For many years bodybuilding was considered a men’s sport, but some strongest women in the world can make men feel weak next to them.
Social norms dictate that males should work out and get extremely fit, while women are typically associated with femininity and sweetness. Because they don’t match the stereotypes of men and women that society has created, certain women are nevertheless seen as less feminine today.
All Time Strongest Women in the World
Still, several women are severing their ties and going after their passions. We’ve compiled a list of the strongest women in history who are challenging long-standing patriarchal beliefs.
1) Abbye ‘Pudgy’ Stockton
With her husband and a friend, Abbye “Pudgy” Stockton performed a hand-balancing show that traveled the Los Angeles area. The 5’2″ and 115-pound Stockton had to support her husband straight over her head in adjoining handstands for prolonged periods.
In the realm of women’s weightlifting, “Pudgy” was such a trailblazer that she was given a second moniker, “The Queen of Muscle Beach.” Back in 1944, Stockton authored a monthly piece for Strength and Health called “Barbelles” in which she encouraged and counseled other women who were interested in learning how to lift weights.
At a period when it was widely accepted that women who lifted weights would be manlier, she encouraged women to be physically strong.
2) Bev Francis
Bev Francis began her career as an Australian track and field athlete, participating in shot put, discus, and javelin from 1977 to 1982 (except in 1980 due to a knee injury).
Later, she took up powerlifting, and from 1980 to 1985, she lifted her way to successive crowns as the World Powerlifting Champion. She is unbeaten in her career as a competitor and has smashed over 40 global powerlifting records.
Above all, she was the first female weightlifter to reach the 300-pound mark. She set personal records in the 500-pound squat, 335-pound bench press, and 501-pound deadlift.
3) Chen Wei Ling
Chen Wei Ling is one of the world’s strongest women, she lifted the weight more than three times her body. She was an Olympic bronze medallist in Beijing in 2008. While competing in the 2009 World Games, the 101-pound weightlifter also achieved world records in the squat and deadlift. She won first place at the World Games with her 430-pound deadlift and 457-pound squat.
4) Iris Kyle
Since winning her first overall Ms. Olympia title in 2004, Iris Kyle has ruled the bodybuilding world. From 2006 to 2014, Kyle emerged victorious in every competition, making her the bodybuilder with the most Olympia victories—a record that she holds over all other competitors, male and female. Her lengthy resume of victories alone justifies her place on this list.
5) Aneta Florczyk
At sixteen years old, Aneta Florczyk began powerlifting. She was crowned World’s Champion and World’s Strongest Woman in 2003, 2005, 2006, and 2008 in addition to being awarded Europe’s Strongest Woman in 2004.
Guinness World Records claims that she has won the tournament more times than any other woman in history. Florczyk not only has this global record, but he also claims the Guinness global Record for the most adult men lifted overhead—12 guys in two minutes.
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6) Tatiana Kashirina
Tatiana Kashirina set five new world records after winning the 2014 World Weightlifting Championship. She smashed her record from the London 2012 Olympics by completing a 341-pound snatch. She beat Chinese weightlifter Lulu Zhou’s record with a maximum weight of about 425 pounds for the clean and jerk.
7) Robin “Helga” Coleman
Robin Coleman has a broad background in fitness, having competed in figure and strongwoman events. She also made an appearance as “Helga” on American Gladiators in 2008. Coleman won a strongwoman competition in 2001.
She was the winner of an event where her task was to squat an automobile as many times as possible. While many couldn’t raise it once, she managed to complete 15 repetitions. (Jill Mills came closest to Coleman’s score, completing eight repetitions).
8) Becca Swanson
Becca Swanson began competing in the Strongwoman Competition in 2002 as it gained prominence. With a best squat of 854.3 pounds and a best bench of 683.4 pounds, she is the only woman to have ever squatted more than 800 pounds. Her best lifts totaling 2050 pounds include an 854-pound deadlift, a 600-pound bench press, and a 694-pound squat.
9) Jan Todd
After marrying Dr. Terry Todd, the first powerlifting champion in US history, Jan Todd entered the sport in 1973.
Jan Todd’s first Guinness World Record, which has been held for 50 years, was set in 1975 at her debut competition: 394 pounds in the two-hand deadlift. With a deadlift of 412 pounds the next year, she became the first female powerlifter to surpass 400 pounds in any category.
Additionally, she was the first female to lift more than 1,200 pounds in the three powerlifting exercises (deadlift, bench, and squat). She was once called the world’s strongest woman by Sports Illustrated.
10) Jill Mills
Jill Mills is a well-known American powerlifter and Strongwoman world champion. She started powerlifting when she was twenty-three.
She began her career as a bodybuilder before deciding to transition to powerlifting. In 2001 and 2002, Mills won the title of IFSA World’s Strongest Woman. In 2005, she came in third. For almost twenty years, she has been focusing on her career.
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