Collection · Lifts

Lifts

The events themselves — history, rules, records

Where the Feats collection treats individual lifts as events on individual occasions, this collection treats the lifts themselves as competitive categories. Each entry sets out the lift's history, the rules under which it was contested, the technique, and the record progression where one is recoverable.

Some of these lifts — the snatch, the clean and jerk — survive in modern Olympic weightlifting under codified rules. Most do not. The bent press, the two-hands anyhow, and the back lift were retired from international competition between the 1920s and the 1930s; the harness lift survived as a music-hall demonstration into the 1940s and is now performed only as an exhibition. The lifts are listed here in roughly the order in which they reached their highest competitive importance.

One-arm overhead

The Bent Press

c. 1880 – 1930

The signature lift of the music-hall era. Skeletal stacking under a one-arm load; Saxon's 371 lb is still the figure.

Two-hands

The Continental Clean

c. 1880 – 1930

Bar from floor to chest by any means, including a stage at the belt. The European norm before the Olympic clean took over.

One-arm overhead

The One-Hand Snatch

c. 1890 – 1924

Floor to overhead in a single movement with one hand. Olympic event at four Games before its retirement.

Two-implement

The Two-Hands Anyhow

c. 1890 – 1925

Bar overhead by bent press, then a second weight pressed beside it. Saxon's 448 lb is the standing figure.

One-arm overhead

The Side Press

c. 1900 onwards

A controlled lateral lean under load — close cousin of the bent press, but with stricter posture.

Supported

The Back Lift

c. 1860 – 1920

A loaded platform raised inches from trestles by the lifter's straightening. Cyr's 4,337 lb anchors the category.

Supported

The Harness Lift

c. 1880 – 1940

Chains and weights suspended from a leather harness, raised by straightening from a stoop. The largest-weight category of the music hall.

Two-hands floor

The Pullover at Arms' Length

c. 1900 – 1930

A bar pulled from the floor over the head while lying prone — a recognised European amateur lift through the early IWF period.

Static support

The Crucifix Hold

c. 1890 onwards

Two weights held at arms' length to either side, palms up. A test of the deltoid as much as a lift.

Implement

Stone Lifting

eighteenth century onwards

The oldest continuous strength tradition — Dinnie, Húsafell, the Basque harri-jasotzaileak. Predates and outlives the Iron Game.