Really?
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- čas přidán 6. 06. 2024
- How Strong Was Ken Patera Really?
#strongman #strongest #ever
I focus on strength athletes from various fields including: Strongman, Powerlifting and Bodybuilding, comparing performances from different eras, disciplines and organizations.
Thanks again go to Abinav Kumar for helping to research for this video. If you see Abinav in the comment section please take a second to thank him.
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Huge thanks to Abhinav Kumar for helping with research on Ken. Thanks Abhinav! I hope you guys enjoyed the video! If so please take a moment to hit like and leave a comment. Thank you👍
You should do how strong was viv Graham (he was a body builder and monster from Newcastle upon Tyne) there is footage of him in the gym on CZcams
Ken was pretty strong😂
@@mauricegilliam7102- What's so funny weenie?
After Mr Patera's legal problems/prison time in Wisconsin, he was put in work release/parole in my hometown, New Richmond, WI. He got a job as a trainer in the gym I used in Hudson, WI and I had a number of training sessions with him before he was finished all his required time and went back to wrestling. The man absolutely knew everything there was to know about strength training and weight lifting and several of wrestlers friends who lived in Minneapolis, MN (less than an hour away) would stop in from time to time to talk and train with him. I never connected with him after that, but guided me in my strength training journey and corrected a lot of my mistakes with form and intensity. I'm forever a fan.
Was he the guy that wanted some McDonalds after they had closed?
@@madtownangler, yep that was him. I asked him about it once. He answered my questions politely but with a barely contained rage and after that I learned to never bring up the subject again.
That style of power clean and then "locked-knee" press--essentially a military press--is absolutely nuts. 84 records--Ken is a legend in the PNW.
Ken Patera's presses were not military presses!
@@charlessavoie2367 understood in a strict sense--but look at 3:34 and tell me that form isn't bananas...
@@matthewelliott2213 I dream of doing half as much. But there was a "torso push" involved, not completely strict and you get get this that or the other highlighted and there was still torso (back) movement helping send the weight up. Contrast to Bill March at the Nationals in Chicago in 1969, 228 pounds bodyweight, 390 pounds went up using shoulders and arms ONLY and NO body movement!!
@@charlessavoie2367 Who cares? His knees were locked and his back moved it was still obviously mostly arm strength that pushed the weight up and he was lifting crazy weights for that era. Patera is underrated in the strength arena.
@@douglasroseveare7295 I am impressed by Ken, but how much less could he do without the back action? "Who cares" is a nullity!
My late father-in-law wrestled and trained with Ken during his time in the NWA. He said that he was the strongest, kindest man he ever met in the locker room. The man definitely deserves to be one of the strongest men of all time.
I didn't know he was that nice he frightened me
@@johneveryman6296 Hulk Hogan was my fav NWA member. His rhymes and lyrical content were the most relatable. No one could flow like 'ole Hogan.
Hogan had bars true but he bit them from superstar Billy Graham...Ken is the Emcee Ren of the group writing for people but not getting his full cred
@@johneveryman6296😂😂😂
Then putinaski and shaw walk in
Absolutely he's one of the strongest men of all time.
No
Top 1 million maybe
@@MJC-he3zt Seriously, how do you make that calculation?
@@MJC-he3zt You think there are more than 1 million people who can do a standing shoulder press with 500lbs? Laughable. You only have to look at national records to understand how exception that is. There won't be a million people capable of squatting 700lbs either: nowhere nea, and 1 5oolbs shoulder press is much more exceptional than a 700lbs squat.
@@richardduplessis1090 2 guys i went to high school with in a town of 5000 people could squat more than 700. He's not one of the strongest men of all time
Ken was a true legend absolutely one of the strongest men of all time God bless
Of course he's one of the strongest men of all time he set 84 records some of which still stand over 50 years later. First American to over head press 500 lbs. 100% he's a legend in the strength world.
How many other strength athletes have been top-tier competitors in the throws for track and field, Olympic lifting, power lifting, and strongman? He’s gotta be one of the most well-rounded strength athletes ever.
Don't forget the fricken hurdle that gets me the most
I met Ken a few years ago, and he told me the story of him being in the first WSM.
One of the organizers was a friend of Ken and wanted him to do the contest due to his name value and the attention that would draw to the contest. Ken, however, hadn't been training for five years by this point and only did the event to make his friend happy. He came in third without taking it seriously at all.
Stop telling lies lad
@@billybarr7443absolutely needed comment, not.
@billybarr7443 It must suck to live such a boring, sheltered life, that meeting someone famous seems utterly impossible to
you.
