Tag: Fitness

Resources by Conor HeffernanJul 18, 20181:06 pm

Leroy Colbert’s Health Store

A health shop is admittedly, an odd thing to write about. In today’s world of GNC’s and stores with fanciful names like ‘Vitality’ or ‘Mr. Pump’, modern gym goers are blessed with a wealth of pill peddlers to call upon. This, shockingly, was not always the case. While health stores did exist in some guise in the early and mid-twentieth century, they were even more obscure and alternative than they are today. While some weightlifters such as Jack Lalanne embraced the health store culture as early as the 1930s, it took decades for the mainstream fitness industry to catch on.

What’s my point here? Well that bodybuilding stores in the 1960s were a rare thing. So without further adieu, we’re going to spend some time examining Leroy Colbert’s New York health food store. Colbert, incidentally was noted for his amazing bicep development, which measured over 21 inches. Today’s post seeks to examine the man himself and spend some time highlighting the importance of his store for the general weight lifting community.

Guest Post: How Has Fitness Evolved Over The Years?

Ever since the creation of the earth man and woman have both relied on athletic prowess. In fact, it used to be necessary to trap, capture, and kill for food. And, this is not to even mention the gathering and foraging that took place. You have probably heard the saying “survival of the fittest.” Well, this statement could not have been truer back in prehistoric times. It is true that men and women no longer have to go to a physical extreme to sustain life, but fitness without a doubt has an impact on health and well being. That being said, it is hard to deny that fitness and fitness routines have changed over the years, but how have they changed?

Nutrition by Conor HeffernanJul 17, 20189:57 am

Guest Post: 10 Weirdest Diets in History

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Diets have been around far longer than you can imagine. It’s safe to say that people from a long time ago were also pretty concerned about their weight, fitness, figure and health – concerned enough to try out different techniques on how to effectively carry out an diet. Eventually, these diets developed, became popular, and were named. Some of them are rational, some of them are just downright weird.

Resources by Conor HeffernanJul 16, 20188:16 am

Bradley J. Steiner, ‘Diet And Rest’, Powerlifting (1972)

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Aside from your mental state, which is entirely within your capacity to control, there are two other items that you can fully regulate most of the time as well: your diet and the amount of rest you obtain. Both are as essential in building strength and size as is exercise.

Strength is built on solid foods. Meat, fish, poultry and eggs. Milk and cheese. Thick hearty soups. Whole grain bread. Fruits and vegetables. All sorts of nuts, beans, peas. That’s good eating. That’swhat you need to build strong, solid, healthy muscles! Two nice-sized meals a day are usually enough for most mature people who train. Many people can easily do with three big meals a day, plus one or two healthy snacks if they train hard and try to couple it with a full-time job and family responsibilities.

Training by Conor HeffernanJul 13, 201810:41 am

Marvin Eder and the Four Hundred Pound Dip

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Few bodybuilders and weight trainers are unfamiliar with the dip exercise. A favourite of Vince Gironda, albeit with some modifications, the exercise is a prime builder for the chest and tricep muscles. Done correctly, the exercise is for my money, up there with the bench press. Done incorrectly, you’re just flopping up and down.

While records on the Dip exercise are few and far between, I wanted to write a short post about Marvin Eder’s incredible feat in the early 1970s, which saw him parallel dip over four hundred pounds!

Resources by Conor HeffernanJul 11, 20188:19 am

The History of Protein Shakers

Before beginning, I have to thank a series of individuals for their help in devising this article. The good folks at DavidGentle.com and Ironhistory.com helped point me in the right direction for the earlier history of the shaker. Likewise Ron Campbell’s Bodybuilding Books and Magazines group on Facebook which provided several leads which helped sharpen out the later history of today’s post. Finally Dr. Ben Pollack and Paul Becker from the Rheo H. Blair website were incredibly giving in their time and knowledge.

With that in mind, I’m now going to undoubtedly bastardise and misinterpret all the information garnered from the above individuals but hey, such is life! Today’s post is possibly the most innocuous but to my mind fascinating one yet. It is the history of the protein shaker, that plastic bottle currently fermenting your last whey protein shake in the bottom of your gym bag. Now the reasons for this are simple. Protein shakers have become increasingly popular over the last decade in particular. When I began working out drinking from a protein shaker was a universal announcement that you were a dumb meathead. Nowadays on my morning commute I see office workers, mothers, children and everyone else in between sipping water and a cacophony of drinks from their shakers. So shakers have become cool, and as is our nature on the site, we want to know more about the pre-history.

So with that in mind we’re going to trace the history of the protein shaker, from the early iterations to the modern day bottle. In doing so, it’ll become clear that the shaker is a fascinating symbol of the fitness industry’s acceptance within mainstream culture over the past several decades. It is the Trojan Horse for meatheads seeking acceptability.

Resources by Conor HeffernanJul 9, 201812:35 pm

Guest Post: Hydration through Time

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One would think that hydration is as simple a thing as drinking water when you’re thirsty, but when it comes to athletes, not even that is simple. Furthermore, there’s a whole interesting history behind drinking while performing endurance exercise, one that started over a century ago. So, before going on your next running or cycling practice, maybe you should get informed about it.

Resources by Conor HeffernanJul 6, 20187:46 am

Guest Post: The Origin, History and Evolution of Yoga

Yoga is a spiritual discipline, which focuses on establishing the balance between the mind and the body. Many people enjoy it across the world and it’s one of the most popular ways of exercising and relaxing.

However, while most of us love doing yoga, not so many people know a lot about it.

Here is how yoga developed over the years:

Biographies by Conor HeffernanJul 5, 201812:44 pm

Tracing the Mass Monster in Bodybuilding

Are bodybuilders becoming too large?

It’s a simple question but one loaded with controversy. Today most Internet forums are filled with heated arguments about whether the ‘mass monsters’ of today are helping or hurting the sport.

Rather than continue the common narrative that the 1990s and the Dorian Yates era was the dawn of the ‘Mass Monsters’, today’s post argues that bodybuilders and their forerunners have always taken their physiques to the extremes of their time. In other words, bodybuilders regardless of the decade, have always displayed bodies well beyond the reach of the common man.The bodybuilders of today who stand tall and wide are rather than damaging the sport, continuing the tradition of freakish bodily appearances.

After all, Bodybuilding has always judged physiques based on the best combination of size, shape, symmetry and conditioning. With this framework in mind, let’s examine the freaks of bodybuilding past.

Sandow, the Original Mass Monster

Resources by Conor HeffernanJul 4, 201812:42 pm

John Christy, ‘The Art of Concentration, Part Two: The Workout’, Hardgainer Magazine 14: 2 (2002), 14-15

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In the first part of this article I explained how to concentrate before your workout so that you can transition from your everyday responsibilities and challenges, to the necessary mental state needed for your workout. I discussed why I feel it’s absolutely necessary, and how I do it. In the second part of the article I want to continue to emphasize the importance of concentrating on the task at hand, and how I do it during a workout.