Thomas Inch is one of the most fascinating physical culturists of the twentieth century. He was a pivotal figure in the organisation of British weightlifting, helped coach Arthur Saxon and was a great strong man […]
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Category: Basics
Eugen Sandow’s Combined Toy and Physical-Culture Apparatus (1913)
This is one of the odder products examined on this website, and that is really saying something! One of the great issues facing parents and schoolmasters is how to get kids excited about exercising. Well, a century ago, Eugen Sandow claimed to have the solution. What do kids love more than anything else? Candy!
With this keen insight in mind, Sandow devised a pulley toy which combined candy and exercising.
Guest Post: The History of Sports Medicine
Sports medicine, as you probably know, is the branch of medicine dealing with injuries and illnesses resulting from participation in sports and athletic activities. Very few people have never had their knee, leg, back, shoulder or hand injured as a consequence of playing sports. Luckily, today we can enjoy the benefits of many breakthroughs and rapid developments in this field. However, we should acknowledge that it has taken a long time to reach the present heights.
Sumo Wrestling at the World’s Strongest Man
Since its inception in the late 1970s, the World’s Strongest Man Competitions have used a variety of tests to determine one’s strength. In the past this has included deadlifting blocks of cheese, running with refrigerators […]
Forgotten Exercise: Lat Pulldown Curl
So, cards on the table, I recently reread The Complete Keys to Progress by John McCallum. The result of Randall Strossen’s meticulous collecting, The Complete Keys details McCallum’s numerous articles for Strength and Health magazine. Admittedly McCallum’s work was more concerned with rapid bulk and strength building practices, The Complete Keys still has some things to say about bodybuilding and defining exercises. One such example was the Lat Pulldown Curl.
Vince Gironda, ‘The Mental State’, The Gironda Master Series Vol. I
The Zen masters, Hatha Yoga and Judo, teach us that the human race of today has lost all trace of an instinctive wisdom of the body. But I disagree in part. I have observed many […]
Wrestling and Weightlifting: The WWF and Fitness in the 1980s
I’ll admit it, although born in the early 1990s, I was a Hulkamaniac. Aside from growing up during the WWF attitude era, where individuals like Triple H, The Rock, Mark Henry and Stone Cold were living embodiments of strength, I regularly went through back catalogues of old wrestling shows. There I’d see Jimmy Superfly Snuka’s iconic finishes, Jimmy Hart’s unmatched smack talk and everything weird and wonderful that wrestling offered from the 1980s onwards. I, like many others, was enthralled by the athleticism of the wrestlers. I suspect that my initial interest in training came from my love of wrestling where the heels and the babyfaces sported muscular bodies in equal measure. In that vein, today’s post examines the WWF’s crossovers into health and fitness in the 1980s.
Guest Post: History of Advertising in the Sports Industry
From simple wooden signs to high-tech Jumbotrons and impeccable social media presence, sports advertising has changed tremendously over the last 100 years. And since sports fans are some of the most brand-loyal people and some of the biggest consumers of content, it’s not a surprise that companies are battling to enter the sports market. In order to understand the importance of marketing in sport, here’s a little advertising 101 when it comes to the sports industry.
Guest Post: “Weight Training Women Stay in Shape Without Getting Muscle-Bound,” Jet Magazine, 1 September (1977)
For a long time, men have dominated the sport of weight lifting. But tucked away at a YMCA in the small Midwestern town of Canton, Ohio, some 150 women are pumping iron, straining and twisting their feminine physiques, trying to smooth those flabby curves.
They bench-press, lift barbells, dumbbells, do chin-ups, situps, leg extensions and numerous other body exercises until their bodies ache with pain.
And all for what?
For some it’s just to stay in shape, but for about 20 others it’s a competitive sport and a rapidly developing one at that.
George A. Baselice, ‘GIGANTIC ARMS! The One Arm Per Day Blast For Bigger Arms’, Planet Muscle (Volume 5, Number 1, 2002)
Have you ever tried the professional bodybuilder one-day arm blasting programs? I hope maybe some of you have heard of these and tried them. Primarily because I’d hate to think that I am the only goof who can spend an entire day training my arms!
Now, some of these are downright nutty programs. Most of the methods were “developed” and occasionally promoted in some of the muscle magazines back in the 50’s and 60’s, and some trainers such as Charles Poliquin have refined them a bit today.
At any rate, in most of them, you actually perform arm exercises every half-hour and every few hours you eat proteins. I tried one program and I mean I went from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. doing arm exercises. Don’t ask me what I was thinking! (Or not thinking as the case may be.)
Did I gain the 1/2″ on my arms, five days after completing this particular program, as the varied and sundry past articles claimed I would? Unfortunately, no. Did my arms shrink for the first 24 hours after this workout as most of the article also claimed they would? Unfortunately, yes!