“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
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)
I am delighted to share that my new article, Mistakes I Carried: Building Strength in a Time of Crisis, has just been published in the American Historical Review. For historians, the AHR is the big one. But what excites me most is not the prestige of the publication. It is that the piece gave me… Continue reading The Weight of History: Building Strength in a Time of Crisis
You know, powerlifting should really have its own glitzy award show like the actors do. If this event was ever televised, I believe it would be a huge hit, unlike the sorry spectacle being delivered these days on network TV. I don’t know about you, but I rarely, if ever, watch the Academy Awards anymore.… Continue reading ‘A Lifetime in Powerlifting Well Spent: Ernie Frantz,’ Powerlifting USA, June (2010), 61-64
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… Continue reading Eugen Sandow’s Combined Toy and Physical-Culture Apparatus (1913)
Though oftentimes derided on the gym floor, the leg press machine has nevertheless become a staple of weight lifting life through the globe. Yes it's not as 'hardcore' as the squat and yes it's oftentimes abused by bros quarter repping but this piece of equipment has a long and interesting history behind it. A long… Continue reading Who Invented the Leg Press?
If you are wondering about wall Pilates, you are not alone. It is being hotly discussed right now. You can think of it like a fresh perspective or an innovative approach to traditional Pilates. It just adds a wall in the mix. But this seemingly simple addition deepens the stretches, enhances the alignment, and helps… Continue reading Guest Post: The History of Wall Pilates Workout: Origins, Benefits, and How to Start