My friend and I had funny encounter with Quentin Tarantino at a movie theater once, where we all laughed together. I guess that must make me sound like the biggest liar in the world to someone who never leaves their house.
@@skybluemarshall just stop telling lies lad
I actually met him as well back in about 2005 or so. He definitely was a good guy and was happy to talk wresting with us. He had a big ol dip of Copenhagen in his mouth and his black lab was waiting in his truck. I can remember the size if his calves were bigger than my legs. Lol.
Yes, he deserves recognition. Back injuries can just shut down your whole body. And the wrong shoes in a tug of war can make a difference. His standing press was amazing.
A very detailed biography on Ken. Well done!
There's no doubt in my mind that Ken Patera, had he been in his prime, would have won that first WSM in '77. He had not only superior Olympic lift numbers to Bruce, but also very impressive powerlift and track & field numbers! Jon Cole, also past his best years, would have been up there too.
Being reminded how Ken looked in his Olympic lifting days with the eyeglasses made me think of Alex Karras with a similar look as an Olympic lifters in the movie, "The 500 Pound Jerk." (free on YT)
A few strongmen video suggestions if you haven't done them already:
Serge Reding (those quads!)
Chuck Sipes
Mike Dayton
Thanks Pete, pleased you found it interesting and thanks for the suggestions
Hard to say regarding Patera vs. Wilhelm. Wilhelm lifted in the drug-tested 1976 Olympics (placed 5th) while Ken lifted (no totaled) in the last un-tested '72 Olympic Games. He infamously answered, when asked who would win, him or Russian Vasily Alexeyev, by saying something to the effect "whoever has the best drugs." Another compare. Wilhelm, too, was about equal to Bruce in field event exploits in high school and college. Finally, Wilhelm was also a dominant "real" wrestler compared to Ken's pro-wrestling both of which certainly require lots of athleticism. ***One last interesting tidbit: Both Ken and Bruce came from athletic families. Some of you might know that Jack Patera of pro football playing and coaching fame is Ken's older brother. And Bruce's little brother, Steve, was a dominant collegiate shot put and discus thrower and part of a famous threesome weightmen group at Kansas.
@@bradreid6057 Look at what Bruce himself has said about the strength of Patera. Patera in his prime was stronger than prime Bruce Wilhelm. Bruce has called Ken the world's strongest man in his time and the titan of strength.
You know your weightlifting and weightlifters! Serge Reding was one of Alekseyev main competitors. He died to young. Mike Dayton did some insane stunts.
@archclement2902 Some people thought Serge was stronger than Vasily. Serge would rise out of his cleans like he was lifting an empty bar! Mike Dayton's act was just CRAZY!!! I wonder how long he did it before he retired. And poor Chuck Sipes - great physique, great strength, but he committed suicide.
Speaking about whether Ken Patera was one of the strongest man in his time or not the answer is yes he definitely was. Just look at what his contemporary strength experts have said about him :
Jim Schmitz, the greatest weightlifting coach of USA, who coached USA for Olympics at 4 different years ( 1972,1980,1988 and 1992) and has trained 11 olympians - including three athletes who have clean and jerked 500 lbs and two athletes who have snatched 400 lbs. When he was asked to describe some of the best qualities of each of the following olympians he has trained, he said " ken Patera was the absolute strongest, Bruce Wilhelm trained the hardest, Thanh Nguyen had the most natural talent, Ken Clarke had the most determination and Mario Martinez had the most success".
The winner of the first two wsms, Bruce Wilhelm who beat Patera at the 77 contest, has said enequivocally that Patera was the strongest human being in the planet and that no one was stronger than Patera and Jon Cole that he ever saw compete in his live career. Bruce further called Patera as the second strongest man of all time just behind Paul Anderson who Wilhelm believed cannot be compared with anyone. Patera was an idol of Wilhelm and when he started weightlifting, Patera was the reigning king. Bruce has written a whole book on the biography of Patera titled Ken Patera story where he has called him as the titan of strength. He was certainly the one to write the life of Ken Patera as no one was closer to Ken and knew about his lifting and athletic career better. Bruce was in almost constant contact with Ken during his Olympic lifting and professional wrestling careers. In his interview with big Loz, Wilhelm recalled how he was in complete disbelief when he beat Patera and won the overall competition as he thought that Patera would win the whole thing and specially dominate the first event, which was the awkward overhead barrell press. As it turned out, Patera was not in competitive shape and suffering with a back injury, Bruce won the first event and the overall competition. He was definitely the stronger man during that contest. I firmly believe that Ken Patera and Jon Cole would have been top 2 in no particular order at that inaugural wsm competition if all the athletes that competed in that contest would have been in their respective primes at the same time competing against each other due to Patera and Cole's diversified backgrounds in so many different sports of powerlifting, weightlifting, track and field, shot up, javelin and discuss throws.
