A Website Dedicated to the Study of Strength, Health, Fitness and Sport Across Centuries, Countries and Contests.
“What puts you over the top? It is the mind that actually creates the body, it is the mind that really makes you work out for four or five hours a day, it is the mind that visualizes what the body ought to look like as the finished product.” Arnold Schwarzenegger The mind-muscle connection? That's... Continue Reading →
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... Continue Reading →
From Eugen Sandow to Charles Atlas, physical culturists have long made a living through mail order ads. Check out this old Arnie one from the late 1960s flogging the latest Weider product. So next time you grow weary of the hyperbole from today's modern advertisements, just remember that such ads are a time honored tradition... Continue Reading →
As many readers will no doubt be aware, protein bars have become almost ubiquitous in certain parts of the Western world, owing in part to their durability and in part to their successful advertising. Indeed, at the time of writing, I can walk five minutes to the local shop where I will be greeted by... Continue Reading →
Born in Nelson Flats, New York, in 1854 Dowd was, if his own accounts and obituaries are to be believed, a somewhat unathletic child in his youth. Writing some decades after Dowd’s passing, W.A. Pullum, a renowned British physical culturist, claimed that Dowd “showed nothing in his youth to indicate that destiny marked him out... Continue Reading →
There are a lot of countries renowned for their zealous sports fandoms; however, this hasn’t always been the case. In order to get where they are now, various sports had to evolve and fight for their status in society. This involved the formation of early organizations, governing bodies and teams. So, here are several things... Continue Reading →
Born at the turn of the twentieth-century, Tony Sansone is perhaps one of the most famous physical culturists never to turn his hand to bodybuilding. Nevertheless his influence on bodybuilders and those seeking to get in shape was remarkable. Training under both Bernarr McFadden and Charles Atlas, Sansone developed one of the most sought after... Continue Reading →
Note: This article is about the legal history of Anabolic Steroids in the United States and not an endorsement or discussion about steroids and performance. There is perhaps no other topic in sports that garners as emotional a reaction than the use of steroids or performance enhancing drugs by professional athletes. For some the ends justify... Continue Reading →
In the 1970s the average can of soda weighed about six ounces. Nowadays you can buy one weighing 32 ounces or more from 7-11s and other convenience stores. The reason for this dramatic increase can be traced in part back to the history of the ‘Big Gulp’, 7-11s iconic colossal drink. Today we look at... Continue Reading →
Images of a young, beautiful woman filming herself with her Christmas gift went viral last month. A television advertisement for the home exercise cycle Peloton depicts her trying out the new product, a present from her partner/husband, as she records her experiences on a cell phone. The appearance of the woman—identified as “Grace from Boston”—sparked... Continue Reading →