Career
His best lifts in competition include a 400 kg (882 lb) raw squat, 275 kg (605 lb) bench press with shirt and 250 kg raw bench press, 375 kg (827 lb) raw deadlift, and a raw total of 1015 kg (2238 lb). He once held the world record for a tire deadlift of 445 kg (981 lb). His strongman victories include the 1989 Pure Strength contest in Scotland, the 1991 and 1993 International Power Challenge, the 1992 Scandinavian Strongest Manitoba (Finland), the 1992 Nordic Strongest Manitoba (Denmark), the 1994 Europe"s Strongest Manitoba, the 1995 World Muscle Power Championship, and the 1995 and 1997 Viking Challenge.
In addition to his four World"s Strongest Manitoba titles, he was also runner-up in 1992 and 1993.
He carried Jón Páll"s formula of being athletic for the dynamic tests of strength and having tremendous static strength to out lift some of the best Powerlifters. He was able to easily out deadlift the favoured O.D Wilson by 40 kg in 1991 and out squatted the world record holder in the squat, Gerrit Badenhorst, in 1995.
After Magnus squatted 437.5 kg, Badenhorst commented that he had previously underestimated Magnus" pure strength and that Magnus" squat was the greatest squat he had ever seen from someone of his bodyweight. In 2008, he made an appearance on Comedy Central"s The Daily Show.
Magnus appeared in a Coors Light commercial as the "World"s Strongest Manitoba" which aired in the United States.