Manfred Hoeberl (; born 12 May 1964) is an Austrian former

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. Thes ...

and

powerlifter Powerlifting is a strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athlete attempting a maximal weight single-lift effor ...

who was known as having the largest arms in the world during the early-mid 1990s. Hoeberl was born in the same town as

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 ...

legend and former

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California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...

Life and career

Hoeberl won the

Europe's Strongest Man Europe's Strongest Man is an annual strength athletics competition which began in 1980. The event is held in various locations throughout Europe, and features exclusively European strongman competitors. Mariusz Pudzianowski holds the record for m ...

twice (1993, 1994), the World Muscle Power Classic twice (1993, 1994) and was runner up at the 1994 World's Strongest Man competition, narrowly missing the title to

Magnús Ver Magnússon Magnús Ver Magnússon (born 23 April 1963) is an Icelandic former powerlifter and strongman competitor. He is a four-time World's Strongest Man, having won in 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996 and is widely regarded as one of the greatest strongmen of ...

by 0.87 seconds in the final Atlas Stones event. Hoeberl competed in the World's Strongest Man finals in 1991 and 1993, finishing 8th and 4th respectively. Hoeberl won Austria's Strongest Man 7 times, from 1989-1994 & 1996. In the early 1990s Hoeberl claimed to have the largest arms in the world. At the 1994 Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic, bodybuilding journalist Joe Roark measured Hoeberl's upper arm to be cold. Right after Hoeberl curled a 150 lb. dumbbell for several reps and was re-measured at pumped. After the measurement Roark claimed Hoeberl was the first man in history to have an upper arm girth three times the size of his wrist circumference. Shortly after this, Hoeberl co-wrote his first book ''10 Minutes to Massive Arms''. Hoeberl was officially certified on the No. 3

Captains of Crush Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

gripper in 1997 and was famous for his world class

grip strength Grip strength is the force applied by the hand to pull on or suspend from objects and is a specific part of hand strength. Optimum-sized objects permit the hand to wrap around a cylindrical shape with a diameter from one to three inches. Stair rai ...

Personal records

Bench Press The bench press, or chest press, is a weight training exercise in which the trainee presses a weight upwards while lying on a weight training bench. Although the bench press is a full-body exercise, the muscles primarily used are the pectorali ...

: raw * Squat: raw *Deadlift from height: raw

Car crashes and retirement

Shortly after the 1994 World's Strongest Man contest, Hoeberl was involved in a near fatal car crash in which he broke several limbs, and fractured his hip in 8 places. After months of rehabilitation, Hoeberl returned to

competition, although he never again competed in the World's Strongest Man. A severe biceps injury sustained during the 1997 European Hercules contest forced him into retirement. Hoeberl was involved in a second near fatal crash in 2002. Hoeberl was involved in a head-on collision with a truck while riding a motorcycle at 80 miles per hour. Due to his injuries Hoeberl is no longer weight training, he is quoted as saying "I am kinda lucky to be alive".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoeberl, Manfred 1964 births Austrian strength athletes Living people