A Website Dedicated to the Study of Strength, Health, Fitness and Sport Across Centuries, Countries and Contests.
As most people who work out at the gym will testify, running on the treadmill, while being a pretty great way to get your cardio in, can often feel torturous. Interestingly enough, if you have ever compared running on the narrow confines of the treadmill belt to punishment, you wouldn’t be too far from the... Continue Reading →
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9ObaksQVnM "To Be Known as a Weightlifter is to Enjoy at Least Local Prestige" There is something rather wonderful about old British Pathé clips isn't there? I have actually lost count of the amount of videos that have been posted onto this website. This video isn't groundbreaking or revealing but it is just simply nice.... Continue Reading →
Originating in modern-day India, the practice of club swinging has a long and deeply embedded cultural Indian history. In the first instance, the Indian clubs featured heavily in the Mahabharata, a Hindu religious epic written during the Indian Vedic Age (1500 – 500 BCE). Highly allegorical, the epic focused on two warring sects, the Pandevas... Continue Reading →
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOsMiLxQHuA The 1930s were a tumultuous period of European history. Traditional political structures appeared to be faltering, fascist regimes were rising and the modern fitness levels appeared to be dropping dramatically. The following video, taken from the wonderful British Pathé archives, gives a snippet into the British government's attempt to reverse the political tide and... Continue Reading →
Born in England in the early 1900s, Saxon Brown (real name Henry Brown) was briefly lauded during the 1930s as 'Britain's strongest youth' & 'the world's strongest young man'. Though his time in the physical culture spotlight was short lived, Brown's strength was immortalised thanks to the below British Pathé footage. Featuring a number of... Continue Reading →
Many thanks to the great team at Ted-Ed for all their work in creating this wondering YouTube video based on a previous post of mine on the dark history of the Treadmill. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Al-30Z-aH8M TED-Ed is a free educational website for teachers and learners and you can check out more of there amazing stuff by clicking... Continue Reading →