I did not go looking for F. A. Hornibrook. He turned up while I was chasing something else, which is usually how these things happen. A name in an advertisement. A reference that did not quite make sense. A photograph that looked familiar in a way that was hard to explain. He never arrived all… Continue reading When Did Everyone Start Looking Like This?
“The band is to remind you that your ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure!” What if one piece of easy fitness equipment could totally change your home workout? It's exactly what Joseph Pilates saw more than a century ago - and it's what modern Pilates resistance bands (also known as… Continue reading Guest Post: A History of Pilates Resistance Bands: From Hospital Bed Springs to the Ultimate Home Fitness Essential
How many times do you eat a day? Do you eat carbs after 3pm? Post-workout protein shake? Such are the questions faced by the modern day strength enthusiast. Are we overthinking the way we eat? In a world faced with a growing obesity epidemic and continuous production of low quality foods the answer may appear… Continue reading What did Eugen Sandow Eat?
I lift therefore I am. Or ... something like that. I've been training in gyms and with weights in some capacity for two decades (this year in fact!). I've yet to win a major bodybuilding, powerlifting or weightlifting title. Neither will my lifts, sacred though they are to me, ever be something to write home… Continue reading Why Do We Train?
In the late nineteenth century, before the internet, before broadband, before anyone had even heard the word influencer, people still argued about fitness with the same mix of certainty, panic and wounded pride you find today in any comment thread. They just did it on paper. They did it with fountain pens and postage stamps.… Continue reading The First Fitness Comment Section
If you think that a strong core, a flexible and agile body, and a calm mind are wishes of the modern 21st century person alone, you are wrong. Ancient civilizations, though technologically backward, were aware of the importance of the connection between physical, mental, and spiritual health. Perhaps even more than us. Let’s have a… Continue reading Guest Post: From Ancient Practices to Screens: History of Fitness & Top 10 Wall Pilates Apps
I spent last week in the Sma Glen and lifted one of the most unusual stones in Scotland. The Saddlin Mare looks ordinary from the road. A rounded stone of about two hundred pounds lies at its base. The task is straightforward. Pick up the stone. Bring it to the plinth. Work it up the… Continue reading Saddlin the Mare, Or Why I Pushed a Rock Up a Boulder
WITH regard to the routine of training, I again repeat, my idea is not to develop muscle at the expense of either health or strength. It is really impossible for me to prescribe special exercises with fixed time limits for same, and fixed days for each individual who may ready this book, as we are… Continue reading Arthur Saxon, ‘Routine of Training’, The Development of Physical Power (London, 1906)
Everyone has an opinion on how to squat. High bar, low bar, toes forward, knees out, belt on, belt off. Coaches argue, lifters swear loyalty, and internet experts defend technique like sacred doctrine. Yet most of the things we treat as universal truths in squatting are barely a century old. The movement has never been… Continue reading How the Back Squat Took Over the Gym (and Why Its Future Is Still Being Written)
For centuries, breath has been more than a sign of life. it has been a symbol of strength, balance, and awareness. In ancient India, yogic texts described pranayama as the bridge between body and mind - a discipline through which movement became conscious and refined. The Greeks, too, recognized the power of controlled breathing: in… Continue reading Guest Post: A History of Breath and Movement: From Ancient Practices to Modern Rehabilitation
Studying the History of Fitness
