A Website Dedicated to the Study of Strength, Health, Fitness and Sport Across Centuries, Countries and Contests.
A central theme of the film Pumping Iron II, released in 1985, is the debate in the sport of female bodybuilding over women and muscles. That same year, the recently-crowned Ms. Olympia Cory Everson (the first of her six consecutive title victories) addressed the issue of muscularity versus femininity in Flex.[1] The tensions of the... Continue Reading →
Health is wealth. It is important to take steps to stay healthy. These days the average health of a person is rapidly declining, and there is a dire need to create awareness. Without much ado, let’s have a look at 4 tips to stay healthy: Eat Healthy Foods The most important thing is to keep... Continue Reading →
For many lifters, myself included, the quads can be a notoriously difficult muscle to shape. It’s easy to add bulk and size, countless numbers of squats will suffice but where does the lifter turn when it comes time to refine, to sculpt and to define the thigh muscles? Now past readers will no doubt be... Continue Reading →
The following excerpt comes from Mike Mentzer's 1993 nutritional work, Heavy Duty Nutrition. A keen follower of Arthur Jones's Heavy Duty training system, Mike was the poster child of an alternative and oftentimes radical form of bodybuilding. It should come as no surprise then that his nutritional advice also tended against the norm. In the... Continue Reading →
Here's a fascinating article from the annals, written by Joe Gallucci for Ironman Magazine in 1973 (33/1) about the growing drugs scene in Bodybuilding. Some of the arguments and accusations put across by Gallucci will be familiar to modern day Bodybuilding fans concerned with drugs in the sport. At the recent Mr. East Coast physique... Continue Reading →
If you thought the current supplement industry was farcical, you're sadly mistaken. Since Eugen Sandow first began to wow audiences in the 19th century, marketers have sought to provide quick fixes for building strength, ambition and combating ailments. Take for example 'Ambition Pills', a product which emerged in America in the late 1800s and promised... Continue Reading →
Performance enhancing drugs seem to become more problematic every year. Athletes are getting bigger, stronger and faster. Spectators are getting curious, suspicious and concerned. Performance enhancing drugs have touched nearly every major sport at one level or another. It's a modern problem right? Well not exactly... Research into the Ancient Greek Olympics has uncovered evidence... Continue Reading →
Image source When it comes to pills, the best ones to drop are A, C, and D. These are the three top vitamins which keep the body healthy and in shape. But, there is another vitamin which gets ignored. It’s vitamin E, and it has as many health benefits as all three of the above... Continue Reading →
A piece of equipment that has become increasingly common in recent years is the trap bar, that hexagonal device which has become the bane of many a lifter. An easy way to build up the quads and lower back, the trap bar first came into my consciousness when i began lifting in the early 2000s.... Continue Reading →
Kenneth Flex Wheeler is often called the “Sultan of Symmetry” and known for being a living legend who has one of the best physiques to ever grace the IFBB stage as he has the widest back and shoulders among all bodybuilder competitors. In spite of muscle mass size, definition and proportion, Mr. Olympia judges have... Continue Reading →