There is such a photo on the network, under which they usually write that it is the Kazakh wrestler Baluan Sholak holding a bull weighing 816 kg.
Of course, all this information has come down to us from legends, but maybe before people were really much stronger. Is it really possible for a person to lift such a weight from a scientific point of view? I quickly "googled" and found out that there was one person who lifted a fantastic 2800 kg.
Don't believe me? Let's go under the cat …
To begin with, let's decide that the photo is still not Baluan Sholak, but some kind of Mongol.
The photo is quite modern, and the bull in the photo weighs about 100-120 kg. But Baluan Sholak lived in the 19th century. Here is what information has been preserved about him.
In 1864, a son was born in the Baimurza family from the Sambet clan. The kid was named Nurmagambet. It so happened that in childhood, a child injured his hand, disfiguring his fingers. Since then, they called him Sholak - bespaliy. Sholak spent his childhood and adolescence in Kokchetav, where his father made a living making wooden crafts. The father worked tirelessly, and the family did not need anything. Even then, young Sholak was distinguished by a daring disposition, in no way was inferior to older boys, selflessly fought and fought, was a ringleader in everything. Possessing outstanding strength and agility, he was unmatched in any competition.
Already in his youth, Sholak became famous as an invincible fighter and was awarded the honorary title of Baluan. Baluan Sholak was not inferior to anyone in horse riding, demonstrating real circus tricks: he stood on a horse at full gallop, whirled in the saddle, could go down on the horse's belly without a reins … But the main hobby of the horseman was singing, playing the dombra. He peo songs Birzhan and Akhan-Sere, so much so that they talked about it all over the steppe. Baluan Sholak easily held a log with twenty horsemen on his shoulders, at the age of 35 he lifted weights weighing 51 pounds (816 kg) at fairs and, of course, fought well, justifying his nickname Baluan - a wrestler.
Promotional video:
Already at the age of 14, the future strongman prevailed over 20-year-old boys. At the competition in Omsk on the occasion of the arrival of the heir to the king, Baluan Sholak put the famous wrestler Sevr on his shoulder blades. At the age of 49, our hero at the Koyandinsky fair accepted the challenge of the famous strongman Karon and broke his rib during the fight. They say that Hadji Mukan himself wanted to measure strength with Baluan Sholak, but having got to know him better, he abandoned this idea. Even greater fame was brought to the hero by his songs. Having lived only 55 years, he left behind dozens of songs: "Galia", "September", "Taldy-Kul", "Saryn" and others. And this despite the fact that the work of akyn has not yet been studied enough. Baluan Sholak traveled around the auls, gathered gifted youth around him, even organized an "ensemble". For the first time, steppe dwellers hear familiar songs performed by the choir, they are surprised at the well-coordinated playing of several dombras.
At the age of twenty-six, Sholak already had a real troupe, which included dombra players, singers, storytellers, riders and wrestlers. Sholak himself performed songs and demonstrated his colossal strength - he broke horseshoes, fought several horsemen at once, lifted incredible weights. Baluan Sholak had a special relationship with women: he was always fond of beauties and, as befits a poet, was amorous. Bright appearance, prowess, incredible power, strong voice made the akyn the most desirable man in the steppe. But only one woman left an indelible mark on his life. Her name was Galiya. And she was the daughter of a wealthy Argyn merchant Tleu. A tall, fair-faced beauty, as a child, was betrothed to a wealthy but unloved Birzhan. She married him. And then Baluan Sholak met her. The lovers met in secret. Until,until the deceived husband found out about it. Severely beaten, Galia returns to her parents' house in one shirt. Baluan Sholak was ready to marry his beloved. But the insulted husband demanded the return of the kalym through the court of biys.
Monument to Baluan Sholak in the village of Tole Bi, Shuy district, Zhambyl region
Not believing the judges, the batyr went to Kokchetav to collect the required number of cattle. In Kokchetav, he was accused of stealing cattle, and he ended up in prison, while Galia won a court case. Now she was free, but nothing is known about her beloved. Rumors of the steppe convey different things to her: Baluan Sholak fled, he is a polygamist, and now he is a convict, driven to Siberia forever … Galia is in despair, at the behest of her father she is getting married again. Now she is the second wife of a famous person in the city. And Baluan's friends agreed to transfer him to the prison of the city where Galia lived. Akin is not himself, waiting for a meeting with his beloved. It was then that the most famous song of Baluan Sholak was born - "Galia". But Sholak and Galia never found family happiness. Baluan Sholak remained a favorite of his fellow countrymen until the end of his life. He fought injusticeand his every noble deed caused admiration among the people. On the eve of the October Revolution, the batyr helped the Bolsheviks hide in the auls, supplied them with horses, and helped them in every possible way.
Until the end of his life, Baluan Sholak was not afraid of anyone and always helped the weak and disadvantaged. Even today his songs are often played in concerts and on the radio. About Baluan Sholak, singer, composer, renowned wrestler, Sabit Mukanov wrote a story, and now the Sports Palace built in 1967 in Almaty is named after him.
Is it realistic to lift such a weight?
People who are seriously interested in bodybuilding most likely know what the biggest weight lifted by a person was, and who did it. We are talking about the famous strongman Paul Anderson, who in the middle of the last century was considered the strongest man in the world and was called a "crane" in the press.
Paul Anderson was born in 1932 and began training with a barbell when he was 20 years old. The largest lifted by man was recorded in 1957. It was a barbell with "pancakes", the total weight of which was 2 844 kg. (during one of the performances he tore off his shoulders from the racks). And Anderson's record has not yet been beaten by any weightlifter.
In the early 50s. last century, the athlete began to perform in the professional arena. Moreover, there is a known case when in one of the nightclubs in Las Vegas, he sat down three times with a barbell weighing 526 kg. And for Anderson, this was not unusual - after all, weighted squats were his favorite exercise.
But the athlete did not like the bench press too much. However, this did not prevent him from achieving excellent results here. In particular, Paul could squeeze 136 kg with his right hand 11 times, and 7 times do the same with his left.
In professional demonstrations of strength, Anderson managed to tear off the platform and lift 1600 kg to his knees. In addition, he does an incomplete squat - a "short squat" with a weight of 952.5 kg, walks with 700 kg on his chest and squats by all the rules from 590 kg.
After the Olympics, Anderson announced that he was leaving amateur sports, believing that tournaments were too exhausting physically and mentally. He began giving performances with numbers of demonstrations of power in various cities in the United States. In powerlifting, he showed the following results: squats with a weight of 544.5 kg, bench press - 284 kg and deadlift - 371 kg (with straps - 453.5 kg), (without equipment and doping). Anderson also performed an incomplete squat with a weight of 952.5 kg, and during one of the performances he tore a weight of 2 844 kg with his shoulders from the racks. He could hold 127 kg weights each with his little fingers on his outstretched arms. He squeezed a dumbbell weighing 172.5 kg with one hand.
There was also such a famous person. His name was IRON SAMSON
Let's then remember another famous strongman:
So how much can a person lift as much as possible? Answer: 266 kilograms. This is the record of the Olympic champion Leonid Taranenko in the clean and jerk (one of the two main methods of lifting the bar), entered in the Guinness Book of Records. It was installed almost 30 years ago, but has not been beaten by anyone.