As an old guy, I remember watching the contests. What is amazing. Is that Franco at 185 pounds was lifting the same as guys almost twice his weight! I still remember like it was yesterday during the refrigerator race when he actually started running with that refrigerator on his back and the weight shifted and he blew out his knee badly. No other competitor actually ran with it. I believe if the refrigerator wouldn’t have shifted he would’ve won that event. Absolutely incredible strength!

His placing at the worlds strongest man is very impressive all things considered.

Lou we love you and know you are the nicest guy in body building with a heart the size of The HULK !!! God bless you and your family brother !!! ❤✝🕊🌹😇🙏🤗👍🫀🤩🥳💪

Lou and Franco were quite something. What I find impressive is that Lou kept his physique the longest of them all.

Lou had his calling in 83-84 after The Incredible Hulk series had wrapped up. He looked fantastic for the Hercules movie in 83 (much better than Arnold in Conan). Had he hustled and trained for the Olympia he could've taken it in 84 before the era of Lee Haney started in earnest.

Maybe it's just me, but I prefer the physiques of that era. They were much more athletic

Because of hearing loss and my ability to grow fast, Lou was my inspiration to not let your setbacks damage your aspirations.

God bless him. His humility was unmatched.

Big Louie has always been an inspiration

Lou Ferrigno as the Hulk looks like a angry piece of broccoli

what I love is that you always find a way to tell the story of the person in question before jumping to the lifting section, great storytelling

I saw him at the worlds strongest man contest in 1977 and he was pretty strong then so was Franco Colombo who was also there

It would be amazing to meet Lou Ferrigno!!

You gotta love big Lou

Love and respect Lou was and will always be my #1 Bodybuilder

Not only is Lou big and strong. He helped train me 40 years ago. Have pictures of us in the gym. Giving and nice. Big hearted man.

He carried boxer Ken Norton in his arms with little effort!💪🇺🇲🇮🇹

Let's not forget Sergio Olivia he actually started out as a weightlifter.

you are loved Louie....And you are a legend.....

It was incredible seeing him back in the day as the hulk next to ordinary folk with just his shorts on, he looked like he could eat them

Lou's a legend

Thanks for another great video .

He is the hulk

Very underrated guy, who had very much success in movies and life in general...

I don't know what those judges saw during the Olympia, but it looked to me like Lou had Dorians number. I think Lou got robbed many times.

Such all-around great work, per usual !

Regardless of Lou Ferrigno’s claims on the 3 powerlifting lifts, he did a excellent job for someone that didn’t train for the WSM contest. He got disqualified on 3 -4 events because he was totally unfamiliar with the techniques and lost valuable points. He was the strongest bodybuilder that competed in the WSM and even beat Franco Columbu and Mike Dayton. Ferrigno also beat Mike Mentzer in the WSM contest not shown in this video. Those 3 bodybuilders that Ferrigno beat were known for their strength! Two of the most impressive feats of strength by Ferrigno were the bar bending and car lifts because he beat everyone! Ferrigno also should have one the Master’s Mr. Olympia, but got in a argument with the promoter.

Lou is personal friends with Wes Brown from my hometown of Mount Airy, NC. Wes, is the "little guy" that Arnold was showing how to pose in 'Pumping Iron', there's a great interview on Tom Purvis' channel of Wes talking about how he ended up at Gold's Gym and got to be in the film.

Great video. Been checking out old WSM videos recently. Seeing the amazing amount of pro wrestlers in the early days

A true legend. Hulk was one of my favorites as a kid.

That's Still A Very Strong Guy, Regardless!!!!!!!!!!! LOU, IS LEGEND IN THE BODYBUILDING WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lou did phenomenal to jump into a WSM contest and be competitive like that. It is doubtful anyone could just do that today with the notable exception of the Australian monster Tom Haviland. Back in Lou's prime, there was no Internet and video cameras were large and bulky and people rarely filmed themselves in the gym. As a result, widespread "lift Inflation" occurred. As the Internet arrived and expanded and video cameras became universal everywhere, the "lift Inflation" shrunk significantly. Lou was probably just inflating his lifts as it was quite common back then.

Great video .!!!

