A Website Dedicated to the Study of Strength, Health, Fitness and Sport Across Centuries, Countries and Contests.
On December 14, 2023, my latest book, Indian Club Swinging and the Birth of Global Fitness will be published by Bloomsbury. This is a work of love that began in 2015 and has slowly progressed in the background. A link to order the book is here. And, more excitingly, you can preview the first chapter... Continue Reading →
Though few exercise programmes maintain a venerated status for long in the Iron Game, the mystique surrounding 20 Rep Squat programmes has endured. As hinted by the name, such programmes require lifters to back squat twenty times before unloading the bar, and in my own experience, lying on the ground questioning your decision-making. Primarily touted... Continue Reading →
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... Continue Reading →
In a rare turn for this website, today's post focuses on a 2023 reseach article which recently crossed my path. Published by Tor Söderström, the article focuses on twenty years of interviews with gym-goers at a Swedish gym and, in doing so, highlights the changes in both exercisee's motivations, as well as their training patterns.... Continue Reading →
Here are five exercises published in the New York Evening World for developing the muscles and improving the health and strength. No. 1 is a stretching movement for strength. Carry the left foot and leg backward, and the right hand and right arm forward, stretching from the hand to foot consciously through the length of... Continue Reading →
The intricate relationship between sports and marketing stretches back to the annals of history, finding its nascent roots in ancient civilizations like Rome and Greece, where athletes and gladiators were endorsed by prominent figures or even the government. However, it was during the late 19th and early 20th centuries that organized sports marketing started to... Continue Reading →
Sports, an enduring aspect of human culture, have been celebrated in an array of settings and spaces known as sports facilities. These sites have seen a remarkable evolution throughout history, mirroring the progress of architecture, technology, and our relationship with sports and entertainment. Here’s a captivating journey through time that will help you learn more... Continue Reading →
Earlier this year I had the pleasure of speaking with someone interested in the history of calisthenics. While this is not my main research area (sadly I'll be a free weight fan boy for the foreseeable future), it comes up repeatedly in my studies. We know, for example, that many cultures in the Ancient World... Continue Reading →
How did you become a strength performer in the early 1900s? It's not a trick question but something that I've become fascinated with in the past two weeks. This was a time before mainstream competitions. This was a time before social media and it was a time when to be strong was to be truly... Continue Reading →
Olympic weightlifting for men dates to the very first Olympic games in Athens in 1896. The first iteration for women came in 2000 at the Sydney Games. It took until 1987 for the first world weightlifting championship for women versus 1891 for men. Likewise, the first recognizable meets for women only came in the 1970s... Continue Reading →