We all know at least one thing about CrossFit, and that is chiseled men and women repping fast pull-ups one after another and lifting and throwing around crazy weights. It might look crazy from the outside, but once you learn a few things about the history of CrossFit, you’ll see how amazing and effective this… Continue reading Guest Post: The Brief but Intense History of CrossFit
Undoubtedly we've all been faced with the question, who is stronger? As a teenager it emerged when those weighing 150 lbs. or less sought to square up to their heavier brethren. Was it more impressive bench pressing 200 lbs. at 150 or 280 lbs. at 200 lbs. bodyweight? While our adolescent selves often solved this… Continue reading The Confusing History of Strength Co-Efficients
This website's love for Jack LaLanne is perhaps firmly established through our previous posts. Well with that in mind, today's post discusses the LaLanne push up, a fingertip push up now synonymous with one of twentieth-century's most vibrant fitness personalities. So in today's short post we're going to examine the exercise, its history, and most… Continue reading Forgotten Exercises: The LaLanne push up
Ed Coan entered his first powerlifting competition at 16 years old, he went on become one of the best (if not THE best) powerlifters in the world. Here is my candid conversation with The Legend, Ed Coan. POWER: How did you get into powerlifting? ED: I saw Kaz [Bill Kazmier] on TV. That was the… Continue reading Mark Bell, ‘One on One with Ed Coan’, Power Magazine, 1, no. 1 (2009), 28-31.
Coming from the 1984 Playboy interview previously covered on this website, the Lalanne 'Power Drink' serves as a timely reminder that one of the oldest physical culturists in the game was adamant about the importance of vitamins, minerals and copious amounts of vegetables. Let it serve as a timely reminder to eat, or in this… Continue reading Jack Lalanne’s Power Drink (Playboy Magazine, 1984)
Alan Calvert was one of the most important strength entrepreneurs in twentieth-century America. The founder of Milo Barbell and Strength magazine, Calvert helped bring barbells and weights to the masses in the early 1900s. What makes him an even more fascinating figure is that in later years, Calvert became deeply disgusted with America's burgeoning fitness… Continue reading Alan Calvert, ‘Tricks of Lifting and Trickery of Lifters,’ Confidential Information of Lifting and Lifters (Philadelphia, 1926), 13-16.
The What? The Danish Floor Press! Now we are finally moving into the niche of the fitness industry. What is the Danish Floor Press? This, rather wonderful, exercises comes courtesy of Martin and Mikkel Fuldbaek from (no prizes for guessing) Denmark. It was originally devised with MMA fighters in mind around the 2010s but I've… Continue reading Forgotten Exercises: The Danish Floor Press
No matter if you believe that detox is beneficial or a complete fad, one is for sure—detox has been used by many civilizations for thousands of years. According to research, many detox practices date back to ancient China, Egypt, India, America and even Rome. So what do you need to know about this practice’s history… Continue reading Guest Post: History of Detox: Important Things You Need to Know about This Practice
I TAKE it for granted that no one can enter into training for any sport including weight-lifting, and even practice for physical development only, without encountering monotony in training, which threatens to upset all schemes for daily exercise, throwing one back in one’s work, especially as staleness makes its appearance. I, of course, am more… Continue reading Arthur Saxon, The Bugbear of Training—How to Avoid, The Development of Physical Power (London, 1906)
People have been having the need and desire to run quickly over various obstacles and over various distances since the birth of humankind. Being fast and having the ability to endure long distances allowed people to fetch water, hunt pray, escape danger and succeed in war (such is the case of the first marathon race… Continue reading Guest Post: A Brief History of Mountain Running
