History of the Conan Walk
The Deadlift is rumoured to have been given its name after military battles, somewhere in ancient Rome, when young Roman soldiers would go out into the field to lift their fallen comrades onto wagons to later be buried. This replicates the way in which we perform deadlifts today, which is lifting a “deadweight” from the floor. And ultimately, this is the reason lifting a heavy barbell from the floor with no assistance is called a “Deadlift”.
Hermann Görner, a German strongman who started lifting weights at the early age of 10, brought the barbell deadlift into the public spotlight in 1910 to 1920. Although he was not the first strongman to perform this lift, he is known to be a deadlift master as he completely redesigned the event to make it his own. Görner was recognised into the Guinness World Records for a one-handed deadlift of 301kg (664 lb) in October 1920.