Franco Columbo was stronger than Lou & Arnold

this channel always deserves a watch

A great video! What a man, a huge man. He's a strongest in my books. 💪🏼

I believe the 600lbs figure for a max bench because the second time he was asked he was asked what he trained with and he said 560lbs and now he does less that he's older, 560lbs was probably a heavy set for him, like a set of 3 or something, making 600lbs believable for a max. Dead lift of 900 lbs is kind of dubious and hard to believe, as SU said he was basing that off of assumptions on his car dead lift, something that doesn't extrapolate out well, non the less perhaps some conclusions could be drawn from it such as it's probably unlikely his dead lift was anything less than 750lbs given what he accomplished with the car, giving a rough approximate range of perhaps 750 to 800lbs, which is still really really good for any lifter in that time period.

Big Lou was strong as hell

loved big Lou on King of Queens!

He could curl 100 lb dumbells at 275 seated. Low body fat. Always liked him when I got into lifting.

Big Louie. God love ❤️ him.

I have seen an interview with Ferrigno in which he describes an incident during the filming of the pilot movie for THE INCREDIBLE HULK series. One scene showed the Hulk flipping a car over with his bare hands. The actual flipping was to be done by a cable being pulled by a crane... but the cable broke during the first attempt. They had already been filming for over 12 hours and Ferrigno just wanted to go home. When told that it would take several more hours to get another cable & to set it up, Ferrigno exploded in frustration. He told the crew to move away from the car and the cameraman to start filming. And he flipped the car over. With just his hands. THAT'S how strong he was!!!

i;m a big fan of lou and think he did a decent showing in the worlds strongest man event, but i wished he had time to train more properly for it!

I grown with a mith of Lou, seen in The Incredible Hulk, but like Italian I’m very proud to discover later the Franco’s results

Introducing standing 6'5 and weight 330 pound louis ferrigno

What a legend!

Lou didn't have to lie to kick it!

Regardless of lift numbers. Just the fact that in both the bodybuilding world , and world at large he is still instantly recognized by name and looks alone , ( where as so many others who stood higher on a podium have been left in obscurity) , is an undeniable testament to his status of icon. Long may he live and inspire. ❤

Of course, but this was another time where they were interested in total strength athlétisme. The "Olympus" myth was the inspiration (Hercules). Then there was the distinction between Hercules and David from Michelangelo (Arnold mentioned this as far as I remember). Nowadays "Open" Bodybuilding vs. "Classic Physique" separated from strength athletics. (Dorian Yates tried to better the situation.)

Franco Columbo was the strongest bodybuilder In the world pound for pound in his day

But while others may have stronger , still bending that bar on the strongest man competition still stands out that was pure strength and if he had trained for pure strength who knows he trained body building .

I trained in the same gym as Lou in Brooklyn and as strong as he was he wasn't the strongest bodybuilder in the gym. That title went to Dennis Tinerino!

I’m still a Lou ferritin fan!! Great guy

7:21, 8:09 Apparently Paul Anderson was there. Too bad he was past his prime.

I met Lou at a car show at cal expo autorama in 1982. I'm 6-4 and I would say we were about the same height. But of course he was way more muscular. He was very friendly. I remember he looked like he was reading lips and he had a funny voice. Good guy.

Can you make a video about Olivier Ritchers, biggest and tallest bodybuilder?

If he had today's trainer back then??? He was a huge beast for his day. My favorite!

Lou was the man! Loved Lou!

In 1951 Marvin eder benched 515 @198 lbs and was a natural and could lift toe to toe with Doug Hepburn who was a powerlifter/strongman and was almost 100 lbs heavier

I recall him telling a story of a 600 pound air compressor was falling out of a truck at his home during renovations. Thinking his daughter was under it he grabbed it and pushed it back into the truck. Said he tore all the muscles in his back but he did it. 600lbs…

