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Thomas Inch
Thomas Inch
	Inch in 1921
Born	27 December 1881; Scarborough, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Died	12 December 1963 (aged 81); Cobham, Surrey, United Kingdom
Occupation	Strongman
Height	5 ft 10.5 in (179 cm)

Thomas Inch (27 December 1881 – 12 December 1963) was a British Strongman, who held the titles of Britain's Strongest Youth, Britain's Strong Man^[1] and the originator of the Thomas Inch dumbbell challenge.

Early life

Inch was born on 27 December 1881 in Scarborough, a seaside town on the North Yorkshire coast in the U.K. He became interested in bodybuilding and strength as a young boy, bodybuilding through manual labour.^[2]

Lifting career

In 1902, aged 20, Inch was declared by a major 'Strongman' publication as the "World's Strongest Youth", enhancing his notoriety. His inspirations included Eugen Sandow, having seen the German ripping a pack of cards in half and throwing the split deck into the audience. Inch was said to have caught one half of the pack, proceeded to split that in half in the audience, and throw it back at Sandow.^[3]

Unlike many professional Strongmen of his day, Inch focused on standard lifts with barbells and dumbbells and left the hoisting of wooden barrels, heavy sacks of grain, pianos, or holding back a team of horses, to his contemporaries. His one exception was that he sometimes lifted human beings in the bent-press; a complicated, one-hand movement to watch.

Book and capitalisation on fame

Inch realized in order to advance his fame and fortune as a world class strongman, he needed to meet the prerequisite of publishing a well-written book pertaining to physical fitness. He accomplished this by publishing Scientific Weightlifting in 1905 and by authoring "Thomas Inch on Strength" in 1907. The following years, he traveled the British countryside performing exhibitions, selling his book, and spreading the Inch name. Inch had previously launched a mail order muscle course in 1903 which went on to sell over 40,000 copies.^[4] It was the first mail-order physical culture business in the UK.^[5]

Britain's Strongest Man and World Records

Inch went on to win the title of Britain's Strongest Man on 11 June 1910. At the age of 68, Inch was still capable of deadlifting 540 pounds (240 kg), an unofficial world record.^{[citation needed]} His record lifts included a two hands anyhow of 356.5 pounds (161.7 kg) and a bent press of 304.5 pounds (138.1 kg).^[2]

In 1909, Inch, still only a middleweight, refused to compete in a weightlifting match against the Austrian Strongman Max Sick (Maxick), who had recently arrived in London. However, by 1910 Inch had become a heavyweight and so relinquished his middleweight title to Edward Aston, and a competition was quickly arranged against Sick.^[6]

Thomas Inch dumbbell

Inch is known for his Thomas Inch dumbbell, also known as '172' or the 'unliftable' challenge dumbbell. The iconic dumbbell weighs 172 lbs and 9 oz. (78 1⁄4 kg) and is extremely difficult to lift, partly due to its sheer weight, but primarily because of its thick handle of 2 3⁄8" (6.03 cm) in diameter, making it difficult to hold on to without an outstandingly strong grip strength.

Inch claimed that he had lifted it from the floor with one hand and overheaded it literally 'hundreds of times', sometimes lifting it twice in the same performance.^[7] Even though the overhead portion of the lift is heavily disputed by many strength historians, it is undeniable that Inch successfully cleared it off the floor to a deadlift position.^[8]^[9] However, there were allegations of a hole in the original dumbbell, in which Inch would place a nail, allowing him to stop any rotation whilst lifting it,^{[citation needed]} and for using different lighter dumbbells during his exhibitions and tours. Inch claimed that in his lifetime he never encountered anyone else who could lift it from the floor using only one hand, let alone 'both' to lift it and overhead press it using only one hand. Contemporaries such as Arthur Saxon, Maurice Deriaz, Ivan Poddubny and Reg Park are some of many who tried, but failed.^[10]

After Inch's death, David Prowse purchased the original dumbbell somewhere between 1969-1971 and it was in his possession until 2000, where it was sold to Kim Wood (strength coach for the Cincinnati Bengals) who brought it to the United States.

