His training split was rather original. In the following years, he dominated the competitions in 1980, 1981, and 1982, winning all by a large margin. He is widely considered to be one of the all-time greatest competitors in strength competitions. [6] A star athlete in high school, Kazmaier played football for two years at the University of Wisconsin–Madison before dropping out in 1974 to concentrate on lifting weights at the Madison YMCA. © 2020 Bodybuilding.com.

On the heavier lifts take more time between sets to ensure full recovery so that form and technique is not compromised, always staying slightly within yourself strengthwise. [7] His powerlifting performance is regarded as one of the best of all time. Any suggestions on a routine better suited for me? The runner-up in the competition, Lars Hedlund, was over 28 points behind. mentioned world records are records at that time. If you truly want the biggest and strongest back possible, it is necessary to combine the best of both the powerlifting and bodybuilding worlds.

[11][12] His absence cleared the way for Kazmaier's main rival, Geoff Capes, to win the title in 1983.

"[7] He was featured in Flex magazine on May 2008, in which a top ten list of the strongest men in history was published.

It's interesting to look at how his training is similar and different from the popular programs of today.

He also won plenty of lifting titles.

Bill alternated heavy/light workouts on squat and deadlift days. [15] During the 1980s, he had wrestled for promotions such as Stampede Wrestling in Canada and Continental Championship Wrestling in America. You have … The bottom line is the strongest men of all-time—guys like Bill Kazmaier, Ed Coan and Doug Young—all had significant bodybuilding elements to their training. A notable performance in this WSM was his 1055 lbs silver dollar deadlift. Bill Kazmaier was one heck of a powerlifter and strong man in his day. Of 11 events he had five wins, two second places, one third and a fourth. After this tear, he lost more than one-hundred pounds off his bench press, making his 1983 IPF world championship win all that much more significant. He sustained chest, shoulder and triceps injuries, ruling out further records in the bench press. Following his win in the squat he went on to win the silver dollar deadlift with a 940 lbs (426.4 kg) lift.

Kazmaier then struggled to earn a living as an oil rigger, a bouncer, and a lumberjack.

Video of the World's Strongest Man competition 1980 featuring Kazmaier as the winner, Video of the World's Strongest Man competition 1988 featuring Kazmaier as the runner-up, Video of Kazmaier deadlifting 1055 lbs at the World's Strongest Man competition 1982, Video of Kazmaier performing in strongman competitions, Video of the 1983 IPF World Powerlifting Championships featuring Kazmaier as winner in SHW class part 1/2, Video of the 1983 IPF World Powerlifting Championships featuring Kazmaier as winner in SHW class part 2/2, Progression of the bench press world record, Bill Kazmaier Strongbow Superman Contest 1981, "Bill Kazmaier Powerlifting statistics (incomplete)", "The Top Ten World's Strongest Men of All-Time", "American Strength Legends: Bill Kazmaier (main page)", "American Strength Legends: Bill Kazmaier", http://www.starkcenter.org/static/igh/articles/igh10.3.34.pdf, "American Strength Legends: Bill Kazmaier (Acceptance Speech)", ALL TIME HISTORICAL MEN AND WOMEN'S POWERLIFTING WORLD RECORDS, "American Strength Legends: Bill Kazmaier (Career Statistics)", WCW Tag-Team Championship Tournament Final, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bill_Kazmaier&oldid=979794218, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
So how did he do it? If on the occasional day you just don't feel up to it, relax and pick up afresh on the next workout day, and don't be too eager to increase poundages. e.g., 11 weeks to contest: warm up, then 3x8 regular style, 8 weeks to contest: 2x10, 1x8, 3x8 all round backed deadlifts from the floor. Personal life.

It was back to business in the squat and, in response to those who said he wasn’t locking-out properly, Bill deadlifted 940lbs/426kg twice instead of the required one. [7], With three Worlds Strongest Man titles, Kazmaier is one of the most successful competitors in the history of the contest. Kazmaier continued to compete in lesser known strongman tournaments, such as the Scottish Power Challenge and the Le Defi Mark Ten International. For those not familiar, a cycle means you start lifting less weight than you maximum and steadily build towards your max week-by-week.

[7] He also comments in the British broadcast.

Listed below is an example of a Bill Kazmaier training regime which he would carry out four days a week: Day One. Along with an incredible drive and determination, Kaz used a bit of a unique training style. He was holding the World Record in this event from the Highland Games 1984 with a height of 18 feet 3 inches. Do you think that you should employ the same kind of workout he might have used?

