UNITED STATES MASTERS

WEIGHTLIFTING

NEWSLETTER

Paul Anderson was born October 17, 1932, in Toccoa, Georgia. Many

accounts of Paul Anderson erroneously claim that he began lifting weights

at Furman University which he attended for a year. According to Paul's

brother in law, Mr. Julius M. Johnson, Mr. Anderson began weightlifting in

his house where they had a 25 pound set of dumbbells and some

old Strength and Healthmagazines while he was at Toccoa High School, not

at Furman. He really began his weight training in the Johnson backyard

where he developed his own training methods and techniques. By the time

he reached Furman, he had already added over 100 pounds to his

bodyweight and was making lifts that were close to the existing American

records.

The reason he started to lift weights was very simple. When Paul started

High School he wanted to play football, but was not large enough. So, Mr.

Johnson gave him the dumbells and the magazines. He snatched them up

right away and soon was scouring the junk yards looking for heavier

weights to lift. In High School, he became first-team blocking back on the

football team. He entered Furman University on a football scholarship.

When he visited their gym, he saw and they saw how strong he already was.

It was there that the idea of becoming a "strongman" entered his mind. It

was at Furman that he began to try the Olympic lifts.

Anderson on top of the medal

platform at Melbourne with

Humberto Selvetti from Argentina

(Silver) and Alberto Pigaiano from

Italy(Bronze)

PAUL ANDERSON

Olympian, Strongman and Philanthropist

He left Furman after that one year and lived with his parents in Elizabethtown,

Tennessee. He met Bob Peeples, a great lifter in his own right, and a devotee of

the squat. So, in his early years, he trained mainly on the squat. This was a wise

choice, for it gave him the basic strength to demolish all the official Olympic

lifting records and many unofficial power records as well. Peeples recognized

Paul's potential greatness and began to promote him and introduced him around

weightlifting circles.

The rest is history. He squatted 900 while still an amateur and later did a

legendary 1200 pounds for two reps as a pro. In all fairness, it must be said that

there is some question if the 1200 went past parallel. But the 900, done without

wraps or squat suits of any kind, was all the way down. Mr. Anderson's most

impressive feat was the jerk press. Using a drive of the legs and then pressing

the weight out, Paul made an incredible 565! To this day, this lift has never

been duplicated. In 1955, he traveled as a Goodwill Ambassador from the

United States to the Soviet Union. While there, his lifting surpassed many

world records. Later that year, he won the World Championships. In his prime,

he probably had the heaviest hip and thigh structure of any lifter in history. I am

told that when he trained down to 330 pounds for the 1956 Olympics and

actually had cuts in his thighs. He brought home the gold medal from the 1956

Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. To date, he was the last American to win a

gold medal in the Super Heavyweight Division. On June 12,1957, he lifted a

total of 6,270 pounds in a backlift, which was listed in the Guiness Book of

World Records as the greatest weight lifted by a human being. A great granite

marker commemorating this great feat lies in front of his old house in Toccoa.

He overhead pressed 400 pounds. He bench pressed 627 pounds. These were all

done before there were world records. That's why we hardly ever hear of them,

until now.

Anderson training with his 900

pound squat bar made of cart

wheels

Towards the end of his life, Paul used to laugh about all the "legends" being

told about him. One that he particularly enjoyed was a story that he had been

seen pushing a bulldozer up the side of a mountain! There were so many things

written about him, many of them based on little fact, that he came in the end to

ignore them. Paul passed away in 1994 after a life-long bout with kidney

disease.

These are a few of his accomplishments in his life

1955 World Champion Weightlifting

1956 Melbourne Olympics Gold Medallist in the 110+kg Class

2 Arm Press: 167.5 kg. (368.5 pounds)

2 Arm Snatch: 145 kg. (319 pounds)

2 Arm Clean and Jerk: 187.5 kg. (412.5 pounds)

Olympic total: 500 kg. (1100 pounds)

Best Olympic press: 575 pounds

1957 backlift of 6270 pounds

He was twice U.S. National Champion

He set 18 American Records

He set 8 World Records

He retired unbeaten and undefeated as an amateur

At the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, Paul

won a Gold medal despite an inner ear

infection which affected his balance

Paul Anderson was a devoted Christian who dedicated

his life to helping troubled children and motivational speaking.

Paul Anderson married Glenda Garland in 1959. They have

one daughter named Paula who lives in the family house now.

His Greatest Accomplishment and His LegacyThe Andersons established the Paul Anderson Youth Home in 1961. The Youth

Home is a Christian rehabilitation facility for young people between the ages of

sixteen and twenty-one who otherwise might be confined to penal institutions.

Paul Anderson became a professional to raise funds through demonstrations

and speaking engagements to support the Youth Home.

Since its establishment in 1961, over two thousand young men benefited from

the Home and the unselfish devotion of Georgia's beloved Paul Anderson

before his death August 15, 1994.

“GUESS WHO”

LAST ISSUE’S GUESS WHO

PETE GEORGE