Lou Ferrigno - How strong was he?

[irishdave]

In fairness, I think he was doing standing presses with at least 225 on his first filmed set, after which he called for "teh moe pouns" on, as his training partner clarified, per side?, to which Lou clarified, "Eh!"

So, it would seem he was heaving 245+ on his "Ahnolt!  Ahnolt!" set. : )

Still, earlier in the movie, he definitely had no more than 205 on an incline when he told Matty, "Lemme complete uh fehr rep" before he gassed after a dozen or so reps.  Unimpressive, but I think that was probably filmed toward the end of a workout.  I sincerely doubt the lug could ever bench 500, but seeing as how many of us actual lifters could incline 205-225 for the set Louie did, I stand by my guess that he was worn out when he did that set.

 

[Kwon]

I used to see Louie in World Gym Santa Monica while he was training for his first Hercules movie. 1980 ish. First off he was a loud mouth, 2nd he used to bench press 315 for a shitty 6 to 7 reps. And he was huge for that movie.

He was HUGE for Hercules!


Must've been quite large when training in Santa Monica

[oldtimer1]

I used to see Louie in World Gym Santa Monica while he was training for his first Hercules movie. 1980 ish. First off he was a loud mouth, 2nd he used to bench press 315 for a shitty 6 to 7 reps. And he was huge for that movie.

He was training for bodybuilding and cutting fat. Again he held his own against world champ power lifters, field athletes and top shelf Olympic lifters in the World's strongest man.

[Humble Narcissist]

I used to see Louie in World Gym Santa Monica while he was training for his first Hercules movie. 1980 ish. First off he was a loud mouth, 2nd he used to bench press 315 for a shitty 6 to 7 reps. And he was huge for that movie.

He's near deaf so he talks loud like everyone with hearing issues.

[jwb]

I saw him train in 1993.

He wasn’t strong. He was a tall guy with long arms and legs so had terrible leverage for strength though.

[Kwon]

[pamith]

Not a chance.

Lou was never of the mind to lift that heavy. Ever.

I’d not think he ever exceeded mid-fours. At any time. 

During his comeback, when he was at his most gassed/biggest, he didn’t even barbell bench.

In terms of size, Lou had the biggest chest ever though

[pamith]

Lou was stronger than Arnold and Franco, no? (and Ronnie)

[ChristopherA]

Lou was stronger than Arnold and Franco, no? (and Ronnie)

Weak troll. He wouldn't even get in the same zip code as Ronnie strength wise

[pkaz]

He's near deaf so he talks loud like everyone with hearing issues.

It was not about him speaking loud. He was more obnoxious and arrogant with people in the gym.

[pkaz]

He was HUGE for Hercules!


Must've been quite large when training in Santa Monica

He was huge. He could have competed easily.

[pamith]

Weak troll. He wouldn't even get in the same zip code as Ronnie strength wise

Lou was taller (6'5'') and more muscle mass

[pkaz]

That's a good question...I can answer with a story that someone posted, but I forget who...once at Gold's Gym Venice, there was a normal-sized guy who loaded 800-lb on the squat rack...allegedly to squat it.  Obviously that had to have been a super strong normal-sized guy, so it drew a crowd, including Lou Ferrigno.

I think the guy ended up having the weight slip/fall off his back right away and smash all over the ground.  Something like that.  But the fact that Lou Ferrigno allegedly took a moment out of his workout to watch that fiasco is evidence to me that he considers an 800-lb squat to be very impressive.  If he was squatting 700 or 800 in his prime, I highly doubt he would care if anyone else did it, regardless of size, or regardless of anything, really.

Because of that - and because Lou is very tall which makes him a powerful guy, but not necessarily on the conventional strength lifts [basic compound movements = bench press, squat, deadlift].  I suspect he could have probably pulled a lot of weight from the knees [rack pull], or performed heavy dumbbell chest flies, but that his range of motion would limit him from moving big numbers.

I's sort of like Brock Lesnar having a 475-lb bench press.  That's very impressive for anyone, but it's particularly impressive for Brock, because he has an 84" wingspan/reach.  If you wanted to make an apples-to-apples comparison for upper body strength between Brock Lesnar and I, you would have to see much he could lift for a 70" reach.  I have a shorter range of motion, which helps my bench but hurts my deadlifts.

Being Lou's height, and being a bodybuilder whose goal was mass and not strength [as well as potential for injury], my guess is that he wouldn't have had super high numbers on the three main lifts, but would have still been a very strong guy.

That bench press claim is believable simply because Lou was massive - massive in all three [1] chest, [2] shoulders, and [3] triceps, which are the main muscles being used for bench press.  So despite his reach, yeah, I could believe Lou hitting a 560-lb bench.  But what I believe and what I can prove are two separate things.  Even if he did bench that much, I would assume it would have been in the gym with a bounce [rather than strict contest form], and I'd still need some actual proof.