What better than the biggest rival of Patera, Vasily Alekseyev of Russia who is widely regarded as the greatest Superheavyweight weightlifter of all time and won two gold medals at 1972 and 1976 Olympics as well as won consecutive 8 world Championships from 1970-1977 and remained undefeated until his injury. Alekseyev was widely regarded as the world's strongest man during 1970s and sports Illustrated called him the same in his 1975 edition of featuring him. Alekseyev along with all the fellow Russian lifters and medias were in so much awe of Patera's strength and size ( Patera in his prime was built like a grizzly bear with those humongous arms, shoulders, chest and large sculpted legs that all looked like granites of pure muscles. He looked so different in his prime than when he was a pro wrestler.) that before the 72 Munich Olympics, Alekseyev admitted in an interview that Patera was stronger than him and that he has good chance to beat him for the medal. As things turned out, it was not in the fate of Patera to win the gold medal at Olympic as shortly a day before, the infamous terrorist attacks took place where dozen of innocent Isralieites jews got killed in a massacre. Patera saw the murder live in front of his eyes from the distant balcony and it emotionally and mentally unstabled him. The worse thing happened when Olympic Committee shortly after the attack announced that the weightlifting competitions that was about to happen next day was cancelled which shocked Patera more. To cope with his pain, he went to night clubs and bars and kept partying , drinking and chasing all the German girls throughout the whole night. The effect of continuous pounding took its toll on the pelvic and back areas of Patera and as a result he suffered injury. The next day, Olympic Committee announced that they have decided to resume the weightlifting competition and Patera injured, tired and somewhat still in drunk state couldn't manage to perform as everyone expected from him.
Hey, pleased you managed to post this in the end. Excellent points that demonstrate the high esteem that Kens peers had for him. It's a shame that Ken wasn't able to capture an Olympic medal, if not for the incident you accurately described he was certainly capable of finishing on the top 2 steps of the podium
His HS bench was more than my current bench. What a beast!
Those shoulder press numbers are ... wow
He was my favorite wrester as a teenager and I eventually got into pro wrestling and was heavyweight champion of a Independent federation known as the WWA which pulled talent from the NWA and we wrestled on the same card one night in upstate NY. I was so happy to get to meet and talk with him. He was a total gentleman! He is the world's strongest man in my book!
Ken Patera was an absolute savage, genetically gifted.
and responded to steroids very well
@@neon_necromunda. He was a billionaire of strength genetics, and if one put his “use of steroids” on a 10 scale for comparison sake ( quantity/duration) , he’d be about a -1.
He didn’t really need them, and his use was rather quite casual at best.
when i was a kid, ken was a heel in the nwa and i ran into him chatting with some drunk guy. i watched for a bit and the drunk got belligerent and the security came and took him away. ken(who was supposed to be a bad guy) looked at me and smiled and said "don't end up like that guy!" blew my mind. it was one of those rare moments in an empty cow palace(or oakland colliseum) back when the wrestling events weren't as popular and you could actually hang out with the wrestlers when they came out of the dressing room. tito, and rock n roll buck zhumov and greg gane and jim brunzell were who i usually ran into, but a nice heel? stuck with me ever since.
IKR? I met Superstar Billy Graham not long after he won (or stole) the WWWF title from Bruno Sammartino. I’m nearly 61 and still recall how kind and patient he was with me. He was (still is) my all time favorite wrestler…
love hearing stories like this. wrestling now just isn't as fun as it was back then. where a kid could walk to the dressing area and just hang out waiting for these wrestlers to come out a door and chat.@@tonyjones1560
I recall Jen putting Andre off the ground and slamming him to the mat. It staggered him, but he continued the match. That was in Oakland's Kaiser Auditorium in the early 80s.
Damn right he deserves to be considered one of the strongest men of all time!!!!😀
Anyone who can clean and press (not a jerk) over 500 lbs in a official competition puts you into a league of only a few amongst billions....
And he’ll remain as the first ( and only) American to hold this record because of it being dropped from the “Olympic three” later on 👆🏽
Patera became a national hero of mine when I first became interested in weight-lifting as a young adolescent. I rooted for him while watching ABC's Wide World of Sports as he competed against Alexeev and Redding, but unfortunately his lifts fell short. When Alexeev and Redding were dueling it out with the 500 lb. overhead press, Patera was struggling with a 485 lb. clean and jerk. It's unfortunate that the US has lost interest in Olympic weight-lifting and in the super-heavyweight division in particular.
