A Website Dedicated to the Study of Strength, Health, Fitness and Sport Across Centuries, Countries and Contests.
Strength sports, as an endeavour, are simultaneously a modern, and pre-modern, sport. Accounts of men engaging in contests date back to the Chinese practice of lifting heavy stones and cauldrons in 6000 BC (Hai-sheng, 2012). Likewise, Ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt, among other regions, had strength cultures (Crowther, 2007). That withstanding, strength contests and feats,... Continue Reading →
Named after French Canadian strongman Louis Cyr, the Cyr dumbbell is one of the most recognisable lifts in modern strongman competitions. Who can forget last year's Arnold Strength Classic which saw competitors run through a gauntlet of Cyr Dumbbells? Cyr's dumbbell is so popular in modern strength contests that it is sometimes difficult to remember... Continue Reading →
Strength sports, as an endeavour, are simultaneously a modern, and pre-modern, sport. Accounts of men engaging in contests date back to the Chinese practice of lifting heavy stones and cauldrons in 6000 BC (Hai-sheng, 2012). Likewise, Ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt, among other regions, had strength cultures (Crowther, 2007). That withstanding, strength contests and feats,... Continue Reading →