I think it might have been Tom Prince who recounted the Gold's Venice story where the normal guy put 800-lb on the squat rack to squat it.  From what I recall, the guy was described as someone you wouldn't expect to be squatting 800.  So he could have been described as 5'9" and 210-lb, or 6'1" and 180-lb for all I know - but just a normal/fit guy, from what I recall from the post...or an older than what you would expect...so just not the kind of guy you'd expect to see squatting heavy.

And a crowd sort of covertly watched...not necessarily gathered around him, but just sort of paused what they were doing to look over his way, or peek.  And Lou Ferrigno was said to be one of the people at Gold's Venice that day, watching this happen, only for the guy to un-rack the weight and for it to all come smashing down to the ground.  Then again, if it was Tom Prince who posted this story online...Tom also claimed to have a Master's Degree in English Literature and teach students at the university where he lived.  That story turned out to be complete hooey.  Not remotely true.  I noticed Tom spelled "hundreds" as "100's" in one post, and I was like "There's no way that this guy has any degree in English."

And I was right.

I could see him lie to include Lou Ferrigno in a story like the one above, but I didn't doubt the story when I heard it...so I assumed if Lou would take notice of a guy squatting 800, that he probably didn't over 675-lb himself.  I mean...that's seven plates per side.  I'm just really not seeing that.

More likely, I suspect Lou was probably squatting with 405-lbg to 495-lb for reps in his heyday.  But again, what I believe and what I can prove are not the same thing.

I wouldn't be surprised if Lou's bench, squat, and deadlift were all in the mid-500's.

I feel like my blabbering on is not getting you an answer to your question.  So maybe this will help...Lou Ferrigno's documentary "Stand Tall" came out in 1997, when Lou was 45-46.  He's still in amazing shape in the documentary, and massive.  Since he goes through some of his training sessions in the documentary, that might give you an idea of some of his strength.  And don't assume he can do anything not shown.  Often people make claims but don't back them up when they have the opportunity too.  If Lou was extremely strong, he would have wanted to share those strength achievements in this documentary.

Watch it now, before Lou sues the Greek [I think] guy for $20 who uploaded it to YouTube:

That video was a Great Find Matt. Thanks..

[Matt]

That video was a Great Find Matt. Thanks..

I'm glad you liked it, pkaz.  Incidentally, did you catch what Lou said shortly after the 17:00 mark? 

[pkaz]

I'm glad you liked it, pkaz.  Incidentally, did you catch what Lou said shortly after the 17:00 mark? 

Yes. And I love the 1% bodyfat comment. I think he would be dead....

[AbrahamG]

Srs, how strong was Lou Ferrigno in his prime?

Retard Strong!

[Humble Narcissist]

It was not about him speaking loud. He was more obnoxious and arrogant with people in the gym.

He has always been an asshole.  Makes watching him get owned by Arnold in Pumping Iron enjoyable.

[wes]

Fuck Ferrigno worst personality ever.

[Royalty]

Weak troll. He wouldn't even get in the same zip code as Ronnie strength wise

Lou was stronger than Ronnie in at least least one regard: Pull-Ups. I saw a video of Lou repping out on pull-ups and I can guarantee that Ronnie would’ve been unable to keep up. Lou probably weighed 300 or more in the video.

[pamith]

Fuck Ferrigno worst personality ever.

Why do you hate him? Lou is sweet guy

[Matt]

Yes. And I love the 1% bodyfat comment. I think he would be dead....

Lol, yeah.  I think he must have used the same calipers that measured Flex Wheeler's body fat at 0% in 1993 at Gold's Gym Venice.

[Matt]

Why do you hate him? Lou is sweet guy

I haven't met Lou, so I personally prefer not judging unless I have personally met them.  If I had to speculate on why others think poorly of Lou [some people do - not everyone], it's because he's apparently pretty bad at expos in terms of letting people take his photo.  For example, someone on this board said that Lou called him over after taking a picture, and demanded that it [the photo of Lou] be deleted.

While I can see why Lou would have to put his foot down for taking free photos with people without a purchase, I don't get why he would care about just people taking pictures of him.

I also think that Lou has an inflated sense of his Hollywood star.  Simply put - his prime is behind him, and his autographed photos are not worth $300 each, as he once claimed in MD.  But IMO, Lou thinks his star is worth more than its actual market value, and that has led to clashes at expos, where he has earned a reputation as being cheap.

To be honest...I was giving Lou the benefit of the doubt until he sued his brother.  Is there anything missing from that story?  Was his brother not nice to him while growing up?  I'm not claiming brothers are perfect - but to sue your own brother without something more to the story...strikes me as not cool.  If his brother was abusive to Lou, that's a whole other story.

[pamith]

Lou lifted cars in the incredible hulk

[Humble Narcissist]

Lou lifted cars in the incredible hulk

And no one ever figured out that Banner was The Hulk even when he was walking around in torn up clothes right after the Hulk rampages.

[Matt]

And no one ever figured out that Banner was The Hulk even when he was walking around in torn up clothes right after the Hulk rampages.