[7] A star athlete in high school, he played football for two years at the University of Wisconsin–Madison before dropping out in 1974 to concentrate on lifting weights at the Madison YMCA.

He had a severe pectoral injury, from which he never recovered completely,[9] and shortly before the IPF Championships, had torn his hip flexors in the squat.

[4][9] From 1981 onwards Kazmaier's career was affected by multiple muscle tears and injuries, preventing him from setting the bar even higher.

[b] During Kazmaier's title defense at the 1981 World's Strongest Man he won the squat event with 969 lb (439.5 kg) (on a smith machine) for a world record, just after tearing his pectoralis major muscle while bending cold rolled steel bars in the bar bend event before.

A notable performance in this WSM was his 1,055 lb (478.5 kg) joint-world record silver dollar deadlift alongwith Ernie Hackett.

He returned to the World's Strongest Man Contest in 1988, where he won three of eight events: the log press, deadlift and sack race; and took two second places including the truck pull, but was disqualified for moving his hands in the sausage forward hold, so the time was stopped prematurely.

[11] In Kazmaiers' final WSM appearance at the 1989 World's Strongest Man, he severely injured his ankle in the first event and already had a ripped biceps.

[11] In addition to WSM contests, Kazmaier also competed in the second and third most prestigious contests World Muscle Power Classic and Le Defi Mark Ten International alongwith several other tournaments, such as the Scottish Power Challenge, Strongbow Strongman Challenge and Pure Strength.

[14][15] Inspired by Jim Thorpe, Kazmaier sought to transfer his talents to other sports, trying out for the NFL's Green Bay Packers in 1981.

[8] He also trained as a wrestler with Verne Gagne and Brad Rheingans, and entered professional wrestling in 1986, with a WWF match in Calgary, Alberta on November 10, 1986, defeating David Barbie.

He received several shots at Lex Luger's WCW World Heavyweight Championship but failed to win the title.

At the 1991 Starrcade Battlebowl: The Lethal Lottery, Kazmaier and his partner Jushin "Thunder" Liger defeated Diamond Dallas Page and Mike Graham in Norfolk, Virginia.

[8] Both served as a place for him to train and as headquarters for DynaKaz Inc., Kazmaier's own exercise equipment import-export company,[7] which markets fitness products worldwide.

Kazmaier considers his most important contributions to public life to be his work as a motivational speaker for 3D Sports Tech, addressing school and YMCA groups.

[8] In 1974 Kazmaier read a Bible verse in Psalm 40 while at the Madison YMCA[8] and subsequently became a devoted Christian, crediting much of his success and exceptional strength to "the power of Jesus Christ.

[18] performed in official powerlifting full meets Professional Competitive Record – [1st (18),2nd (4), 3rd (4) – Out of Total(29)] International winning percentage of 44.5%