I've always found comparing Arnold and Lou to be difficult. Arnold is amazing for his size. Lou is amazing for his size. Yet somehow Arnold came out more striking visually, but only just barely. It could be argued that smaller men with more compact frames perform better as bodybuilders because the muscles bulge more. There seems to be a sweet spot around 6 feet tall. Any shorter and they lose size. Any taller and the muscles lose the compact, bulging look that is judged well at competitions. Arnold has always claimed to be 6'2", but some people say he is 5'10" after comparing him to Andre the Giant and Wilt Chamberlain in behind the scenes photos of "Conan the Destroyer" where they were all standing together. I think a case could be made that Arnold has always been shorter than he claims. There is a psychology that men below 6 feet are short, so he always said he was 6'2". Yet, Arnold's relative compactness helped his muscles "pop" visually and explains why he won Mr. Olympia as many times as he did. Of course, bodybuilding competitions should go to great pains to measure athletes, so it would be difficult for Arnold to say he is taller than he is and get away with it. But in movies Arnold always looked taller than he actually was to emphasize his size. If you put him next to taller people with similar physiques you see that Arnold is really not that exceptionally tall and has something of a compact frame. Arnold has stood next to Hulk Hogan (who is underrated as having a bodybuilder physique, IMO) on many occasions and Hulk dwarfs Arnold. A large frame both helped and hurt Lou. Lou had larger muscles than Arnold, but they were stretched along a longer frame, so they didn't "pop" as much visually as Arnold's. That said, for Lou's size, his muscles were massive. If you were to put Lou's muscles on Arnold's smaller frame, they would be even more massive. So I have always been equally impressed with them. Lou always looked bigger and more imposing because of his height, but Arnold was just beautiful in his lines and symmetry. The only place I could fault Arnold is his legs were underdeveloped compared to his pecs, deltoids, and biceps. Meanwhile, Lou's quads were amazing once he reached his peak. Also, unlike other bodybuilders of that era who used steroids before they were banned, Lou still looks great for his age. Arnold has not aged well, but according to him his doctors do not want him to lift heavy because of his heart issues. He also continues to smoke cigars. I think Lou exaggerates his strength for a bodybuilder. Many bodybuilders, especially from an earlier era, feel inferior to today's powerlifters and strongmen. So there is a tendency for them to stretch the truth in how much they could lift in their prime and how much they still lift. I agree with the video that, had Lou been trained for the strongman competition, he would have made a better showing. I think Lou is stronger than he appeared to be in the competition, but he is not as strong as he claims to be. As far as who is healthier between bodybuilders and powerlifters, many have pointed out the steroid linked bulging gut of modern bodybuilders and the U shape of their chests once they age. This cannot be healthy. Powerlifters seem to focus much less on keeping low body fat and are known to have high calorie intake. This can't be healthy from a cardiovascular aspect. I think a good in-between between bodybuilders and powerlifters would be pro wrestlers. The best of them are expected to have the physique of a bodybuilder but the power of a powerlifter in order to easily and safely lift heavy opponents. With pro wrestlers, the closest comparison to Arnold and Lou might be John Cena and The Rock. Cena has an impressive physique but something of a small frame. The Rock since his wrestling prime has seemed to not only put on more muscle but also somehow get a larger frame. Both men are impressive. Both, like Arnold, also use camera tricks in movies to emphasize their size and strength. I'm not sure Lou needed that much help to look larger.

How about a new video on Andrey Smaev. Recently the first video of him benching 300 kg clean was published

Lou your the best hulk smash

he was strong for sure- and most BBers would avouid competitions like that- respect for lou and franco- btw this was the event franco hurt his knee ;- ()

LOU AND DAVE DRAPER had the most developed bodies i ever saw,the work and sweat is worth it to them

Can you get any info lenny mclean or any other British hard men?

Franco was from the golden era of bodybuilding in the 70th. André was from the golden era of wrestling in the 80th.

Back in the early 1990s I was facilitating drug and alcohol groups. One group had a young woman who was a former body builder. She knew all the men. She said that the only one of them who didn't use steroids was Lou Ferrigno. His father was his manager and he refused to allow him to use them.

Wow, i never knew big lou was in a strong man contest

Wasn't that ken patra in wrestling at some point i think lous physique was beter in the 90s. After watching pumping iron i didnt know lou was that strong because he is only benchpressing 200lb but i suppose that was just before the show

❤

I met him one time and I beat him in an arm-wrestling match ... when the crowd went nuts and cheered it was so loud it woke me up. 😏

RONNIE COLEMAN enters the chat.

