Classic Dumbbells: The Thomas Inch Challenge Dumbbell

The old-fashioned, classic dumbbells had a characteristic shape of a handle with two cannon balls attached on both sides. The Thomas Inch dumbbell became one of the most famous of these dumbbell weights, simply because from many challenges to lift the dumbbell, just about no one could lift it!

The strongman from Great Britain, Thomas Inch (1881-1963) had a traveling circus show and wanted custom dumbbells made for him. These dumbbells were called the “Challenge Dumbbells” and they were extremely heavy. During the show, he challenged anyone to lift the dumbbell off the floor with one hand and offered almost $1000 to anyone who could do it. At the end of each show, Inch lifted the dumbbells to show that it was possible.

The dumbbells weighed 172lbs and the handles had a diameter of 2.5 inches. This made the dumbbells very difficult to grip.

Modern day strongmen have been able to lift this heavy, old-fashioned looking dumbbell. However, for many decades lifting the challenge dumbbell has been an impossible task for many weight lifters.