Face it. Every now and then you want to try something new in the gym. A new lift, a new rep range or an entirely new style of training. The mind gets bored of monotony, something which the lifters of yore were all too acquainted with. Today's post on the Sig Klein challenge will not only… Continue reading Can You Pass The Sig Klein Challenge?
Having previously discussed Rheo H. Blair's revolutionary protein blend on this site, it seems only fair to look at another Blair invention, the '$1000 method to cook your eggs' . Why $1,000? Well according to Blair, he considered this cooking technique to be worth upwards of $1,000 owing to its beneficial effects on his client's… Continue reading How to make eggs the Rheo H. Blair Way!
The kettlebell is probably the weirdest looking of all gym weight training equipment. It looks like a cannonball with a handle on the top. The kettlebell is becoming more and more popular in gyms everywhere. This is because many trainers recommend it for a wide range of specialized strength building exercises. You can also lose… Continue reading Guest Post: The History of Kettlebells
Easily one of the wittiest English writers of the early twentieth-century, P.G. Wodehouse was famous (or infamous) for his biting satire. Writing for Vanity Fair in May 1914, Wodehouse turned his sights on physical culture, a topic he was already well acquainted with. Perhaps you may recognise your own health behaviour in the article? Sadly I certainly… Continue reading Old School Reads: P.G. Wodehouse – The Physical Culture Peril And How the Nation May Easily be Saved From It
Is it suddenly cool to care about the history of strength? One of the joys of the internet has been, for me at least, the immense interest weight lifters from around the world have shown in learning more about the strong men and women who went before them. In the past, people were forced to… Continue reading Film Club: The Rogue Legends Series Louis “Apollon” Uni
Strength coaching in America: a history of the innovation that transformed sports by Jason P. Shurley, Jan Todd, and Terry Todd, Austin, University of Texas Press, 2019, 348 pp., $40.00 (hardback), ISBN: 978-1-4773-1979-6 American culture is, in part, defined by a love of sport. From multi-million-dollar contracts to billion-dollar stadiums, it is impossible to deny… Continue reading Book Review: Strength coaching in America: a history of the innovation that transformed sports by Jason P. Shurley, Jan Todd, and Terry Todd, Austin
In 1894 Eugen Sandow, alongside G. Mercer Adam published Sandow on Physical Training. This was the first training manual/biography which Sandow published but it was not his last. Over the next twenty years, Sandow published a multitude of books covering everything from working out to alternative medicine. Sandow on Physical Training was published during Eugen… Continue reading Sandow as a Strongman in Holland (1894)
Should you drink beer during workouts? It may seem a ludicrous suggestion but this is exactly what famed German strongman, Arthur Saxon, did in the early 1900s. Previously on this website we have discussed the huge appetite Saxon and his traveling trio of strongmen had during the height of their careers. In the space of… Continue reading Beer During Workouts? Arthur Saxon Approves!
In 1894 Eugen Sandow traveled to the United States. While this was not the birth of Sandow's celebrity, it marked an intensification of interest in the Strongman's life. Under the tutelage of Flo Ziegfeld, Sandow's time in the United States, which lasted from 1894-1896, was spellbinding. It was in America that Sandow reinvented his posing… Continue reading Eugen Sandow’s Physical Training Leg Machine (1894)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o20TY1LGlqI As part of my writing with Barbend I'm currently in the middle of an article on Naim Süleymanoğlu, the great Turkish weightlifter from the 1990s. Naim's story is one of Cold War politics, individual athleticism and raw feats of strength. The above video, found on the Olympics' own Youtube channel is such a wonderful… Continue reading Naim Süleymanoğlu and the Importance of Public Histories