His size and strength since he was very young is phenomenal. The thing that needs more mention is his all around athleticism, such as track and field. In his prime he was absolutely historic.
That rack press of 535 is especially phenomenal. Isn't it the heaviest such effort yet?
Nope Patera's best push press from the rack actually was 552 lbs witnessed personally by Bruce Wilhelm and Bill starr. I believe it is the heaviest such effort in the history that is verified.
@@abhinavkumar547 I recall the pic in Strength& Health, which attributed the bar as 560.
@@Ease54 Not sure he ever did 560 , but everywhere he has been credited as doing upto 550 lbs .
@@abhinavkumar547 : but that's a push press. Phenomenal but I meant strict press.
All his achievements are extremely impressive. Especially when u consider the era he achieved them.the 60 and 70s had to be very difficult to make any kind of living from weight lifting. It's not like today how anyone can make videos of themselves and share with the world.
Super impressive guy with the weights even more super he wasn't afraid to get into the ring with Andre the Giant that takes Guts and ❤ and yes he inspired me to lift weights as a child Thank you Ken Paters Olympic Champion..
@@user-pz1zh5ml6d Why would he fear Andre when he was actually overall stronger than him.
Ken is absolutely one of the strongest men ever, and he was a great wrestler. The strongman stuff came too late, and it’s a shame. Thanks for another great video.
Well said
I also met Ken when I wrestled he was a very nice and humble guy. As an athlete I can't imagine what he would have accomplished with modern sports medicine and training. In the time frame that Kenny competed he was the dominate athlete. His athletism is one in a million. I'd highly recommend Kennys autobiography. He led one interesting life!
What an outstanding video. Your videos are getting better the more you produce them. Great research, presentation and occasional humour but ultimately, the respect you keep within them.
I'm fairly well educated on strength athletes but new nothing of Ken prior to WSM (it was his hair on the bar neck bend that made me remember him). A proper renaissance man within strength. Given his varied participation, injuries and the early days of strength competition, it's without doubt that he'd be chomping at the bit of the known greats.
Thanks mate, pleased you enjoyed it. It's a shame WSM didn't start 5 years earlier
Oh yeah he does. I had the pleasure of meeting him a few years back and he is a great guy on top of being an incredible athlete. All you can do in this life is set or break records. If your records are broken, that's life. But to set that many records he deserves to be with the top athletes of all time.
Ken Patera got me into weight lifting . I never pressed 500 lbs but I did manage to bench press it . At 5’9” that was pretty good and I owe it all to him and Bruno Sammartino .
500lb bench is something the majority will never achieve; congrats!
@@StrengthUniverse Thanks . It something I am really proud of .
Love these videos. They must take so much time to make. Thanks for the effort sir.
Glad you like them!
Watched him when I was at Loprinzi's Gym , Portland Oregon. Very impressive 300 + pounder and drove off in an Austin Healey Sprite !
Very cool highlight.
Enjoyed the educational vid. Thank you
Glad you enjoyed it
Definitely deserves a Place on Any List….✅✅✅👍👍👍💪💪💪
Yet another great video!!! I remember watching some of those competitions on tv as a young lad!!! Thank you sir for the memories!
Glad you enjoyed it
Wonderful video thank you for sharing, I shared to my Facebook.
Thanks Miguel, much appreciated
Thank you for the video! Ken Patera was and still is Awesome!
love your narrating style! These videos are short documentaries!
Cheers Martino
Brian Shaw definitely deserves a video discussing whether he's the strongest of all time.
His Yoke and Frame WRs are so underrated.
Yes, Ken Patera is most certainly one of the strongest men in history. Soviet Gold Medal Olympian
Vasily Ivanovich Alekseyev said Ken Patera was the strongest man in the world.
IJS, we can trust Alekseyev’s assessment 100%. Ken Patera was real deal strong!
Great video Sir.Its well made and very informative
Thank you
Great video!
Thanks!
First American to clean and press over 500 LBS. A lift I believe most current day world strongest men would fail to make
In competition, I believe only he & Alexyev in history.
He might be the first 500 lbs clean and press in the world but it was done at a National weightlifting competition.
@@lazur1Serge Reding as well did over 500. Those three were the best pressers in history.
@@strengthandbulkMadness. And he is the first , last and will be the only American to hold the US record , because of the discontinuance of said lift😎👆🏽.
Nice one! We appreciate all the work you put into these videos!
Cheers Andrew
Extremely gifted freak of nature.
In 1973 Patera was the first person in history to do a standing shoulder press with 500 lbs.
Wow very impressive athletic career...a true champion imo...
Great video. Waiting on Jim Neidhart.
