The Bent Press was a staple for 'old school' strongmen and women seeking to show off their strength. The movement couldn't be simpler. Pick up a dumbbell or barbell from the floor. Get it to chest height and then slowly press it overhead while simultaneously moving yourself underneath it. Check out an iconic shot of… Continue reading The Bent Press: The Most Fascinating Lift
Remember that time Franco Columbu broke his leg carrying a refrigerator on his back? Pepperidge Farms remembers... I love strongman and strongwoman festivals. If you have been on this website for more than five minutes, this much is clear. I also love how chaotic and unorganised early strongman shows were. From heavy deadlifts with blocks… Continue reading Near Tragedy: When Bill Kazmaier Almost Killed O.D Wilson at the 1989 Pure Strength Contest
Much to my surprise, and great shame, Edward Aston is not someone mentioned a lot on this website. This, I hasten to add, has everything to do with my own deficiencies. Born in England in the late nineteenth-century, Aston was known to contemporaries as one of the strongest men around. In 1910, he won the… Continue reading Forgotten Devices: Edward Aston’s ‘Anti-Barbell’
Who helped transform American fitness and who, more importantly, has often been overlooked in the fitness industry? Frederick Tilney. It is a name that I have constantly seen in writing but not one that I have ever really researched. From my vague memories, I knew that he was born in England in the late ninteenth… Continue reading The Unknown Man Who Transformed American Fitness
When I first became interested in barbells, I collected a lot of data about weight-lifting records. There was a time when I could tell you the world’s record in almost any lift you could mention. I could tell you the records for the best men in the different nations at the same lift. I knew… Continue reading Alan Calvert, ‘Some Lifting Records,’ Super Strength. 1924
Arm training can be more complicated than larger body parts such as legs, back, or chest. If you think about it, your arms are relatively small in comparison to the rest of your body. When I first started training, I thought that in order to have great arms I needed to life as heavy as… Continue reading Guest Post: Colette Nelson, “The Ultimate Arms: Pro Training Secrets,” Reform, Issue 6 (June 2003).
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).
I love origin stories. And fitness is full of them. Eugen Sandow and the first major bodybuilding show of 1901. When women first competed in weightlifting at the Olympics. The first man or woman to lift/press/pull insert world record number here etc. etc. We also have those critical originators and thinkers who helped to popularise… Continue reading Pavel Tsatsouline, ‘Vodka, Pickle Juice, Kettlebell Lifting and Other Russian Pastimes,’ Milo, Vol 6, no. 3 (1996).
In 1967 Sergio Oliva, one of the greatest bodybuilders to ever grace the sport, won the Mr. Olympia. The previous two years Larry Scott had won the title but, following Scott's retirement, the floor was open for Oliva to step into the spotlight. The Cuban bodybuilder, and former Olympic weightlifter, was himself new to the… Continue reading Lost Footage of the 1967 Mr. Olympia
My 'new year' starts a lot earlier than most. While many will count January 1st as the dawn of a new year, I usually see August 1st as my new beginning. Teachers, lecturers, and parents, will know my pain. As an adult, who has never truly left the education system, my sense of time is… Continue reading What I Learned About Lifting in 2024
