Category: Training

Resources by Conor HeffernanJun 27, 20195:53 pm

Guest Post: A History of the Sports Massage

Sports massage is one of the best healing practices for athletes, contributing to injury prevention as well as treating various types of sports injuries quickly and successfully. With the use of Swedish, deep tissue and stretching techniques, the massage improves athletic performance and recovery. It has been around for thousands of years, dating back from ancient Rome and even Greece, where sports massage was especially popular during the Olympics back in the day. If you’d like to know more about this old and very appreciated practice, we’ve got a bunch of interesting facts to introduce you to.

The History of the Zercher Squat

Mentioned at various points on this particular site, the Zercher Squat has been described by many as one of the most effective but painful methods of building big quads. Uncomfortable to the nth degree, this lift isn’t exactly the most popular amongst gym goers. A point which leads us into today’s post. Why invent such a painful method of lifting? When did it come about and why has it remained with us today?

Resources by Conor HeffernanJun 20, 20196:42 pm

Guest Post: Women’s Sports Clothes through History

Throughout history, women have not been encouraged to participate in sports nearly as much as men have. It all started to change in the past 100 years, but it’s important to take a look at how we got here and all the ways the sports – and the clothing we wear while performing it, changed over the years to give us what we have today. This will not only help us understand how we got here, but will also show us what to look for in the future, because the adaptations we made a hundred years ago, just like the ones we are making today, all serve a few basic purposes.

Resources by Conor HeffernanJun 12, 20196:08 am

Guest Post: A Brief History of Medicine at the Olympics

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Today, most of the attention at the Olympics is aimed at doping, so it’s very easy to overlook all other medical interventions that happen during the most important sporting event in the world. However, doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, diet experts and all other medical staff play a huge role in keeping athletes healthy, safe and happy. So, as thanks to all the work they do, here’s a brief history of medicine at the Olympics.

Resources by Conor HeffernanJun 7, 201911:14 am

Robert Fitzsimmons, ‘A Chapter for Women – To Gain Beauty with Strength’, Physical Culture and Self-Defense (London, 1901), 47-50.

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Muscle Building Will Bring Charms that the Toilet Table Can Never Furnish

MUSCLE building brings beauty to woman. This brief statement is sufficient, I think, to I make many women embark upon a physical development course. What will woman not do to become beautiful? They—some of them, at least—powder and paint, and bleach their hair, and do all kinds of other foolish things in an attempt to improve their appearance. If they but knew what a routine of daily, healthful exercise would do for them they would soon forsake their toilet tables for the gymnasium.
There is nothing in this world more lovely than a beautiful woman. There is nothing more pleasing to the eye than a browned, rosy cheeked, fullchested, straight—backed woman. Let her be all these and she is certainly queen.

Resources by Conor HeffernanJun 5, 20197:34 pm

Interview with Wisdom of the Body’s Rob Allen

Many of the early physical culturists stressed the relationship between mind and body, viewing the two as symbiotic. The drive towards the physique above all else is a rather more recent phenomenon. It is for this reason that I am delighted to have had the opportunity to speak with Rob Allen from Wisdom of the Body. As you’ll quickly find out, Rob’s philosophy on training and life encompasses that mind/body holism preached by men like Sandow and Hackenschmidt. No doubt you’ll enjoy reading his responses as much as me. Who knows, you may even learn something!

Resources by Conor HeffernanJun 5, 201911:11 am

Chad Nicholls, ‘The Contest Guru’, Muscular Development, December, 45:12 (2008), 426-432.

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Once again reaching into my mail- bag, I found of couple of interesting questions that may sound like the same old cookie-cutter questions, but my answers put a new twist on two staple parts of bodybuilding — nutrition and off-season weight gain — and my take on the best type of off-season dieting and how to employ it to anyone’s arsenal.

Resources by Conor HeffernanMay 31, 20194:21 pm

Dennis B. Weis, The Lee Haney & Fred C. Hatfield Seminar

Recently I had the good fortune to obtain an audiotape seminar on nutrition and training. The seminar was sponsored by Bio Chem Supplements (a division of Country Life) and was hosted by eight-time Mr. Olympia Lee Haney and power lifting icon “Dr Squat” Fred C. Hatfield.

As I began to listen to the audio seminar, two things became quickly apparent. First, this seminar wasn’t about pushing or praising the Bio Chem product mix. Second, the seminar wasn’t a sham toying with the emotions of easily manipulated bodybuilders. The seminar is about two superstars with the right credentials talking about the “Supplement Game.”

Resources by Conor HeffernanMay 29, 20193:19 pm

Guest Post:Athletic Training Through History

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Every major professional athlete today knows how important it is to have a good trainer. And if you look back in history, you’ll see that their profession, in one form or another, dates back to the Greek civilization and their organized sports competition, which included the Olympic Games. In case you were wondering how those trainers developed into the ones we have today, here is some interesting information for you.

Training by Conor HeffernanMay 24, 20194:20 pm

Henry Downs, How I Trained to Win the Mr. Britain Title (1957)

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December the 11th, 1955, was a date to remember for me, for it was on that day I was placed second in the Mr. Britain contest. I had trained harder for that contest than any up to that time and thought I was in better shape than ever before. Well as you know, I didn’t make the grade, so this year I used a different approach to what I had previously done.