Thomas Inch (27 December 1881 – 12 December 1963) was a British strongman, who held the titles of Britain's Strongest Youth and Britain's Strong Man.

Early life

Thomas Inch was born on 27 December 1881 in

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

, a seaside town on the North Yorkshire coast in the

U.K. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

He became interested in

bodybuilding Bodybuilding is the use of progressive resistance exercise to control and develop one's muscles (muscle building) by muscle hypertrophy for aesthetic purposes. It is distinct from similar activities such as powerlifting because it focuses ...

and strength as a young boy, bodybuilding through

manual labour Manual labour (in Commonwealth English, manual labor in American English) or manual work is physical work done by humans, in contrast to labour by machines and working animals. It is most literally work done with the hands (the word ''manual'' ...

Lifting career

In 1902, aged 19, Inch was declared by a major '

strongman In the 19th century, the term strongman referred to an exhibitor of strength or similar circus performers who performed feats of strength. More recently, strength athletics, also known as strongman competitions, have grown in popularity. These ...

' publication as the "World’s Strongest Youth," enhancing his notoriety. His inspirations included

Eugen Sandow Eugen Sandow (born Friedrich Wilhelm Müller, ; 2 April 1867 – 14 October 1925) was a German bodybuilder and showman from Prussia. Born in Königsberg, Sandow became interested in bodybuilding at the age of ten during a visit to Italy. After a ...

, having seen the German ripping a

pack of cards A playing card is a piece of specially prepared card stock, heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic that is marked with distinguishing motifs. Often the front (face) and back of each card has a fi ...

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. Unlike many professional strongmen of his day, Inch focused on standard lifts with

barbell A barbell is a piece of exercise equipment used in weight training, bodybuilding, weightlifting, powerlifting and strongman, consisting of a long bar, usually with weights attached at each end. Barbells range in length from to above , althou ...

s and

dumbbell The dumbbell, a type of free weight, is a piece of equipment used in weight training. It can be used individually or in pairs, with one in each hand. History The forerunner of the dumbbell, halteres, were used in ancient Greece as lifting w ...

s 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. Inch was responsible for establishing the first mail-order

physical culture Physical culture, also known as Body culture, is a health and strength training movement that originated during the 19th century in Germany, the UK and the US. Origins The physical culture movement in the United States during the 19th century ...

business in the UK.

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

deadlift The deadlift is a weight training exercise in which a loaded barbell or bar is lifted off the ground to the level of the hips, torso perpendicular to the floor, before being placed back on the ground. It is one of the three powerlifting exercises, ...

ing , an unofficial world record. His record lifts included a

two hands anyhow The Two Hands Anyhow is a traditional strongman weightlifting exercise. The goal was to lift as much weight overhead with two hands (two separate weights) in any method. The exercise was popular with lifters such as Arthur Saxon and Thomas Inch ...

of and a

bent press A bent press is a type of weight training exercise wherein a weight is brought from shoulder-level to overhead one-handed using the muscles of the back, legs, and arm. A very large amount of weight can be lifted this way, compared to other types of ...

of .

Thomas Inch dumbbell

He is known for the "Thomas Inch" dumbbell, also known as "172", a dumbbell that weighs 172 lbs. 9 oz. (78.2730 kg). It was extremely difficult to lift, partly due to its weight, but primarily because its handle was very thick at 2 3/8" (6.03 cm) in diameter, making it difficult to hold on to without an outstandingly strong grip. There were allegations that there was a hole in the original 'bell, in which Thomas would place a nail, allowing him to arrest any rotation whilst lifting it. On 22 June 2002, Olympic weightlifter, champion powerlifter, and professional wrestler

Mark Henry Mark Jerrold Henry (born June 12, 1971) is an American former powerlifter, Olympic weightlifter, strongman, and professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a commentator/analyst, coach, and talent scout. He is b ...

completed a successful one-hand

clean and jerk The clean and jerk is a composite of two weightlifting movements, most often performed with a barbell: the clean and the jerk. During the ''clean'', the lifter moves the barbell from the floor to a racked position across the deltoids, without res ...

of the dumbbell. Inch claimed that in his lifetime he never encountered anyone who could lift the 172 from the floor to overhead using only one hand. Even further, he claimed that no one could clear it off the floor. During his lifetime, German strongman

Arthur Saxon Arthur Saxon (April 28, 1878 – August 6, 1921), born Arthur Hennig and nicknamed "The Iron-Master", was a German strongman and circus performer from the late 19th century into the early 20th century. Saxon is best known for the bent press, a lif ...

and fellow British bodybuilder

Reg Park Roy "Reg" Park (7 June 1928 – 22 November 2007) was an English bodybuilder, businessman, and actor. His first title was Mr Britain in 1949. He then won the Mr Universe in 1951, 1958 and 1965. He also starred in five films, four featured as ...

both tried and failed to lift it. He said he had overheaded it literally 'hundreds of times', sometimes lifting it twice in the same performance. In 1909, Inch, still only a middleweight, refused to compete in a weightlifting match against the Austrian

Max Sick Max Sick (28 June 1882 – 10 May 1961) was a German strongman and gymnast who performed as Maxick. With Monte Saldo, he developed the Maxalding system of bodybuilding through muscle control. Early life Born in Bregenz in Austria in 1882 to Sw ...

(Maxick), who had recently arrived in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. However, by 1910 Inch had become a heavyweight and so relinquished his

middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have be ...

title to Edward Aston, and a competition was quickly arranged against Sick.

Other ventures

Inch occasionally served as a strength and conditioning trainer to professional boxers, and helped to rehabilitate wounded soldiers at

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

Military Hospital following

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Death

Inch died in

Cobham, Surrey Cobham () is a large village in the Borough of Elmbridge in Surrey, England, centred south-west of London and northeast of Guildford on the River Mole. It has a commercial/services High Street, a significant number of primary and private s ...

on 12 December 1963 of

coronary thrombosis Coronary thrombosis is defined as the formation of a blood clot inside a blood vessel of the heart. This blood clot may then restrict blood flow within the heart, leading to heart tissue damage, or a myocardial infarction, also known as a heart at ...

(although some people used the diagnosis as an umbrella term for both the disease itself or a

myocardial infarction A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may ...

which follows). 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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Inch, Thomas 1881 births 1963 deaths English strength athletes People associated with physical culture Sportspeople from Scarborough, North Yorkshire Strength training writers