Mark Henry - The Strongest Man That Ever Lived by Ben Tatar of CriticalBench.com
PART 1- MARK HENRY IN HIS EARLIEST DAYS
How do we know that mark has the greatest brute strength ever? Well, Mark
has always been stronger than everyone drug free and everyone on drugs even
when Mark never took drugs. Mark was a wonder of the world, and he was the
MONSTER of all monsters! Not only was Henry the monster of all monsters, but
Mark was a different breed of monsters and a particular breed of species
that could do things in the gym that none of the other genetic freaks could
do! He has inspired so many lifters in the world today and made these amazing
lifts look so easy. He set the bar! The amazing part of this story is how
he accomplished so much in such a short period of training. He is a wonder of the
world!
PART 2- HENRY BREAKS NATIONAL RECORDS
Mark wasn't just any kid, at the young age of 10 Mark was 5 foot 1 and
weighed in at 215lbs! His mother quickly gave Mark a weight set and Henry
noticed what was heavy for everyone else was easy for him. In 1993 as Henry
entered high school, he shattered the high school squat world record and
squatted an amazing 933lbs with minimal gear! And then to make a statement,
Henry squatted 953lbs deep, a record that would stay for over a decade! Mark
also set the record in the deadlift, deadlifting 903lbs in high school,
which is 20lbs off of the greatest deadlift ever witnessed a decade after by
Andy Bolten! Later on, in 1996 Henry wasn't just the best powerlifter in
America, - No-No, he was also the Captain of the Olympic team in the clean
and Jerk! Amazingly, Henry could clean nearly 500lbs and he was making
headlines constantly in the weight lifting world.
PART 3- THE OLYMPICS TO THE WWF
Mark Henry, felt lonely at the top of powerlifting and as a result he
entered the World Wrestling Federation. By the time Henry entered wrestling,
it was NO longer the land of the Giants, like it was if Henry had Wrestled
in the late 80s. If Henry had wrestled a few years earlier then Henry would
have headlined WrestleMania's and would have been new the stronger and
meaner version of Andre the Giant of the world, but the WWE said that it was
vital that he lost some weight so he could follow the requirements of
wrestling's new era. A time where the technical skills and mic skills
mattered most.
PART 4- MARK LOSES WEIGHT
Well, Henry started to eat very clean and he started to lose his bulk! Henry
was training as if he was on BILL PHILLIP'S BODY FOR LIFE PROGRAM, a program
that is great for conditioning, health and aesthetics appearance, but does
little for strength and size. The WWF and the media thought that Henry's old
size and power was worthless, they looked at it as if it were just a joke,
and guess what- Henry was gullible, Henry was in IDENITIY CRISIS and Henry
lost his strength! Henry transformed himself into nothing more than a big
BONED thick pretty boy! Which was okay for what he was doing, but
his "World's strongest man status" was extinct! Everybody thought Henry
was done, everybody!
You could have asked the most intuitive psychic who had the greatest
telekinesis, prophecy and clairaudience powers if Henry could ever be a
world champion lifter again, they wouldn't just say no, but they would say
an OH HELL NO! If you even asked Mark Henry himself if he could be the
World's strongest man again, he flat out would tell you "no way man those
were the days of the past. I am finished with that."
PART 5- HENRY'S MOM DIES...
Then events changed Mark's life. Mark's mom died.
The lady that meant everything in the world to Mark, someone who loved Mark
and gave him his first weight set when he was a child at Christmas and the
lady who supported him throughout his toughest days and shared Henry's
successes with him. Of course Henry had no choice to break down, as she
passed away. He stepped away from wrestling, it was like a volcano was going
through his heart and sucking his love away from him, the dark cloudy mirror
that he didn't know that existed was right in front of Mark's eyes and all
he could see in front of his eyes was a complete hell hole, the saddest and
worse nightmare of Henry's life.
But something happened, he felt the most powerful gold in the dark, he
listened to it speak- Henry had a spiritual moment! He witnessed a power
that would change his life forever, a power so great that he would prove the
psychics and nay Sayers wrong, Henry felt his mother's ore, he got a potent
message deep within from his mom that he needs to win the Arnold classic for
him! Tears rolled down Henry's eyes, the monster had awaken, the training
and the road to the 2002 ARNOLD CLASSIC WAS ON.
PART 6- THE ARNOLD CLASSIC TRAINING-
How could Henry win? How could the man even stand a chance? You had World
Record deadlift champion Andy Bolten, who has been practicing for years! You
had the Swedish strongman Karlsen who lives for strongman and then you had
Henry-- Who has never EVER done anything associated with strongman, and who
has been out of action for years! But then again who in the hell is to say
that miracles are illusions? Only non champions themselves!
So Henry trains his ass off for the next month in the gym! And unlike losing
weight which was Henry's challenge, his genetics, and his spiritual power
quickly takes him on the journey to being one of the strongest men in the
world and before he knows it-- it's the start of March, the Arnold Classic,
presented in Columbus Ohio! Henry is a shocker, as he is in the strongman
event.. So the contest starts, The music of the ARNOLD is ready!!!!!!! Fans
are watching on pay-per-view Nation Wide, thousands of people is in
attendance and everyone is ready to watch THE SUPER BOWL of weight lifting!
