World’s strongest man shares secret of inner strength

Anthony Clark talks about finding his inner strength
as well as his physical strength

The world’s strongest man Anthony Clark meets with
Anne Warren on his visit to Eagle House

Anthony Clark enjoys lunch at Portofinos with Tony
Virtue of the Cayman Outreach Association

Anthony Clark meets with the students at Eagle House

by Christopher Tobutt

Friday,  January 28, 2005

Anthony Clark, holder of the title, ‘World’s Strongest Man,’ spent four days visiting the Cayman Islands talking about how he overcame great trials as a child and teenager.

Among his feats of strength Mr Clark has torn down a wooden house with his hands, lifted the back legs of an elephant, and pushed a car along, after first lifting the back wheels to waist-height. He is also the record holder for a number of power-lifts, including the bench press, at 800 pounds.

Facing rejection and alienation from his peers after moving to Texas from the Philippines at the age of seven, Mr Clark recalled, “I didn’t know anything about America, except that it was the Land of Opportunity, Cowboys and Indians, and it was full of friendly people. 

“My first day at school went like this: they called me, “nerd, turd, jerk, moron.” I would say, “thank-you, I really appreciate that. I went home and said, “Hey, mom and dad, here’s what the kids said and repeated the names,” Mr Clark said.

“On my third day at school, the kids started beating me up; I didn’t understand it,” he added.

However bad it became at school, the young Mr Clark knew he could rely on support from his father.

“I had a great relationship with him,” he recalled,” he always said, “Hey, son, I’m really proud of you, keep up the good work, remember I’ll always love you.”

Much to Mr Clark’s astonishment, however that relationship changed: “All of a sudden, he started putting me down, mocking me, and then he started beating me up too,” Mr Clark said.

The first turning point came when, as a young teenager, Mr Clark decided he would gain respect by working out with his father’s weights.

Although he succeeded in gaining respect from his peers, Mr Clark still faced the worsening relationship with his father, which culminated in a brutal beating.

Seeking answers, the young Mr Clark was drawn to an evangelist who came to his school and told him of the unconditional love of a father, God, who had sent his son, Jesus, into the world. Mr Clarke says that he responded by making a decision to give his life to this God.

As a young man Mr Clark broke one weight-lifting record after another, becoming the first teenager to bench-press 600 lbs and the first to reverse-grip press 700 pounds.

Eventually Mr Clarke broke the world record for bench-press, at 800 pounds, a record which still stands. 

He also established the world’s record for the Squat, at 1031 lbs.

A further crisis and another important turning point came almost twenty years later, however, when Mr Clark almost died in a severe head-on car crash, in Nashville, Tennessee.

Mr Clark’s injuries were so severe, the doctors said that the only way Mr Clark would survive would be if he had a heart transplant. Traumatized, Mr Clark said he didn’t know what to do:

“My family came and prayed over me. Nine days later, I was out of the coma and I saw my mother sitting in front of me. She started crying and said, “Son, promise me you’ll come home, I said, “Yes momma, I promise,” he said.

“Twenty-one days later, God did a miracle” Mr Clark said. ‘I walked out of that hospital without the heart transplant.” 

However, the difficult trials in Mr Clark’s life were not over: “Three days after I came home, my mother died. I sat there in total disarray and I asked God, “What’s going on?” and he said, “Son, I’ve got something bigger and better for you to do. I want you to go out there, and share the gospel of Jesus Christ with every young person that you can.”

Since then, Mr Clark has tried to be obedient to that calling, and although still interested in working out, breaking world records is no longer his goal: the bigger and better thing that Mr Clark does is telling people about the acceptance he has found in God’s love, and how they too can find this acceptance. 

Part of Mr Clark’s mission is therefore also to undo the self-fulfilling prophecies associated with the low self-esteem and moments of failure that so many people go through, by drawing on his own experiences.
“Many of you are suffering from ‘stinking thinking’,” he told the audience of young men recently at Eagle House. “Somebody’s told you that you’re no good, and will never amount to anything. You’re letting those words hang over you like a curse, but guess what, God thinks so highly of you, He’s sent me to speak to you out of all the 6.5 billion people in the world.”

Since accepting his new divinely-appointed task, doors have been opening for Mr Clark. 

“I have been traveling outside the USA; I went to Barbados, and to South Africa, where I have been preaching to young people,” he said. At all his engagements, Mr Clark’s main theme is power, not just physical but the life-changing power that he says comes from a personal relationship with an unconditionally-loving God.

A lot of people call me: “The World’s Strongest Man,” but you know what I want my title to be? GHS. That stands for ‘God’s Humble Servant.’

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