The two hands anyhow is not just a certain lift. Instead it is getting two (sometimes even more) weights lifted overhead ‘any how’ you can.

Arthur SaxonA common variation is to bent press a weight and while bent over curl another weight to the shoulder then press it overhead. This is the manner that Arthur Saxon did his still standing record of 448 pounds. He put a barbell weighing 336 pounds up with his right arm then lifted a 112 pound ring weight with his other.

Other methods involved jerking the first weight overhead. But a kettlebell or ring weight was commonly used for the second weightto make the lift slightly easier. Below you can watch Max Shank snatch a 135 lb. barbell into place. Then just for fun he lowers it and bent presses it back up, while lifting a 70 lb. kettlebell into place.

In the next video, Oliver Quinn, two hand anyhows a 78kg Inch dumbbell and a 36kg kettlebell, for a combined weight of 114kg or 251 pounds.

This is an excellent move to test yourself and see how much weight you can get overhead. But be careful with it and work into it slowly. You can be sure Arthur Saxon did thousands and thousands of reps in order to get to his level.

<--Back to Feats of Strength


  1. so if the point is to get the weights over your head then why did the guy in the video get the bar over his head with a snatch then lower it then bent pressed it back up to where it was when he snatched it?

    1. @john: He’s doing extra stuff because that’s a light weight for him. I couldn’t find a good video with decent weight just of a two hands anyhow. But I’ve been working on this exercise a little bit so maybe I’ll replace it soon.

  2. Pingback: W.A. Pullum

Leave a Comment