He was best known for being one of the first guys to lift 500 lbs over his head.
If he had been born 30 years later with his potential and modern training he would have been right at the top of the field.
Kenny was a freakishly powerful dude! As we say down here in Tennessee, He was tougher than a pine knot.
Ken Patera definitely worthy of having a video on your channel. Would be interesting to see some other pro wrestlers on here too. Can't remember if you've done Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan already.
He certainly is. I've done videos on: Andre, The Great Khali, hulk Hogan, Warrior Animal, Ultimate Warrior, The Rock, John Cena, Brock Lesna, Kane, The Steiners, Warlord, Big E and several others wrestlers
@StrengthUniverse Maybe consider doing Bruno Samartino. He was one of the first holders of the world bench press record!
Like the Warlord, Tony Atlas and Dino Bravo also claimed a 600 lb. bench.
@@StrengthUniverse maybe for April Fools one year you can do "How Strong was WJ Handy Dad Really?"
Another GREAT video!!! Are those A.I pictures of ken squatting and deadlifting? If so then that's so interesting, I never thought of that being done. What program did you used?
Thanks, please you enjoyed it. No AI, just lots of time on Photoshop
@@StrengthUniversewow, that's very impressive. Keep it up ❤
that was a very good video! if the WSM had been held from 1970-1972 there is no doubt in my mind he would have won easily!
Thanks paul, No doubt in my mind he would have won at his peak
Awesome
I recall him working the NWA circle for Crockett Promotions and remember him on the CBS Production of the Worlds Strongest Men Competition 📺
Unbelievable 565 lbs bench press
And this was the reason why they gave Henry so much leeway for his strength competitions decades later💪💯
I like when you mention John Kuc.
Can you make a video about Dino Bravo.
Please make a video on The Great Gama Pehelwan
Kenny is a great representation from the great northwest. Respect and admiration to the world's strongest man thanks for the memories
An injury can knock a lot out of you. You can still feel and look strong, but your body just won’t let you anymore.
Wow! He was blessed before he started!!!
Absolutely One of The Strongest Men on Earth A Great Athlete and Wrestler no Doubt gotta give props where it's due !
At first glance I thought it was Richard Simmons that started bodybuilding!
Absolutely he should be known as one of the worlds strongest men !
He was the strongest man in the world for a year or two.
Very impressive.
I dont think ordinary people have an appreciation for how strong Ken Patera was. This video does, however, shed some light on the subject!
Really enjoy your videos of these historic strenght athletes. Such a rich history. Jesus bless you.
Thanks, I appreciate that!
I trained with Ken several times back in the day, I can tell you he was pretty strong.
Patera is absolutely in the conversation when talking about the strongest ever. And slightly off topic but a question comes to mind when I see him wearing glasses. Did he wear contacts in pro wrestling or did he just work “blind” like Stan Hansen?
Something that stood out to me is how well Franco Columbo...a 5'5" bodybuilder, did competing against these big guys, in the strongman competition. He was also a good friend and trained with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Oh without a doubt. Ken was such an awesome athletic wrestler to watch too. I remember the first time I ever saw a wrestling show was when I was a little kid. AWA had an event at the high school, mom and dad got us all front row seats. Ken was one of the wrestlers on the card that night and I can remember his wrestling style compared to others on the card was just insane awesome. The way he would whip those opponents to the corner and slam them was just awe inspiring. Ken of course, was the "HEEL" and he did his moves and took his bumps with such force that when he slammed that turnbuckle or someone into it, it would actually scare you. This was old small town AWA wrestlin' days, no TV crew, no microphone under the ring to add effect. I'll always remember Ken and Shawn Michaels as 2 of the very first wrestlers I saw perform, don't really remember too many more that day.. I know Bobby Heenan was there, he wrestled too wasn't managing. Buck Zumhoff, Jerry Blackwell, Sheik Adnon', Wahoo McDaniels who was the first autograph I ever got and I don't remember the rest, don't remember the matches well at all, but one thing I'll never forget was how scary and awesome it was to watch Ken. Not only the most memorable match of the night, but the most memorable one in my life.
YES! I do. Ken Patera's strength is terrifying!
Yes, he makes the list.
good vid. One correction? No way Patera was deadlifting 700+ lbs for reps with "double overhand" grip. He was an Olympic style lifter and would be using hook grip.
Quite probably
Ken very famously bent an York Olympic bar, and if memory serves it was doing 736# for 2 or 3. Brad Gillingham has powerlifting competition records as a super with a hooked DOH grip🤙🏼
As a shot putter and disc thrower is high school, those throws are insane! And college is a 16lb shot compared to high school 12 lb!
