Two Hands Anyhow

The Two Hands Anyhow is a traditional strongman weightlifting exercise. The goal was to lift as much weight overhead with two hands (two separate weights) in any method.[1]

Arthur Saxon performing a Two Hands Anyhow.

The exercise was popular with lifters such as Arthur Saxon[2] and Thomas Inch. The most common version of the Two Hands Anyhow had lifters bent press a barbell with the strong arm and then lift a smaller weight with the other arm, usually a kettlebell. The world record for the two hands anyhow in this style is 448 lbs by Arthur Saxon who used a 336 lb barbell and a 112 lb kettlebell.[3]

In Great Britain the lift was called the Two Hands Anyhow with Barbell and Ring-Weight, and a ring-weight or dumb-bell would be used rather than a kettlebell.[4] Under the strict British Amateur Weight Lifters' Association rules, Ron Walker set the British Heavyweight Record in 1937 with 310½ lbs.[5] For the longest time, this lift was the one where the record for most weight lifted overhead was achieved until Olympic Weightlifting improved its techniques enough to allow for 500+ pound clean and jerk lifts, eclipsing the Two Hands Anyhow record, mostly because it's fallen out of favor (while the bent press has seen a minor comeback).