Having recently become a slave to a Fitbit, I’ve become interested in how we can use statistics to track and improve our help. By chance, the good folks at Fix.com got in touch with a new […]
Category: Resources
The First Mr. Olympia
It all began in April 1965 in a Joe Weider magazine…
Sick and tired of conversations about who was the greatest bodybuilder, Weider had decided to create a competition pitting champions from around the World against each other. In the same year that the iconic Gold’s Gym opened, Weider’s ‘Mr. Olympia’ would see A Mr. Universe, Mr. World and Mr. America pose, flex and tense in front of thousands of fans to determine the best that Bodybuilding had to offer.
Why create a new tournament?
The Health Lift, the greatest machine you’ve never heard of!
Imagine if there was just one exercise you needed to obtain the perfect physique. What’s more, you would only need to do it two or three times a week. Pretty good right? Well you’re in luck. The ‘Health Lift’ provides everything you need and more.
In the mid-nineteenth century, a fitness machine swept across the United States. Costing over $100, roughly $2,500 in today’s money, the ‘Health Lift’ marketed itself as the world’s most complete exercise, capable of restoring health, building muscles and increasing attractiveness. So what was this wonderful machine? Who used it and why have I never heard about it before?
The A-Z of Wheelchair Rugby
Wheelchair rugby is a hugely popular sport throughout the world but many of us are completely ignorant about the game. Well thanks to Bristol Street Vearsa we have an easy A-Z cheat list about a fascinating game. […]
The State of Ireland’s Health
Earlier this week, the Department of Health in conjunction with Ipsos MBRI launched the Healthy Ireland Survey, an all-encompassing report looking at weight management, diet, mental health and physical activity.
Not since 2007 has a survey of this kind been attempted in the Republic of Ireland, and considering the (ahem) considerable changes in Irish society in the past eight years, it’s fair to say the survey was sorely needed.
The results showed remarkable delusion on the part of the Irish people regarding their health. As a nation we have become unhealthy, a message that has yet to embed into our psyche.
1974 Fred Howell Article: 10 Bulk Routines That Work
This article, first written by Fred Howell for Muscular Development in 1974, details some of the fastest and toughest ways to put on slabs of Muscle. While the routines aren’t for the faint of heart, they’re guaranteed to get results!
Somehow in the past few weeks the word leaked out that I had at least a ton of weights in my cellar. All of a sudden every kid in town that owned a barbell or was going to train someday showed up at my door asking to see this old man’s collection of iron.
Talking with the kids I learned that each and every one of them had, as their goal, a desire to gain weight. Some of them, I’m sorry to say, will be very lucky to gain a few pounds with the type of courses they follow. Their training routines are far from weight gaining routines. I was able to convince one super enthusiast not to train every day and expect to add on the pounds. Not when he’s just a beginner.
Nature plays a horrible trick on the human male. When a male needs the weight most to excel in some head-busting sport it’s hard to put it on. Then a few years later when we have no use at all for extra bodyweight, we can add it just by looking at food. I had to smile to myself as they talked about their routines and how they wanted to weigh a certain amount in a couple of months. And here I am fighting the battle of the double bulge.
Train like a Sandow!
Why train like a strongman from the 1900s?
Well if that strongman is Eugen Sandow, the father of modern day bodybuilding, the answer should be obvious. Sandow came at a time when steroids hadn’t infiltrated gyms and exercisers were forced to rely on food and training alone. Coupled with this Sandow was inspired by the aesthetics of old Greco-Roman statues, a look that most gym goers today are striving for. So why not train like a strongman from the 1900s?
Detailed below is Sandow’s exercise regime which he claimed kept the body in equal and awesome proportions. Combine it with the man’s advice on diet and you’re on to a winner.
Can a Bodybuilder train by instinct?
This article, first written by Vince Gironda in 1974 sought to set the record straight on whether or not a bodybuilder could train by instinct. As always, Vince is frank, honest and straight to the point.
Protein Way of Life by Rheo H. Blair
Open any muscle mag from the mid-20th century and chances are you’ll find a reference to Rheo H. Blair, and his famous instant protein. Blair’s protein was used by the top bodybuilders of the 1950s ranging from Gironda to Arnie. He was a firm believer in the importance of top quality protein and often got amazing results from his clients.
Today we look at Blair’s 1950s pamphlet entitled the ‘Protein Way of Life.’ There’s some important tidbits to be taken from it.
How to mix the protein drink
The Ideal Workout by Arthur Jones
In June 1970, Arthur Jones, the father of High Intensity Interval Training, published the ‘Ideal Workout’ in bodybuilding magazine Muscular Development. In the article, posted below, Jones set out the importance of vigorous training as well as promoting his new brand of exercise machines. Little was Jones to know that his new training machines would soon pop up across the US as America fell into a Nautilus craze.
Just what is the ideal workout?
At this point the answer to the question is not clear even to me, not even after 20 years of keen interest, involvement and research on my part, but at least this much is clear; we are now a great deal closer to the answer than we were as recently as a year ago…at least that’s some progress.
