LOUIS CYR—THE STRONGEST MAN IN THE WORLD

LOUIS CYR—THE STRONGEST MAN IN THE WORLD

By Shane Robert

Imagine yourself as an average man circa 1885, at 5’6” 140 pounds. You work tirelessly at a heavy manual labor job and see other average men daily doing things that would be considered, by modern standards, other worldly for their muscle size. You may even do a few yourself. After weeks of saving your meager pennies you go for a night out and see a show. A performance unlike any you had ever seen—or will ever see again.

The theatre hosting the show is palatial. The ornate molding is decorated with gold leaf and soft velvet upholstery on the seats. There isn’t a single empty seat and the hundreds of whispered conversations all mix together to create a constant din, like a strong breeze or ocean tides on the beach. A hush falls over the theatre and the crowd becomes silent as the house lights dim and a single spot illuminates the stage. The heavy, green curtains slowly open and a collective gasp rolls through the audience. Walking into view is a 5 foot 10 inch Golliath with a 60 inch chest and weighing over 300 pounds, twice that of a normal man. This is Louis Cyr, the strongest man alive.

Louis Cyr has been hailed by many as the strongest man in recorded history. Born in Canada on October 10, 1863, in Saint-Cyprien-de-Napierville, to very humble circumstances. Pierre Cyr, Louis’ father, was a lumberjack in the far north woods of Quebec. His mother, Philomène Berger, stood 6 feet 1 inch tall and weighed 265 pounds. A notably robust physique then or now. Her father, Louis’s grandfather, also a lumberjack, was noted for his size, being 6 feet 4 inches tall and weighing well over 260 pounds. It was this maternal lineage that Louis inherited most of his physical traits.

The Cyr family moved to Lowell, Massachusetts when Louis was a child, where they started a small farm and continued in the lumberjacking trade. This likely played a significant role in shaping Louis’s early strength. Growing up in a physically demanding environment, Cyr was exposed to hard labor from a young age. While he initially worked on his family's farm, he later took on physically demanding jobs and followed in his father’s footsteps as a lumberjack.

Even as a young man, Cyr displayed extraordinary strength. The cutting and hauling of logs, carrying heavy loads, and performing repetitive, strenuous tasks day in and day out, undoubtedly helped Cyr develop his natural, inborn strength. Word spread of the young Cyr and his early feats, like lifting a 500-pound sack of grain at age 12, impressed bystanders well before he ever formally started performing. Realizing that there was money to be made from displaying his abilities, and inspired by ancient strongmen and folk heroes, Cyr started training rigorously on top of his labor duties. By his late teens, he was already attracting public attention with his incredible abilities.

While detailed, regimented records of his training are scarce, historical accounts and biographies provide insight into how he built his legendary power. Cyr’s training primarily involved lifting massive, irregular objects rather than standardized weights like barbells. He reportedly lifted barrels filled with water or sand, large stones, anvils, and metal weights. And modeling himself after Milo of Croton (the legendary Greek strongman) he famously lifted a live horse off the ground. One of Cyr’s signature feats was back-lifting (where weight is placed on the lifter’s back as they rise). His most famous record—lifting 4,337 pounds (1,967 kg) on his back—suggests he trained heavily with this method. 

Louis was a massive eater, consuming large amounts of meat, dairy, and bread to maintain his enormous size and recover from grueling training sessions and performances. He reportedly ate dozens of eggs, several pounds of meat, and gallons of milk daily in his attempts to fuel his strength. His body weight rarely fell under 300 pounds for most of his life.

Cyr’s big break came in 1883 when he defeated the reigning Canadian strongman, David Michaud, in a public strength contest. This victory launched his career, and he soon set out to prove his dominance in exhibitions across North America. He wowed audiences by back-lifting massive weights, lifting horses off the ground, and bending iron bars with his hands. Lifting stones, the longtime test of strength and manhood in many cultures, was a common feature of his performances. Cyr lifted a stone, now called the Cyr Stone, that weighed 530 pounds from the ground to his shoulder. This record would only be matched 125 years later by Derek Poundstone, who, in 2008, lifted the stone from the ground to a 30-inch platform. Cyr’s famous 4,337-pound back-lift took place in 1895 and is a record that remains virtually uncontested. In another legendary display, he resisted the pull of four draft horses, two on each arm, keeping them from moving forward. Despite many challengers, no one could match Cyr’s power. He traveled to England in the late 1890s to take on European strongmen and emerged victorious, cementing his status as the world’s strongest man.

As he aged, Cyr's immense size and years of extreme strength training took a toll on his body. He continued gaining significant amounts of weight, struggling with obesity and what we would today recognize as diabetes, leading to kidney disease. By the early 1900s, with his health declining rapidly, he retired from performing and settled in Montreal. He died on November 10, 1912, at the age of 49, weighing over 365 pounds, due to chronic kidney disease (nephritis) and related health complications.

Though the world has seen many strongmen since, few have matched Cyr’s raw, almost mythical strength. His legacy lives on in strongman competitions, books, and historical records. He remains a symbol of natural power and determination, a true titan of strength whose records and reputation endure over a century after his death. Even in death, Cyr's legacy as one of the strongest men in history remains firmly intact, inspiring generations of strongmen and strength athletes.