In 90% of the training you do the emphasis should be on picture-perfect form AND heavy weights. Cheating is undesirable, and while it SEEMS that you are working harder because you are lifting moreyou are, in fact, working less intensively since the “heavier” work is being distributed over many hefty muscle groups – instead of… Continue reading Bradley Steiner, ‘Partials, Rack Work And Isometrics’, POWERLIFTING (1972), 16-17
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… Continue reading Alan Calvert on Deadlifting Records (1924)
For better or for worse I grew up in the early internet days of the fitness industry. Combining Joe Weider magazines with random forums, I hobbled together a training program guaranteed to blitz my biceps, slice my quads and shred my abs. That at least, was the promise. I remember training long hours every day… Continue reading Ian King, ‘How Hard Should I Train?,’ Get Buffed (2002)
Once upon a time there were two skinny young men who trained in a commercial gym downtown. The gym was not overly large, nor was it especially fancy, but it had good solid equipment and lots of weight. This was probably fortunate because it was usually crowded in the evening. The gym also had lots… Continue reading John McCallum on Sleep
For my sins, I enjoy writing articles. I probably do it more often than I should for my eternal damnation. I'm currently writing an article on the evolution of the back squat, a history I've previously discussed on this website and elsewhere. As part of this research, I've been deep-diving the history of squat stands,… Continue reading When Was the Squat Rack Invented?
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)
Earlier this week I was given a very generous gift. The gift in question was a complete set of Wills' Cigarette Cards. Produced for an Irish and English audience in 1914, the cards depicted various physical culture exercises one could engage in to keep fit and healthy. The irony that the cards could only be… Continue reading The History of the Dumbbell Pullover
Earlier this year I had the great fortune to visit the H.J. Lutcher Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports in Texas. Founded by Jan and Terry Todd, the Stark Center is a playground for anoraks like me. Containing the collections of Bernarr MacFadden, Professor Atilla, Bob Hoffman and several other Iron Game legends, Stark… Continue reading Sig Klein’s Beginner Workout
Conor Note Stuart McRobert's Hardgainer magazine is, and was, one of my favorite training magazines bar none. Similar to Peary Rader's Ironman magazine, it seemed to buck the trend of bodybuilding magazines which sold flashy programmes and, at times, ridiculous training systems. The magazine's ethos was simple. Not everyone is genetically gifted but, through hard… Continue reading John Christy, ‘Evening the Genetic Score,’ Hardgainer, 38, September/October 1995
If this present volume serves no other purposes, I want it to satisfy every reader in seeking the solution of one problem. And that is to be able to offer a means of arriving at satisfactory understanding on the matter of correct physical proportions for men of all types. So many ideal tables have been… Continue reading Mark Berry, ‘Determining Proper Proportions’, Physical Training Simplified (c. 1930s)
