Show Me the Biceps! The Ten Strongest Men in the World

The world’s strongest men are superhero in size and Herculean in strength, and these men have clearly shown their superior physical ability compared to all other mortals in the world. Thanks to extensive bodybuilding and strength training exercises, these men have proven that they have what it takes to be named as the strongest men in the world.

They are so strong, they can pull small aircrafts or trucks, carry over 300 pounds to be carried over a distance of 50 feet and loaded onto a truck bed, throw a five meter long log over long distances and do duck walks while carrying items almost twice their body weight up a flight of stairs, all in one day. Nope, they didn’t come from another planet, weren’t bitten by a vampire or by a radioactive spider, and neither were they given special tools and gadgets to wear to grant them special powers. These men simply did the work out, trained like crazy and focused on the prize to earn the honor of being named the top ten strongest men in the world.

10. Geoff Capes
Younger audiences may not be familiar with Geoff Capes since he is now in the 60s and long retired from strongman competitions since he competed as a professional athlete and strongman in the 1970s. Capes is from Great Britain and during his prime, he represented his country in the Olympic Games, the European Athletics Championships and the European Indoor Championships in Athletics. He is a two- time winner of the World’s Strongest Man Title as well as the World Muscle Power and a six-time world champion at the highland Games.

9. Brian Shaw
American power lifter and professional Strongman competitor Brian Shaw was able to break the winning streak of Zydrunas Savickas, when he was named the winner of the 2011 World’s Strongest Man Competition. At just 30 years old, Shaw stands 6 feet 8 inches tall and weighs 440 pounds. This powerlifter holds a Wellness Management Degree from the Black Hills State University.

8. Svend Karlsen
Svend Karlsen is from Norway and is better known to his fans as Viking for his catchphrase “Viking Power!” Standing six feet tall and weighing 282 pounds during his prime, Karlsen holds 30 records in Norway, three in Europe and one world record. He competed in the Strongman competition in the mid 1990’s before finally placing first in 2001. He was named 2001 Europe’s Strongest Man, as well as Norway’s Strongest Man for three years (2003, 2005 and 2006). In 2010, he was inducted in to the World’s Strongest Man Hall of Fame.

7. Bill Kazmier
In the 1980s, Kazmier called himself “The Strongest Man Who Ever Lived.” The former world champion power lifter, strongman and pro-wrestler was the first man to bench press 300kg back in 1981. He was the World’s Strongest Man titleholder from 1980 to 1982 and was considered the Greatest American Strongman of all time in 2008. He has since moved on to work as a sports commentator, gym owner and motivational speaker.

6. Jouko Ahola
This man from Finland is known as a strongman, powerlifter and actor. Standing at 6 feet 1 inch tall and weighing 265 pounds, Ahola is a two-time winner of the World’s Strongest Man title and a two-time winner of the Europe’s Strongest Man title. He is also known as Finland’s Strongest Man. Now in his 40s, Ahola has retired from competition but still participates as a judge and organizer.

5. Mark Henry
Fans today know Mark Henry as a WWE fighter, but he began his career as a champion strongman. Henry weights 410 pounds and stands 6 feet 1 inch tall. He is known to have the greatest combined weightlifting and powerlifting gross of all time.

4. Jon Pall Sigmarsson
Jon Pall is a powerlifter from Iceland and is a four-time World’s Strongest Man titleholder. He has also won the Europe’s Strongest Man title two times and the World Muscle Power Championships five times. At 6’3 and weighing in at 294 pounds, he held the record in his country for the bench press and the squat. In 2012, jon Pall was inducted in to the World’s Strongest Man Hall of Fame. Jon Pall was born in 1960 but died of a heart attack in 1993 at the young age of 32.

3. Magnus Ver Magnusson
This Icelander is a four-time winner of the World’s Strongest Man competition (1991, 1994, 1995, 1996). He dominated the Strongman competition in the 1990s standing at 6’3 and weighing 287 pounds during his prime. In Iceland, he is a nine-time winner of the West Cost Viking of Iceland award. His awards include the 1989 Pure Strength competition in Scotland, the 1992 Nordic Strongest Man in Denmark, Europe’s Strongest Man in 1994, World Muscle Power Championship in 1995 as well as the Viking Challenge in 1995 and 1997. Now nearing his 50s, Magnusson has retired from professional competition but still acts a judge in various competitions.

2. Marius Pudzianowski
Polish born Mariusz Zbigniew Pudzianowski has won the World’s Strongest Man title five times. Fans know him as Pudzian, Dominator or Pyton and he stands 6 feet 2 inches and weighs up to 340 pounds. He started his career when he was only 23 years old and has consistently placed in the top three of any event he has competed in. In 2009, he made the transition to mixed martial arts.

1. Zydrunas Savickas
Savickas is a three-time champion of the Strongest Man in the World Competition. Since 2002, Lithuania’s ten-time Strongest Man champion has been showing up on the Strongest Man in the World either as the first runner-up or the ultimate champion. He is the current world title-holder of the World’s Strongest Man of 2012. Known to his fans by his playful nickname “Big Z”, this 390 pound man of muscle also has the distinction of being the most awarded strongman competitor, having won the Arnold Strongman Classic six years in a row, Europe’s Strongest Man two times, a four time winner of The World Log Lift Championships, Fortissumus winner in 2009, and the Strongman Championships League. At just 32 years old, he is known as a world record breaker.