You cannot spend a third of a century around physical culturists and barbell men without coming to a few conclusions. You see many enthusiasts who thrive on their training schedules and attain a perfectly satisfactory degree of physical development. You see others work and strain without noticeable improvement for months or years. Quite often these… Continue reading Harry B. Paschall, ‘How Barbell Men Go Wrong’, Muscle Moulding (London, 1950)
How many times do you eat a day? Do you eat carbs after 3pm? Post-workout protein shake? Such are the questions faced by the modern day strength enthusiast. Are we overthinking the way we eat? In a world faced with a growing obesity epidemic and continuous production of low quality foods the answer may appear… Continue reading What did Eugen Sandow Eat?
Describing himself as Arnold's Seminar Nutritionist, Balik opened his short pamphlet on gaining muscle with the often forgotten law that 'nothing beats persistence.' Produced alongside a pamphlet on gaining muscle, which we'll be discussing in a future post, Balik's Total Muscularity represents a great insight into the training philosophy of 1970s Muscle Beach bodybuilding. Sparing myself… Continue reading John Balik, Total Muscularity: SuperStar Nutrition (Santa Monica, 1979)
Gaining muscle and losing fat at the same time is often held up as the Holy Grail of body recomposition. A desirable goal, that advanced or even intermediate trainees are now told is only possible for beginners or those using chemical means. Today's post examines the rather lengthy sounding Anabolic Burst Cycle of Diet and Exercise… Continue reading Gaining Muscle and Losing Fat: The ABCDE Diet Experiment
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
Compared with his less fortunate brothers who box and run, the lifter has no restrictions as to diet. The man who boxes requires good wind and staying power, and he, therefore, has to care- fully limit his allowance of liquid, and has to exercise great care in his selection of foodstuffs, avoiding pastry, all starchy… Continue reading Arthur Saxon, ‘My Ideas on Diet’, The Development of Physical Power (London, 1906).
Even though numerous companies worldwide started calling employees back to offices in 2025, remote work is now deeply rooted in the business culture. While we all have had the chance to experience the perks of remote work, it also comes with challenges. Contrary to popular belief, it is equally difficult to maintain healthy habits when… Continue reading How to Eat Like a Pro if You Are Working Remotely All Day
ONCE again cringing under your eye, non-human engine alongside of the human worker, my assertion that the working, cleaning up, cooling-down and fuelling of an engine correspond to exercising, the Bath, the Repose and the Feeding of the human body, recalls my statement that ‘Whilst the engine is at best itself in efficiency after its… Continue reading K.V. Iyer on Diet (c. 1930)
Under this heading, I would include the consumption of alcohol, tobacco, coffee, and similar substances. In my opinion, alcohol is a nerve poison that is not assimilated and requires a great expenditure of energy for its excretion. Furthermore, it decreases energy and deadens certain inner forces, which, although we may be unconscious of them, could… Continue reading George Hackenschmidt, ‘Hindrances to the Acquisition of Strength.’
John Grimek was one of the greatest American weightlifters and bodybuilders of the 20th century. Nicknamed 'The Monarch of Muscledom', Grimek also competed for the US in the 1936 Olympics in Germany. It's fair to say he knew something about lifting weights. Today's article sees Grimek discuss one of the most pressing issues in bodybuilding.… Continue reading How Fast Should You Gain Weight and Size – John C. Grimek (1976)
