Remember that time Franco Columbu broke his leg carrying a refrigerator on his back? Pepperidge Farms remembers... I love strongman and strongwoman festivals. If you have been on this website for more than five minutes, this much is clear. I also love how chaotic and unorganised early strongman shows were. From heavy deadlifts with blocks… Continue reading Near Tragedy: When Bill Kazmaier Almost Killed O.D Wilson at the 1989 Pure Strength Contest
Much to my surprise, and great shame, Edward Aston is not someone mentioned a lot on this website. This, I hasten to add, has everything to do with my own deficiencies. Born in England in the late nineteenth-century, Aston was known to contemporaries as one of the strongest men around. In 1910, he won the… Continue reading Forgotten Devices: Edward Aston’s ‘Anti-Barbell’
Now admittedly this is not the catchiest title I'm ever going to use but it hopefully conveys the purpose of today's post. Back when I started training, assisted pull up machines were a thing of scorn. Who, we would wonder, would bother with such an oddity? Couldn't individuals muster a solitary pull up by themselves?… Continue reading Who Invented the Assisted Pull Up Machine?
Who helped transform American fitness and who, more importantly, has often been overlooked in the fitness industry? Frederick Tilney. It is a name that I have constantly seen in writing but not one that I have ever really researched. From my vague memories, I knew that he was born in England in the late ninteenth… Continue reading The Unknown Man Who Transformed American Fitness
"They call him the Freckled Heckler, a misnomer for one of the friendliest guys in bodybuilding" stated Rick Wayne in his classic, out of print, and highly sought after book "The Bodymen". A book that incidentally resides in Ken Waller's kitchen cabinet, a handy reference for a quick trip down memory lane! Bill Grant echoed… Continue reading ‘Ken Waller: Catching Up With The “Freckled Heckler’, IronAge, 2005.
When I first became interested in barbells, I collected a lot of data about weight-lifting records. There was a time when I could tell you the world’s record in almost any lift you could mention. I could tell you the records for the best men in the different nations at the same lift. I knew… Continue reading Alan Calvert, ‘Some Lifting Records,’ Super Strength. 1924
In 1927 German strongman Hermann Goerner stood incensed on a weightlifting platform after the local English judges disqualified his record-breaking 650lbs. deadlift. His crime? He failed to deadlift in the English style, which was a peculiar form favored by the British Amateur Weightlifting Association. Goerner put his anger to good use as he promptly put… Continue reading Why is the Deadlift World Record so Controversial?
Arm training can be more complicated than larger body parts such as legs, back, or chest. If you think about it, your arms are relatively small in comparison to the rest of your body. When I first started training, I thought that in order to have great arms I needed to life as heavy as… Continue reading Guest Post: Colette Nelson, “The Ultimate Arms: Pro Training Secrets,” Reform, Issue 6 (June 2003).
Kolar Venkatesh Iyer, or K. V. Iyer (1897-1980), is one of the most fascinating Indian physical culturists of the twentieth century. Someone I have studied quite a bit in my own career, Iyer was a well-known figure in India, the United States, and Europe. Often submitting images of himself to physical culture magazines, Iyer struck… Continue reading K.V. Iyer on Diet and Health
For whatever reason some training systems remain in the public psyche while others fall to the wayside, continued only by a few dedicated and often fixated trainers. Thus while nearly every intermediate and certainly every advanced trainee is familiar with manipulating rep ranges, few seem to stray outside the comfort zone of 5 x 5,… Continue reading Forgotten Training Protocols: 4 x 10 Clusters
Studying the History of Fitness