Legacy and replicas

Australia's Bruce White created the first replica of the dumbbell and he is also credited as the second man after Inch to successfully lift the Inch dumbbell.^[11] His replica was in fact slightly heavier than the original dumbbell at 79 kg (174 lb). In 1990, Bill Kazmaier flew to Perth to attempt this dumbbell and became the first man to overhead press the Inch dumbbell with irrefutable evidence.^[9] According to Gary Mitchell, Kazmaier was the fifth man to lift the Inch dumbbell. From 90s onwards, many manufacturers including Sorinex, Slater, Gladiator, Wallace, Holle, Adamski, BruttoBells, Sahlaney, Gods of Grip and FBBC created replicas of the dumbbell paving the way for many modern day athletes to attempt them.^[12] In 2001, Magnus Samuelsson managed to lift it using a thumbless grip, and in 2002 David Horne managed to lift two dumbbells (one in each hand) using a thumbless grip.^[13] Also in 2002, Mark Henry completed a one-hand clean and press of the dumbbell, becoming the first man to clean the Inch dumbbell with irrefutable evidence.^[14] In 2016, Mike Burke lifted and carried two Inch dumbbells in farmers walk style for 37.52 metres (123 ft 1 in).

Note: In 1990, Kazmaier successfully lifted the dumbbell off the floor with one hand, but the overhead press was after 'cleaning it using both hands'. But in 2002, Henry's clean also was done one handed, hence the difference between the two feats.

Other ventures

Inch occasionally served as a strength and conditioning trainer to professional boxers, and helped to rehabilitate wounded soldiers at Fulham Military Hospital following World War I.^[4]

Death

Inch died in Cobham, Surrey on 12 December 1963 of coronary thrombosis.^[15] His family did not keep any of his bodybuilding memorabilia following his death.

Selected publications

Inch on Fitness (1923)
Away with Nerves (1946)
Manual of Physical Training (1947)
Boxing for Beginners, from Novice to Champion (1951)

References

^ "INCH 101: An Introduction to the Basics". Bodybuilding.com. 12 December 2006. Archived from the original on 16 September 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
^ ^a ^b Inch, Thomas (8 April 2012). Developing the Grip and Forearm. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 978-1-4751-2710-2.
^ Klein, Alan M. Little Big Men: Bodybuilding Subculture and Gender Construction. SUNY Press. ISBN 978-1-4384-0925-2.
^ ^a ^b Croft, Henry (16 January 2014). "Thomas Inch: The Scarborough Hercules". Gymtalk. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
^ Carter, Neil (2013). "Managing the Body: Beauty, Health and Fitness in Britain, 1880–1939". Sport in History. 33 (1): 101–104. doi:10.1080/17460263.2013.772426. S2CID 144262282.
^ "Max Sick's biography on maxalding.co.uk". Archived from the original on 20 August 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
^ Prowse, David (28 September 2011). Straight From The Force's Mouth: The Autobiography of Dave Prowse. Andrews UK Limited. ISBN 978-1-908382-05-4.
^ Horne, David (1 January 2003). "INCH BY INCH, Strongman on Film by David Horne (Originally featured in Iron Grip magazine Vol 3 # 1, Jan 2003)". davidhorne-gripmaster.com.
^ ^a ^b "American Strength Legends: Bill Kazmaier". Samson-power.com. 28 June 1998. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
^ "Thomas inch dumbbell". RussiaLion for YouTube. 14 May 2007. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
^ Wood, John (3 September 2015). "Bruce White's Inch Dumbbell". www.oldtimestrongman.com.
^ "Wallace Challenge Dumbells". www.oldmanofthestones.com. Bruce White. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
^ "Grip Feats List, Inch Dumbbell". www.davidhorne-gripmaster.com. David Horne. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
^ "Mark Henry attempts to lift the legendary Thomas Inch Dumbbell with one hand (WWE Network)". YouTube. WWE. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
^ David Horne (16 July 2001), "Thomas Inch's birth and death dates", GripBoard

External links

The Light Lady Heavy Weight – newsreel showing Inch performing feats of strength in 1915
Inch – by Inch – newsreel of Inch raising the dumbbell in 1939 at age 58