Sri Chinmoy

Sri Chinmoy began his weightlifting journey in 1985 at the age of 54 by lifting a 40-pound dumbbell overhead with one arm. Shortly afterwards he lifted 106 lbs overhead with one arm, and one year later he supported twice his own body weight (300 lbs) with one arm. In 1998 at the age of 68, following a several year hiatus, Sri Chinmoy re-entered the world of weightlifting and soon lifted double his own body weight – this time in each arm simultaneously.

In the course of time, he broke many of his old records and set many new ones as well, including 1,300 lbs in the standing double dumbbell lift and 1,000 lbs in the two-arm dumbbell partial bench press. On the advice of his longtime friend and legendary bodybuilder Bill Pearl, Sri Chinmoy also began lifting heavy objects, which were placed on a specially constructed platform attached to a standing calf raise lift. He lifted unbelievable weights in this fashion, including a group of people (2,000 lbs), a helicopter (3,200 lbs), an African elephant (7,600 lbs) and a jet airplane (31,000 lbs).

For Sri Chinmoy, weightlifting was simply another opportunity to exhibit the true potential possessed by man. Perhaps more striking than all his other achievements in art, music and philosophy, his weightlifting exploits provide undeniable visual proof of the true power we all hold within. Sri Chinmoy’s feats of strength captivated millions and were featured on thousands of news broadcasts worldwide.

Sri Chinmoy’s unorthodox style of lifts sometimes came under criticism for not conforming to the standard forms of weightlifting. Sri Chinmoy’s response was that he was trying to bring newness and vitality into weightlifting in the same way he had done in the fields of music, art and running:

“If there is only the dead lift and other standard lifts, then there will be no newness, no invention. Should there be only one game? No, hundreds of games have been discovered. Then shall we play only football, volleyball and basketball? There should be more games. In a garden will we keep only four types of flowers? If another type of flower appears, we will not cry, "Oh, this is not a flower because for years and years in our garden there have been only four flowers.” - Sri Chinmoy

“When you invent something, there will always be people to criticise...My philosophy is to forget about the critics. There will always be critics. Is there anybody who is free from critics? Unfortunately, when one invents something, it is frequently not accepted. Then a day comes when people forget about the criticism. At first, how much Newton and Einstein suffered! Afterwards, everybody accepted them. In the beginning, newness will always be suspected. It will not be admired and adored. But then, based on that newness, people go forward... My weightlifting is also invention. When you invent something, people criticise it because it has not been practised for fifty years. They say, "Only our grandfathers’ way is correct." The old theory is that whatever our grandfathers discovered is real. If we do something new, it cannot be real. If we subscribe to this stupid theory, there will be no newness in the sports field or in any other field...There will always be critics, but we have to go our own way. A1 Oerter, a four-time Olympic gold medalist in the discus, has very kindly said that I am a new pathfinder. From the very beginning of my weightlifting career, I have tried to do new things. Why should I go on always with the old system as if that is the only way? I feel that people who come to break the traditional barriers are the ones who are the real heroes.”  -  Sri Chinmoy

“There can be no one in the world other than Sri Chinmoy who can have a conception of what 7,063¾ lbs of weight means. In biology, for example, we talk about very small measures, subatomic measures, but I have no conception of what that is. With astronomy, on the other end of the scale, they say that the sun is 93 million miles away, but I haven't the remotest idea at all what that means. Likewise, the dimensions of Sri Chinmoy's lift are entirely alien, totally out of this world, and definitely from another planet. Sri Chinmoy has created a new law of the universe.” - Jim Smith, Registrar of Records, British Amateur Weightlifters' Association