Well presented video and great narration. And your editing skills have become brilliant during some of your recent videos. Goes to show your supreme hard work. Thank u.
Ken Patera is one of the strongest human that ever lived and one of the top 3-5 strongest man in the world in his prime during early 70s. All of his pure strength lifts ie., powerlifts are actually not indicative of his actual peak strength due to his main focus on weightlifting and even there his clean and press that requires pure brute strength, could have been better. Ken was the late starter in weightlifting and relied more on his great brute strength and power rather than techniques which were good but not to the level of other European and Russian Superheavyweights in the world, mainly due to his late start. His excess strength overcame a host of technical miscues.
Ken's best unofficial clean and jerk was 518 lbs and snatch was 402 lbs done in training. He actually had the best overhead push press of 552 lbs from the rack witnessed personally by Bruce wilhelm and Bill starr as opposed to 535 lbs shown here. He front squatted 650 lbs for 3 reps and in neck behind the press recorded a best single of 418 lbs in addition to 405 lbs for 2 reps shown here. In powerlifts, he had a best pb of 520 lbs bench press with pause in addition to 560 lbs touch and go rep. With a little bit serious training he would surely have crushed over 600 lbs mark.Ken had a best squat of 820 lbs like u narrated but for 2 reps with no knee wraps and suits and was done in an Olympic weightlifting squat style ie., Low bar squat with ass to the grass depth as compared to high bar squat done by powerlifters.
Just curious to know how did u arrive at this conclusion that his raw squat was 2nd heaviest of all time until 1973 behind Paul Anderson. I m not sure how much did ace bandages knee wraps during early 70s helped but it sure didn't provide as much assistance as knee wraps of later periods. How did Patera compares with the top 3-4 guys in the powerlifting during early 70s at his peak in raw squat and deadlift. Monster powerlifter Jim Williams officially squatted 865 lbs with just ace bandages knee wraps in competition and had the pb of 900 lbs with ace bandages in the gym.Jon Cole was the first man in the history to squat 900 lbs officially in a competition with a lift of 901.5 lbs with ace bandages wraps in a AAU local meet in Phoenix, Arizona on oct. 28,1972 and had a pb of 865 lbs for 3 reps in training. Although Cole squatted 900 lbs a bit earlier in a Aau local meet on oct. 72 , John kuc became known as the first man to squat over 900 in a major international competition with a more strict judging at the Aau world powerlifting championships with a lift of 905 lbs with ace bandages on Nov. 11,1972. Don Reinhoudt also squatted 830 lbs with ace bandages wraps until 1972 at Aau world Championship. Do u think these 4 gentlemen would have squatted more than Ken's best squat of 840-850 lbs ( theoretical 1 rm of 820 for 2 reps) without ace bandages knee wraps and in a similar low bar ass to the grass squat style that he did?
Speaking about raw deadlift, minor corrections for your video are that Patera's dl was not the 3rd heaviest until 1972 in the world and John kuc didn't held the world record for heaviest raw dl in competition until 1972 with 820 lbs lift as Jon Cole did the heaviest dl upto that time with lift of 882.5 lbs. Even though this lift was a bit controversial and was done at a local Aau Arizona State powerlifting championships meet at oct. 28, 1972. Before that Cole did 820 lbs dl in a Aau Us national championship in 1972. Cole had a pb in raw dl of 855 lbs for 4 reps in training and also did 905 lbs dl twice within a time duration of 3 minutes on a stiff Olympic bar at paramount studio for the circus of stars tv show. John kuc had deadlifted 845 lbs as his best until 1972 and later deadlifted 870.8 lbs as his best in comp. in the late 70s at a much lighter bodyweight of 242 lbs. Jim williams also had a pb in raw dl of 860 lbs which was more than Patera's best dl of a little over 800 lbs ( theoretical 1 rm of 785 lbs for 2 reps). In addition to that Hugh cassidy was close too with pb of 800 lbs. Paul Anderson had a best pb of 820 lbs during 60s.Bert Assariti was rumoured to be the first person in history to dl 800 lbs during 1930s but was not official. Some other guys who were close to Patera's dl even before him were Hermann Goerner with 792 lbs dl in 1920 ,Bruce Randall with 770 lbs lift in 1955 and Benoit Cote's 784 lbs done in 1962. NFL star and the runner up in the first wsm competition of 1977 , Bob Young was said to have done over 800 lbs in raw dl but i m not sure whether it was done before 1973 or not but it was surely done during 1970s.
