In the 1940s, long before the commercial gym became a ubiquitous feature of modern fitness culture, lifters often had to rely on their own ingenuity and craftsmanship to equip their training spaces. Purpose-built apparatus was expensive, difficult to source, and frequently beyond the reach of ordinary enthusiasts. Within the physical culture movement, the ethic of… Continue reading When Lifters Built Their Own Gyms: The DIY Squat Rack of the 1940s
Having previously discussed the history of the squat exercise, today's post examines the creation of the Rader Chest Pull, an exercise that Peary Rader, one of the Irongame's biggest names in the twentieth-century, often used in conjunction with the squat. Typically Rader would inform trainees to perform this exercise directly after a set of twenty… Continue reading Forgotten Exercises: The Rader Chest Pull
Most people recognize a bodybuilder by his muscular arms. The arms are usually the first muscle people notice. If your arms are developed then you have a good start on your bodybuilding career. The main muscles of the upper arms are the bicep and tricep. Let's first talk about the bicep. The bicep is a… Continue reading Pat Neve, ‘Attain Maximum Arm Size’, Ironman Magazine (November, 1975).
“What puts you over the top? It is the mind that actually creates the body, it is the mind that really makes you work out for four or five hours a day, it is the mind that visualizes what the body ought to look like as the finished product.” Arnold Schwarzenegger The mind-muscle connection? That's… Continue reading The History of the Mind-Muscle Connection
Perhaps no one of our bodily functions is more important than breathing. We can live a long time without food and a considerable time without water or sleep but we die almost at once without air. We can not live in good health without plenty of fresh air. All men with spacious chest cavities are… Continue reading Peary Rader, ‘DEVELOPING THE CHEST CAVITY’, THE RADER MASTER BODYBUILDER AND WEIGHT GAINING SYSTEM (1946)
Most people recognize a bodybuilder by his muscular arms. The arms are usually the first muscle people notice. If your arms are developed then you have a good start on your bodybuilding career. The main muscles of the upper arms are the bicep and tricep. Let's first talk about the bicep. The bicep is a… Continue reading Pat Neve, ‘Attain Maximum Arm Size’, Ironman Magazine (November, 1975).
It is sometimes desirable to specialize on one lift or exercise to the exclusion of all others. The reason for this is that you can direct all your energies and effort in one direction. This will enable you to make much faster progress and reach greater heights of strength and development than if you spread… Continue reading Peary Rader, ‘SPECIALIZING ON ONE EXERCISE FOR MAXIMUM GAINS’, THE RADER MASTER BODYBUILDER AND WEIGHT GAINING SYSTEM (1946)
This very popular lift is a good exercise for all round development and an excellent method of weight gaining if properly performed for this purpose. It is probably the most strenuous of all exercises and therein lies its value as a stimulator of metabolism and a weight gaining medium. Much the same principles of procedure are used as in the squat or… Continue reading Peary Rader, ‘The Clean and Jerk Program for Weight Gaining’, THE RADER MASTER BODYBUILDER AND WEIGHT GAINING SYSTEM (1946)
If it is convenient, it is often found a great help to eat 4 to 6 meals per day, tho this is not necessary. Many men have found that the addition of a light lunch at about 10 o’clock, another at about 3:30 p.m. and another just before bed time has been the secret of… Continue reading Peary Rader, ‘The Six Meal A Day Plan’, The Rader Master BodyBuilder and Weight Gaining System (1946)
Having previously discussed the history of the squat exercise, today's post examines the creation of the Rader Chest Pull, an exercise that Peary Rader, one of the Irongame's biggest names in the twentieth-century, often used in conjunction with the squat. Typically Rader would inform trainees to perform this exercise directly after a set of twenty… Continue reading Forgotten Exercises: The Rader Chest Pull