[7] There he learned the fundamentals of powerlifting. With Kazmaier's closest rival Jón Páll Sigmarsson winning the event with a throw over 15 feet 7 inches, Kazmaier came in overall second to Jón Páll. [7], At the 1978 Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) National Championships in Los Angeles, California, Kazmaier squatted 782 lbs, bench pressed 534 lbs, and deadlifted 804 lbs in the 275-pound weight class, which immediately placed him in the top rank in his first national powerlifting appearance. [7] In this competition, Kazmaier officially became the first human to bench press 300 kg (661.4 lbs)[6] (raw) in an IPF-sanctioned meet* and recorded his lifetime best three-lift-total of 2425 lbs (1100 kg),[4][9] a powerlifting world record that remained unsurpassed for more than a decade. [7] His winning lifts were: a 925.9 lbs (420 kg) squat, the 661.4 lbs (300 kg) bench press and an 837.8 lbs (380 kg) deadlift. His exhibitions of strength during the World’s Strongest Man competitions, which he won three times, are the stuff of legend. [5], Kazmaier is of German ancestry. Bill Kazmaier used always in the lighter training period the exercise “flat-bench flyes”.

If you are not accustomed to the type of workload at the beginning start with less sets and gradually build up to the full amount. His method was more ‘power building’ where he combined a heavy/light hybrid workout. MaxOT... that's a bodypart split geared towards hypertrophy, right?

5777 N Meeker Ave, Boise, ID 83713-1520 USA, Powerlifting Workouts - Training Journals, Post Your Pictures and Introduce Yourself, Gainesville Gym Workout - Featuring Bill Kazmaier & Skip. ... Go back to school and learn some English retard! Strength author David Webster called him "the greatest American strength athlete of all time", and a 2008 poll of experts rated him as top superheavyweight lifter of all time and "one of the strongest men who ever lived. He received several shots at Lex Luger's WCW World Heavyweight Championship but failed to win the title.

Along with an incredible drive and determination, Kaz used a bit of a unique training style. There were a lot of volumes to stress his body from an endurance perspective. At four years old, I remember watching Bill Kazmaier win the keg loading event in the World’s Strongest Man (WSM) contest, while other competitors picked up and ran the kegs to the loading platform, “Kaz” got in a psychotic rage and threw them, saving time and, ultimately, running away with the event. He trained Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday each week.

"I can and I will" is the message he conveys to inspire young people to lead healthier and more productive lives. https://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2014/04/squat-and-deadlift-bill-kazmaier.html Kazmaier, Green Bay Packers Training Camp in 1981. [7] In 1979 at age 25, he set a world record with a bench press of 622 lbs on the way to winning his first IPF World Powerlifting Championship in Dayton, Ohio. In November 1981, Kazmaier became one of the few lifters in history to hold world records in three of the four powerlifting events at the same time by setting a new deadlift world record at 402 kg (886.7 lbs) raw in competition. There’s so man y aspects of Bill that I can get into, because that fact of the matter is he’s done it all.

While in WCW, Kazmaier also wrestled for New Japan Pro Wrestling. Always LISTEN TO THE MESSAGES YOUR BODY IS GIVING YOU. Today we will be discussing the one and only Bill Kazmaier. He did flat bench flyes and he recommended to pay attention to the technique.

He would also wrestle for Fighting Network RINGS in Japan in early 1991. Upon retiring from active competition in the 1990s, Kazmaier was hired as a co-commentator for the American ESPN broadcast of the annual World's Strongest Man competition along with Todd Harris and 2006 World's Strongest Man winner Phil Pfister.

[7], In 1974 Kazmaier had a "spiritual awakening" after reading a Bible verse in Psalms 40 while at the Madison YMCA. I highly doubt this is Bill Kazmaier's routine. Kazmaier considers his most important contributions to public life to be his work as a motivational speaker for 3D Sports Tech, addressing school and YMCA groups. Upper back strength is important for the balance. So how did he do it? Marty Gallagher writes about finding some old Bill Kazmaier training manuals in his attic which lay out at how Kaz trained for powerlifting.

Anything you can think of to make a name for yourself using your body, he’s done it.
He also briefly teamed with Rick Steiner, only to lose to The Enforcers in a tournament final for the WCW World Tag Team Championship. Inspired by Jim Thorpe, Kazmaier sought to transfer his talents to other sports, trying out for the NFL's Green Bay Packers in 1981 and also participating in World Championship Wrestling. [10] He was the first man to win the WSM title three times and remains one of only two men ever to win it three times in a row.[10]. Thanks for the suggestion, I looked over that program and it sounds a lot more doable to say the least.