"Steel Man of India" breaks yet another record with incredible display of brute strength
In an incredible display of sheer brute strength, Indian martial artist Vispy Kharadi claimed his latest world record – the heaviest weight holding Hercules Pillars (male).
Aptly nicknamed the “Steel Man of India”, the fitness expert claimed the title with a total of 261 kg (575.4 lb), with both the pillars weighing that much.
That means each of the pillars weighed about half as much as a polar bear.
Vispy had to hold the colossal weight for one minute, but went for seven seconds longer as a massive crowd of thousands cheered him on at the Attari border in Punjab, India, on 17 August.
It took several men to move the pillars into position.
The group worked together to hold the pillars up until Vispy could take over.
He stood in the centre of a raised platform, flanked by the pillars that he held up with chains.
When the clock ran out, he let them drop to the floor and appeared to be overcome with pride at his latest incredible achievement.
Vispy posted to his 203,000 Instagram followers that the record was “dedicated to the Forces of India who protects us”.
It was the 17th time Vispy has claimed a Guinness World Records title, and he thanked his mentors Shihan and Hanshi for their “constant support”.
This isn’t the first time Vispy has broken a record by holding Hercules Pillars.
Last November, he claimed the longest duration holding Hercules pillars (male) with total of 2 mins 10.75 sec.
They weighed 166.7 kg and 168.9 kg.
Of his records that still stand today, the oldest is most iron bars bent with the neck in one minute.
He did 21 of them in October 2019.
He claimed two records in one day on 4 October 2022 when he performed the heaviest concrete block break on a bed of nails sandwich (male) – 528 kg (1,164 lb), and the most concrete blocks broken with elbow in one minute – 64.
A record-breaking trip to Milan, Italy, in February 2023 saw him claim three titles in the space of a few days on the set of our TV programme Lo Show dei Record.
He did the heaviest concrete block break on a bed of nails (male) - 964.80 kg (2127.01 lb), the most iron bars bent with the head in one minute – 24, and the most people on a one inch bed of nails sandwich – 11, a record he broke with Jackie Patel, Bhavesh Panwala, Chitrak Desai, Mayur Vhanecha, Jamshid Bhathena, Gulam Malek, Manan Patel, Jigar Pancholi, Ebrahim Makasar and Yusuf Makaser, under the guidance of Mehul Vora (all India).
The following year, in November 2024, he also claimed the title for most people in a one inch bed of nail sandwich with a total of 10. He shares the record with Jackie Patel, Chitrak Desai, Jamshid Bhathena, Mayur Vhanecha, Manan Patel, G. N. Malek, Prajesh Deshmukh, Ebrahim Makasarwala, Jigar Pancholi and Mehul Vora (all India).
Finally, Vispy returned to Lo Show dei Record in February this year and broke the heaviest weight sustained on the body with an impressive total of 1,819 kg (4,010.2 lb), which is almost as heavy as a giraffe.
What amazing feat of strength is next?
