Apollon was the stage name of a French strongman named Louis Uni. Louis Uni was born around the Herlaut region of France in the 1860’s. He began strength training and developing his body at a young age. This coupled with his genetic gifts of raw strength and size created one of the top physical specimens the world has ever seen.
Louis Uni’s family was well know for being giants. According to records, all his male relatives were well over 6 feet tall. One close blood relative stood 6 feet 8 inches tall.
The Uni’s towered over their neighbors since the average male height in France at that time was 5 foot 4 inches.
Louis Uni was the descendent of a roman gladiator named Unicus (which means ‘unique’). Unicus was a fierce fighter and undefeated in combat.
Despite his perfect record, he fled Rome after being scheduled to fight lions in the coliseum.
Opting to keep his perfect record and life, he retired early by skipped town. He sailed on a fishing boat through the Mediterranean until landing in France where he setup shop and sired a warrior brood.
After generations of big breeding, eventually Louis was born. He grew up tall and strong and was already the size of an NFL linebacker by the age of 14.
It was at this time young Louis left home to join the circus. Shortly after running away from home, he was returned to his family by the authorities. Not long after that, a promoter convinced his parents to let the boy join the circus. His unusual strength and size drew quite a crowd.
Thus began Louis Uni’s legacy as Apollon the Mighty.
Apollon The Mighty
Apollon the Mighty seemed like a fitting name for Louis Uni since he was 6 foot 3 inches tall and weighed 265 pounds – A massive human being even by today’s standards, and a literal giant in the 1800’s.
Apollon (or Apollo) was an ancient roman god who embodied athleticism and strength.
Louis portrayed that image well. Apollon the Mighty bent iron bars with his bare hands. His signature move during his performance was to escape from a cage by bending the bars with his impressive strength.
He’d pull the bars apart and climb out in dramatic fashion giving the audience a glimpse at his enormous arms.
Onlookers watched in awe of his awesome physique. His arm was the size of an ordinary man’s thigh.
By all accounts, Apollon was blessed with a massive bone structure. His wrists measured 10 inches around which means his bones were incredibly strong.
Strong bones allow larger muscles and the ability to generate more strength and power, since big bones and withstand the intense muscular contraction.
Apollon would go on to perform acrobatic stunts such as launching a giant dumbbell overhead while balancing on one leg.
He was also known for his incredible grip strength and demonstrations of raw power. One of those demonstrations was the Apollon Axel.
Apollon’s Axel
The Apollon Axel is a floor clean and press performed with a train car axel and two locomotive wheels.
The Apollon Axel is challenging lift. The axel bar thick making it difficult to grip. You need raw grip strength to hoist the massive weight overhead.
The wheels do not rotate which adds to the difficulty. There’s no room for error. Your technique has to be perfect and you must be brutally strong to lift Apollon’s Axel.
The Apollon Axel weights 366 pounds, which is a lot of weight but the thick bar makes it feel twice as heavy.
How did Apollon Train?
Apollon trained using barbells, dumbbells, and kettlebells. He did the traditional strongman exercises like one arm press, bent press, one hand snatch, and of course his signature move, the Apollon Axel.
Whatever he did worked. He’s in the history books. His physique was so impressive that men brought their pregnant wives to touch Apollon’s arms in hopes it would strengthen their unborn child.
Other Endeavorers
His long career ended after a freak accident on stage where we tried to prevent two automobiles from moving by tying a rope to their bumper and him holding the other end.
Apollon made a pivot to movies, where he played “The Trident”, a character in the French silent film Mare Nostre.
Apollon was one of the most famous strongman in history. He even outfitted Eugen Sandow, who is probably the most famous strongman pioneer. Louis Uni is part of a rich heritage of Victorian strongman.
One thing all nations had in common is strength. They all rallied around a strong man at one time or another.
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