Okay, you pencil-neck geeks, listen up. I am sick and tired of people dogging on upright rows. It is tired, clichéd, and predictable. Don't believe me? Check out any generic 'exercises to avoid' article and you'll usually find upright rows there. I am not an exercise scientist, but I am an angry historian which makes… Continue reading Why Does Everyone Hate Upright Rows?
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)
Few bodybuilders are remembered solely for their individual body parts. The collective entity? Certainly. But the individual sections of the body? This is a far rarer phenomenon. While Dorian Yates may be remembered for his towering Lat spread and Tom Platz for his Quad sweep, Frank Zane holds the distinction of being remembered for his… Continue reading Frank Zane’s Ab routine
Early this week I had a wonderful conversation with someone about the value of studying fitness history to inform our current practices. One of the issues we touched on was how rarely, if ever, modern powerlifters seem to pay homage to older legends. Outside of some folks like Ed Coan it seems like the greats… Continue reading John Kuc’s Beginner Power lifter Routine
Alternative title: A Character Study in Why I Hate Social Media Social media killed the fitness magazine—and the internet just watched. Today I want to take stock and talk about the humble fitness magazine. When were fitness magazines first sold, why did people buy them and why, ultimately, did people discard them. While it may… Continue reading Muscles, Misinformation, and the Death of the Fitness Magazine
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?
Listen I've been studying and engaging in fitness behaviours for a long time. Never did I think walking was going to become a 'sexy' fad. Nevermind rucking, which is effectively strapping a heavy backpack on and walking for an extended period of time. Yup... I'm not here to criticise it either. I do it twice… Continue reading When Did People Start Rucking?
At what price do you value Fitness? £50? £1,000? Has it a Price?Yet it need cost you almost Nothing to obtain and retain.It needs but TEN MINUTES A DAY OF YOUR SPARE TIME Every year thousands of people in this country die in the very houses they hoped to enjoy in their leisure, their every… Continue reading Frank Miles, ‘What Price Fitness?,’ Health & Strength, December 3, 1938
One of the few things to unite meat-eaters, vegetarians and even vegans, peanut butter is perhaps the great leveller of the fitness industry. High in calories, fat and protein, the delicious substance has been a go to option for muscle fanatics over the past century. Some use it as a spread whereas others, myself included… Continue reading The History of Peanut Butter
Academic Books are notoriously expensive. That isn't because the authors demand huge royalties... we don't, but rather because they are often sold in small numbers. I am thus thrilled that my publisher, Bloomsbury, have taken a decision to publish a paperback copy of my last book, Indian Club Swinging and the Birth of Global Fitness which… Continue reading My Indian Club Swinging Book is Now Affordable!
Studying the History of Fitness