I am a big fan of novelty barbells. This is not news to anyone who has read my stuff for long enough. Give me an EZ bar, a trap bar, an earthquake bar, a thick bar, a homemade bar, or some bizarre object a strongman once claimed was impossible to lift and I am happy.… Continue reading The Thickest Barbell Alive and the Lost Art of Odd Lifts
I’ve been dipping back into John McCallum’s Keys to Progress lately and, honestly, it still feels fresh in a way most modern training writing doesn’t. There’s no sense of him trying to impress you. There's no jargon, no systems layered on top of systems. Just clear ideas, told through stories about real people who are… Continue reading How to Build a Home Gym: Advice from the 1970s
I recently stopped following a fitness coach I liked. Solid programmer, realistic expectations, no nonsense. The kind of account that’s actually rare. Then out of nowhere: videos of empty gyms at 2 a.m., dramatic lighting, captions about the grind never sleeping. I unfollowed immediately. I’m old and cranky, and I think that’s bullshit. But as… Continue reading The 3 A.M. Deadlift Isn’t Discipline. It’s Content
Most people in the gym today are looking for the answer. The program, the split, the system that finally works. A hundred years ago, Britain’s strongest men had already encountered that problem and, in effect, ignored it. In How to Use a Barbell (1925), William A. Pullum, a coach, promoter, and a central organiser of… Continue reading The Strongest Men in Britain Didn’t Train the Same Way
What teen or young lifter hasn't been seduced by the idea of bigger biceps? Indeed in the bodybuilding universe of both males and females, no pose is more iconic that the front or back double bicep pose. A difficult set of muscles to grow, except of course for the genetically gifted, the biceps have been… Continue reading The History of 21s
Commercial gyms and standardized training equipment are relatively modern phenomena. Humans have been lifting weights for a long-time using tools that predate them. Among such tools, sandbags have proven themselves to be quite durable. They have been documented in training manuals as far back as 1793, co-opted by military conditioning programs, and, to top it… Continue reading Guest Post: The History of Sandbags in Physical Training
Dip belts emerged in the modern strength culture as an answer to the ceiling effect of bodyweight-only training. The late 20th century witnessed a revolutionary surge in dip belts’ adoption in bodybuilding, powerlifting, calisthenics, and subsequently, in home-training solutions. The modern dip belt is a waist-worn belt with weights suspended with a chain. It was… Continue reading Guest Post: The Popularization of Dip Belts in Modern Strength Culture
You’ve heard this story a thousand times. Ancient Greek wrestler Milo of Croton invented progressive overload by carrying a calf every day until it grew into a bull—the first gym bro to crack the code of getting stronger by gradually increasing the load. It’s all over Instagram fitness posts, repeated by influencers and treated as… Continue reading Milo of Croton Did Not Invent Progressive Overload
The farmers walk is now a staple of strongman contests and strength training programmes. Two heavy handles. A short distance. Grip, posture, lungs, and will tested all at once. As a formal event, it entered the public imagination in 1983 when Worlds Strongest Man introduced the Fergus Walk, named after Scottish strongman Fergus McCann. The… Continue reading From Fergus Walk to Farmer Carries: A Short History of Moving Weight
Reg Park was one of the most influential figures in mid-twentieth-century strength culture. A multiple-time Mr Universe winner and widely regarded as the strongest bodybuilder of his era, Park built his reputation on heavy barbell lifting as much as physique display. He believed that muscular development without demonstrable strength was incomplete, and he spent much… Continue reading Why Reg Park Believed Bodybuilders Should Lift Heavy