You must know. In the early post war time wrestlers and weight lifters were regarded as the real strong men or strength athletes. The olympic champion in the weightlifting super heavy weight class was regarded as the world' s strongest man. Types like the American Paul Anderson and then also the Western European Serge Reding were examples. However then the competition from the Sowjetuniuon and Bulgaria was able to overcome these strength freaks. An outstanding example for the Sowjet dominance in super heavy strength athletics in the 1970 th was Vasili Ivanovich Alexeev. The types of super heavy sportsmen beginning with Paul Anderson however were also called "Rectalos". However, Dumbbells and barbells also entered a lot of other sports, beginning with rowing. In the same time where Alexeev reined the strength we in Europe became pictures from American Bodybuilders to see - Bill Pearl, Sergio Olivia, Arnold Schwarzenegger ... - This seemed unbelievable for us. - These were Herculesses, no Rectalos. On the other hand we got to know that they were far less strong as those Eastern Sowjet lifters. Just show or real strength was the question regarding the American Bodybuilders? There was the rumour that they were not strong at all. On the other hand freaks as the comparably small Franco Columbo contested the opposite by combining raw strength with his typical body. Maybe he was a pioneer of powerlifting. Lou came later and thought to begin a new era in bodybuilding and strength in combination - of course with emphasis on bodybuilding. Until 1990 the Sowjets continued their olympic weightlifting and they were not really allowed to do bodybuilding. Powerlifting was not regarded as autonomous sport. Powerlifting emancipated more and more from bodybuilding, fun games like strong man became the value of a separate own competitive sport. The Sowjetuniuon is no more and the social media are focused on bodybuilding that mutated more and more to a pure show. Times have changed after the 1960th and after the 1980th. This here is history.

Like Lou said he didn’t train for power lifting but he was ahead of his time because bodybuilders trained for looks and strength and he was one of the two guys that crossed over from bodybuilding to strong man and him and Franco proved to be very strong 💪🏾 but unbalanced so he did excellent for no formal training for the competition but compared to guys today he would be out of his league when you got bigger and stronger men that lives for this and even in his prime I don’t think he would get past the first event but I wonder what it would be like if someone like Andre the giant was trained for that 🤔🤔🤔🤔

No way on those lifts. Probably low 500s bench, low 600 squat, low 700s DL, which would still be extremely impressive for his time, he was a bodybuilder not a strength athlete. He would have dominated the Olympia for years if he'd kept on it.

3:05. Take a look at how much smaller Lou is without taking the "gear" at the superstars comp. Pretty obvious size differential.

Very strong, no doubt... ...but he would not have managed a 900lb deadlift.

Lou was always my favourite, tbh. Arnold once said part of judging bodybuilding is about looking at which body you would want. I'm sorry, but being 6'5 + jacked af (to the extent you rival Arnold himself) + strong enough to be a WSM competitor trumps ever Mr Olympia winner in my mind.

The incredeable got to him.

I think his claims were estimates as it can be difficult to remember the exact numbers over time.

Off subject. But could we get a "How strong was" Ron Simmons aka Faarooq in WWE/WWF He supposedly was a 600+ lbs bench presser. Just a thought, thanks mate 👍

I remember when Lou turned 60, he could still bench 600lbs.

so what if he claimed 640 then bit less or more...he is the hulk!

In the Hulk, he turned over a car. He's strong

One of my all time favourites and I'll always have time to watch any video he is featured in, however to put it kindly I think many of his alleged lifts are highly exaggerated.

he is very strong

Ferrigno that is

Lou got robbed of the Olympia titles vs. Yates.

I really think Lou was robbed in the Master's Olympia (as recorded in the "Walk Tall" documentary). I picked him as the best on stage.

1:47 KING OF THE CRAB

They were all strong but only lifted heavy when cameras were around ( mostly) Used lighter weights then you would assume anyway I’d that makes sense They were big on drop sets to get to failure And lots of sets

They practically disqualified competitors for breathing the wrong way.

Deadlift maybe sounds questionable, but he’s one of the few old bodybuilders to have reasonable claims, especially considering his form probably wasn’t perfect

When you see next to Arnold, then you see what giant he really is.

Dam 560 I struggle with 250 on the bench.

The one and only Incredible Hulk

I'm surprised how poor his coordination was. That push press was surprisingly weak and he looked drunk. Having said that his Masters return to bodybuilding was very impressive, he was robbed. His physique was the best ever in that last competition.

I think Lou would have been a lot stronger with a proper modern strength phase. Most of his training, from what I have seen, was high volume with moderate or light weight. Clearly his sturdy bone structure and muscle mass was already there, but his CNS wouldn't have been that greatly adapted to relatively heavy weight. He did compete in the first WSM, but I doubt there that he really showed his potential in the strength department. He was much more interested in building muscle than testing muscle.

Lou definitely cpuld have hit those lifts. I know in bodybuilding power like that js rare, but lou was insanely naturally strong on top of his training. When i crossed over into bodybuilding, at 172 pounds, i was stronger then everyone twice my size, my ligaments and temdons were stronger from training heavy and with volume, but never increasing calories to get bigger, so i see no reason lou couldnt hit those weights.