One important thing that should be talked about is that Ken was the first man in history to clean 500 lbs ( 503 lbs) in dec. 1969 in a local competition which happened 6 months earlier than Alexeev's 1st clean of 500 lbs in 1970 world championship. Ken narrowly missed the jerk part in that meet where he cleaned 500 lbs before Alexeev otherwise he would have been the first man to clean as well as jerk 500 lbs in the history before Alexeev. There is this little back story given in the book written by Bruce wilhelm on Ken patera which has revealed that by the time Vasily made the first official 500 lbs clean and jerk at 1970 world Championship, Patera already push jerked 518 lbs in the training hall before the competition and was primed to beat Alexeev to the magic 500. Unfortunately, a severe ankle sprain in the clean and press forced him to watch on sidelines as Alexeev entered the record books with his never to be forgotten lift. Bruce wilhelm has written in his book, " I remember thinking it was a terrible tragedy, just as he ( Patera) was getting going, . " Surely he would have cleaned and jerked over 500 that day before Alexeev. He looked so on and his training had been going so well". Patera was actually ahead than Alexeev in weightlifting prior to that injury in 1970 world championship in terms of weights lifted in all three weightlifting lifts and also beat Alexeev previously in competition. That injury was what forced Patera to trail behind Alexeev and changed the destiny of the great Russian. Still in terms of lifts that determine pure brute strength, Patera remained ahead than Alexeev as indicated by his superior overhead push press from the rack of 552 lbs, better deadlift as well as better squat ( Alexeev was reported to have done 1000 lbs back squat but when u look deeper into this research, Alexeev never went heavier in squat than 700-725 lbs even though he was capable of much more because he used to follow the training programme that don't prioritise doing heavy squat and dl and his training methods were later adopted by marvellous bulgarian and east European as well as Russian weightlifters which resulted in them dominating the weightlifting scene). Even Patera's best clean and press of 505 lbs was done in a strict manner as compared to Alexeev's best competition clean and presses of 507 lbs and later 521 lbs which were done in a much looser fashion arching and leaning the back. The reason why press was removed from weightlifting. Patera's clean and press of 505 lbs is said to be super strict by Marty Gallagher but USA weightlifting coach of that time Jim Schmitz who was actually there described that lift as done in a strict manner with a very little body movement. Jim Schmitz told that Patera actually cleaned and pressed 505.5 lbs twice on that day, the first time when he cleaned and pressed the bar with over 500 lbs, he did it with such a force that it was too quick even for him to handle and maintain the bar with that weight overhead and dropped the barbell backwards. Just after that, he again cleaned and successfully pressed 505 lbs this time with perfection. This 505.5 lbs clean and press is imo still the greatest weight ever lifted from the ground to the overhead which would be done in a strict manner.
Thanks mate. How Ken would do in powerlifting would really depend on the year. All Powerlifting meets prior to 1972 were held under the AAU and the rules changed somewhat from 72 onwards. Records climbed rapidly from 1969 onwards and as you mention John Kuc, Jon Cole, Don reinhoudt and Jim Williams were performing huge Squats and deadlifts but from late 1972 and most were listed with wraps although they were ace bandages so not comparable to the gear they use today.
@@StrengthUniverseAnd i m sure of these top powerlifters already deadlifted more than Patera before 1972 not necessarily in competition but in training. Depends when Ken did his best effort of 785 lbs for 2 reps. So, who r the other two guys who were ahead than Patera at that point of time according to u as u have mentioned his dl as the 3rd heaviest by that point of time?
@@abhinavkumar547 The deadlift WR was set by Don Cundy 1969 at 800lb technically Kens 2 reps would be slightly higher then that. Jon Cole pulled 820lb in 1971 and Kuc pulled 845 in late 72. This would put Patera around 3rd although as I mentioned before things were changing a lot in powerlifting during that period.
@@StrengthUniverse What about Paul Anderson's 820 lbs dl? U missed that lift and since we r talking here about the unofficial best which means heaviest dl done in training or anywhere not necessarily in the competition because Ken Patera didn't do his best effort of 785 lbs for 2 reps in competition so the fair comparison would be to compare his best effort with any heaviest dl done in gym.
Also I have a feeling that Jon Cole deadlifted 905 lbs before 1972 which would be the first 900 lbs dl in human history unofficially. The reason why I said this is because when he deadlifted his heaviest ever comp. best of 882 lbs in late 72 he was at the bottom of training cycle and didn't peak enough for the competition. This performance of Cole where he squatted 901.5 lbs, deadlifted 882 lbs and totalled 2364 lbs is regarded as one of the greatest performance ever by any powerlifter done at a mere 283 lbs bw. People rave about Larry wheels, well Jon Cole was Larry wheels of that gen. and even better.