PART 7- THE ARNOLD CLASSIC
As the show starts, most fans can't wait for the bodybuilding, they can't
wait for the benching, in prays of 800+ pounds falling, but the bodybuilding
wasn't the show, the benching was loaded with bomb outs and no records-- The
show was the strongman, the amazement was in the strongman, the STRONGMAN
contest took the cake, with amazing events and even more amazing combatants
performing.
So Mark Henry walks onto the platform, he looks like a MACHINE, his eyes
glow, the audience looks at this gorilla of a man! Henry, makes Dexter
Jackson the bodybuilding champ look like a little underwear model, Henry
makes Arnold look like a pencil neck geek and Henry was where everyone's
eyes are locked onto! The place quiets, the cameras flash, everyone was
ready to Rock N Roll... And Henry is READY TO PUT ON THE SHOW!
Henry steps onto the platform! The crowd looks at Henry in shock, HENRY
feels everyone here and on the other side with him. The competitors play
their videos in their mind, adjust the remote controls of their mind, they
make sure the volume and pictures of their videos are clear, so stage
freight doesn't own them all night as Henry plays a video in his mind when
he set the record, but this time he HAS PASSION IN THIS LIFT.THIS TIME IT'S
HENRY'S LAST CHANCE... His mom roams in his passion; she is with him, the
power of HENRY Going CRAZY. It is time to begin!
.. So, the toughest event, The Pollon's wheel is first. Is Henry ready? With
all that has happened to him, he thinks so, the fans think so, everyone
watching at home thinks so and the freaky events no longer seem so freaky,
not compared to Henry, at this point Henry is so scary that no goals can be
compared and the beauty is the fans were about to witness it and boy would
they ever-
So Henry goes up to the wheel and does something that has never been seen
before, HE CLEANS AND JERKS it 3 times!! This feat was unheard of. Henry had
just taken strength to a whole new dimension! Then it was time for the
deadlift....Brian Schoonveld maxes out at 675, Phil Phister gets up to 715,
Karlsen then shocks the world with a 775 deadlift! Up next, Raimands
Bergamis deadlifts 815 for a rep..Then the strongman from the US, Phillippi,
nails 825 as a max and then Brad Gillingham who lives for the deadlift and
has a deadlift body finishes with 845!.......
The smoke then hits, the fans eyes water, Henry the monster comes up... The
bar is loaded to 885! Henry grabs the bar and deadlifts 885 for 2 easy reps,
going light years beyond the contest! everyone raises their fist "MARK HENRY
IS THE MAN, yaaaaaaaaa!!" Then Andy Bolten goes up he sees the crowd
cheering for Henry, the physics of the meet have changed the monster in
Bolten's head into a better on and it was time to be RELEASED.. , So Bolten
grabs the 885 and gets 3 reps!!! History has been made! The greatest
strength show ever is being witnessed..
All dimensions of reality are going on the ride of their lives and the
audience doesn't know what world they are in, but it's special. The music of
the audience pumps in their blood as the events continue- Henry quickly
pushes the hummer to the finish line.YES!! Then Henry carries an 800+ frame
of timber to the finish line with ease... And then the events come to a
close... Arnold then knows it is time for him to announce the champion! The
winner of the Arnold Classic is.. MARK HENRY!!!!!!!!!
People run to the message boards all over the net, the bench contest that
everyone wanted to see doesn't get acknowledged, what does is what Mark
Henry has just conquered! Henry had just FREAKED out all the freaks in the
world! Henry was all of a sudden thought of as greater than Kaz, greater
than Paul Anderson, "HOW" went through the crowds minds. How can this man be
way out of strongman shape, train for a very short period of time and then
be stronger than the other freaks who work at it for their whole lives? What
a freakin mystery thought the world!
And that wasn't enough.. Without even much training, with very little
effort, Henry was going to do something that no other lifter has done
before. Henry took the 175 plus pounds of the "un-liftable" THICK Thomas
dumbbell with 1 arm and lift it over his head! Who else can claim to be the
best in America at Olympic lifting, powerlifting and strongman? Who else can
with barely any time to get there! Only Henry! What could Henry have done if
he just stuck with powerlifting or strongman? That will always be unknown,
but what Henry achieved at the Arnold in Columbus was unreal.
PART 8- HISTORY IS MADE
The event might be over, but Henry did something special for his mom. He did
something special for the world. ATTITUDE, INTENSITY AND AMAZEMENT are
strong words, they also might mean something different to everyone, green to
me is not green to you, it's meaning clusters floating around, but one thing
in common is that they have limits somewhere. Henry re-shaped ATTITUDE,
Henry redefined it FOR ALL OF US. Attitude now is beyond hardcore, it is
beyond a word, more than a feeling and the numbers will show. And we can all
thank Mark Henry for taking STRENGTH to a whole new level.
Although records get broken, no man has ever accomplished what Henry has. No
man has gone to the Olympics and represented their Country in the Clean and
Jerk, which is more based on skill and quickness while having the BRUTE
strength of Henry, the world's best powerlifter at the time! No man has cut
weight, lost everything they worked hard for. Only to gain it gain all of
his brute force back in a month's period of time, to beat the best of the
best at the World's biggest event the Arnold Classic! And for that, by the
definition STRONGEST, Greatest brute strength ever that is Mark Henry!