Jan Todd - Profile

Jan Todd – The Pioneer of Women's Strength Sports

Janice Suffolk, later known as Jan Todd, was born on May 22, 1952. She was born into a working-class family in Western Pennsylvania, USA. Her upbringing was shaped by financial hardship. Her father worked at a steel mill, and she grew up without an indoor bathroom.

The stereotypical ideal for women where she grew up was to not get involved in sports – let alone strength training or striving to become bigger and stronger.

When her parents divorced, her mother encouraged her to take up swimming. However, it was difficult for Jan to find the time and opportunity to pursue it. During this period, she noticed that she was bigger than the other girls. Fitting into a swimsuit was no easy task. Jan never really found her place in any sport, as she felt that her body type just did not fit in. During high school, she needed to take an extra job because of her family's financial situation. As a result, sports were out of the picture for the rest of her teenage years.

When she got to college, she saw some professors trying to flip a pole, much like in the Highland Games. She wanted to give it a try and succeeded on her first attempt. At that moment, she knew she was Built Strong. Terry Todd, a professor and an established powerlifter at the school, took notice of her and fell in love. They became a couple and eventually got married.

Terry brought her to the Texas Athletic Club in his hometown over Christmas in 1973. There, Jan saw small women deadlifting 225 lbs, which was over 100 lbs more than their body weight. Jan was inspired and started talking to the women. Terry continued with his training, and after a few minutes, he saw Jan deadlifting 225 lbs herself. From that moment on, Jan was hooked.

Now Jan was determined to pursue the Guinness World Record for the heaviest deadlift by a woman. The record stood at 392 lbs, set by the French lifter Jane Vesley way back in 1926. Jan began training after Christmas. By February, she had lifted 295 lbs. By March, she had reached 315 lbs, and by April, 325 lbs. However, in May, after completing an easy 335 lbs deadlift, she injured her back while digging up the garden outside the mill house. This was a major setback, and she could not return to training until the fall of 1974.

By late October, she was back at it. In October 1974, at the Texas Athletic Club, she pulled 370 lbs and was back on track. In May 1975, she entered a competition. There were no women's categories at the time, so she competed against the men. Her best lift in training before the competition had been 385 lbs. She opened her deadlift with 355 lbs. It was a good lift, but a heavy one. For her second attempt, she asked for 394,5 lbs, breaking a 49-year-old record if successful. She completed the lift and secured her place in the history books!

After that, she continued breaking new ground, becoming the first woman to deadlift 400 lbs as well as 200 kg. Jan went on to set more than 60 world and national records in powerlifting across four weight classes.

It was not until 1977 that a national meet for women was held in the United States. The first Women's World Championships was held in Hawaii in 1980, organized by Gus Rethwisch.

In her pursuit of establishing herself and women's strength sports, Jan attracted attention from major media outlets. In 1978, she appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, where she performed a 415 lbs / 188 kg deadlift.

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1QG49Csc7w&t

During these years, strength sports were really taking off, not only for women but in general. Weightlifting had been more or less the only organized strength sport worldwide until the late 1970s. Strongman, as we know it today, emerged in 1977. However, the Highland Games had already existed for centuries.

Jan took notice of the emerging events and wanted to give them a try. One of the best-known events, or perhaps more accurately, strength tests, involved the Dinnie Stones. The two stones weigh 318 lbs and 415 lbs, for a combined total of 733 lbs. They are attached to chains with large iron ring handles and you lift them with one hand on each handle.

To this day, only 333 men have officially lifted the stones. The first was Donald Dinnie in 1860, and they were not lifted again until 1963 – more than 100 years later.

In 1978, Terry was asked to provide commentary for the Highland Games. This was the perfect opportunity for Jan to pursue the Dinnie Stones she had wanted to lift for so long. She immediately started training for the challenge. She began performing partial deadlifts from above the knees and really pushed herself, eventually pulling partial deadlifts with up to 900 lbs/408.2 kg. She was even approaching, and possibly reaching, 1,000 lbs / 453.6 kg in partial deadlifts using straps.

In 1979, Terry took Jan and Bill Kazmaier to the United Kingdom, traveling to Scotland to break records. Jan was determined to lift the Dinnie Stones, and she succeeded, although she used straps to secure her grip. She became the first woman ever to lift the stones, and it would take more than 39 years for another woman to achieve the same feat of strength.

Jan remained active in competitive strength sports until the mid-1980s. Alongside her athletic career, she studied to become a doctor and co-authored the first science-based book on women's strength training with Terry.

Jan was, and is still to this day, deeply involved in the strength sports world. She also became the first woman to coach a men's powerlifting team on the world stage and lead it to victory.

Jan's training was fairly typical for her era. She trained alongside powerlifters such as Doug Young and, of course, her husband, Terry Todd. She also trained alongside Cindy Reinhoudt, the wife of legendary super heavyweight Don Reinhoudt. Cindy herself was an accomplished powerlifter.

Her training followed what we would describe today as an SBD routine, with sessions covering squats, bench press, and deadlifts. She would typically work up to heavy singles in the squat, followed by heavy singles and additional rep work in the bench press. In the deadlift, she would work up to a heavy single and also perform partial deadlifts.

Squats and bench presses were more common in her training than deadlifts. However, she still trained the deadlift frequently, usually around twice a week. Squats and bench presses could be performed anywhere from two to four times a week.

In addition to the main lifts, she performed triceps presses, close-grip bench presses, bent-over rows, curls, sit-ups, and other basic strength exercises.

Alongside all her records, there was one other achievement that stood out. It was not a record she held on her own, but one she shared with the powerlifting legend known as “Mr. Powerlifting,” Larry Pacifico. In 1979, the two performed a tandem deadlift of 501 kg as a promotional event at the IPF World Championships in Rochdale, England.

The legacy of Jan Todd is alive and thriving all over the world today. The path she paved with her body and soul has been taken further in ways that she could hardly have imagined when it all began in the 1970s.

Jan continues to work at the University of Texas and is also involved with the Stark Center at the University of Texas at Austin, located at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. It is a place that every strength enthusiast should visit if given the opportunity.