@@abhinavkumar547 I only compared it to official lifts
Most bizarre is that Ken outlived most of his competitors despite heavy drinking, smoking, injuries, prison and wrestling with a hectic schedule.
And heavy roils and eating
@@Bosc715Yes, 340 pounds is a lot of weight. He did go off the steroids early. Vince McMahon wanted him to go back after criticizing his physique. Ken was starting to get old. Ken said he didn’t want to go on and ended up retiring shortly after.
He also beat the crap out of a bunch of Waukesha wis cops around 1984. They couldn’t handle his size strength and quickness. Did prison time I believe. Great athlete and under rated
I saw him on world's strongest man yrs ago..I remember him carrying a full engine block out of a truck!!!💪❤️
He proved to me that he was strong when I watch the Survivor Serious 1987 on Video. Classic. even he was never push to becoming a WWE heavyweight champion.
Incredible genetics for strength. With todays training, nutrition and gear protocols, would definitely be a top level strongman.
505.5 lb Clean & Press, to this day, 2nd best in history (to the late Alexyev's 507). Patera's the strongest living Clean & Press-er. (Bring the lift back if you think you can beat it:^)
Which modern day strong man can rack press 500lbs? None. Kaz couldnt even do that. Definitely one of the strongest men ever
Iron biby for sure. Apart from that Andrew richards who is not technically a pro strongman. But both Biby and Andrew are more like a shoulder specialists unlike Ken who had ungodly overall body strength and power. A decade earlier Zydrunas Savickas was also reported to have done 570 lbs push press of the racks and a confirmed seated neck behind the press of 441 lbs for 5 reps. Apart from these guys i don't see anyone capable of pressing over 500 lbs from the rack. Probably some of the strongmen who are great log pressers like Hicks, Luke stoltman, Bobby Thomson and Trey Mitchell can be close to 500 lbs but still none of them r an over 500 lbs overhead presser from rack with barbells , also partly due to the reason that they don't train with standard Olympic barbells shoulder press that much. Eddie hall would be the one who could have great overhead press from rack no. but he also didn't train much in that lift with barbells at his peak.
Correct me if I m wrong but i don't recall anyone other than biby that has pressed heavier weight overhead from rack that is verified than Patera who did 552 lbs from press from the rack witnessed personally by Bruce Wilhelm. Savickas was reported to have done 570 lbs but there is no confirmation of that lift except wiki which doesn't cite any links for that no.
Cool looking dude.
This guy had put in 5 lifetimes before competing in WSM
Do a video on the late great danny hodge
i highly suggest everyone watch the tales from the territories episode with patera - he retells the infamous mcdonalds story and its hilarious watching the other wrestlers crack up and call him out on it 😂
Any lifting info on don Morrocco or the mighty Hercules?
Don Morocco did neck behind the press of 365-375 lbs as his best. Hercules was a freakishly strong wrestler. Scott Norton who was in a tag team with Hercules has said that Herc. was super strong and one of the strongest pro wrestler he competed with or against.He held his state bench press record back in i think late 70s or early 80s of 450 lbs as a teenager. According to Ted Arcidi, he saw Hercules doing 550-560 lbs bench press which surely would not have been his max. I guess he was close to 600 or 600 lbs bench presser.
As with many strength/power athletes from the past, imagine how strong he would have been given today’s training and enhancement methods 👍👍👍👍
oh he was clearly enhanced
@@neon_necromundaI think he means if he had today's drug quality and quantities vs what was available (and the amounts considered to be safely taken) back then.
Right of the bat dunking at 5 ft 9 now that is impressive and u just stated good start never listen to so keep it up
I watched that 1977 world's strongest man it was one of the past strongman competitions of all time
I've read stories that he once incline benched 572x2 and "made it look like a feather." And did heavy pulls with 750+ don't quote me and on third rep jerked the bar so violently that it bent and couldn't be used anymore and now hangs in the York barbell hall of fame
Ever consider doing one on superstar billy graham?
Yess, very strong! 💪
Any man who can clean and press AND clean and jerk 505 pounds has to be in contention when it comes to any conversation about strongmen. Of course he was very much a man of his time. Back then he had to work a full-time job as well as doing his weight training after hours. I remember reading about his 505 C&P and C&J in Iron Man Magazine when he did those lifts way back then and I was tremendously inspired by that. As a wrestler Ken usually played a bad guy, but in real life I read nothing but good things about him. Even that McDonalds incident was a frame up allegedly to enhance his villainous reputation.
Ken already had his thoughts on wrestling at this point.
Yes he absolutely is. In his prime he would’ve probably won the strongman contest easily.
In his time
But not at 80 year's old .. bang up
I know Ken and I'm from Minnesota
To.