Controversial to the nth degree, Arthur Jones was a man known for his pull no punches approach. Wonderfully innovative, the founder of the Nautilus exercise phenomena had a strict sense of right and wrong when dealing with his small circle of clients. This was demonstrated, most spectacularly, when Jones was approached by Dick Butkus, then… Continue reading Arthur Jones, Dick Butkus and the Long Con
It’s often difficult to pinpoint seminal moments in sport. This is especially the case in football. Ask people when the first football match was played and the answers will range from the fifteenth-century to the recent 1800s. History teaches us to be weary of ‘first ever’ occasions in a sport with such a long past.… Continue reading PIONEERS AND PARIAHS: ORANGE FREE STATE BANTU F.C
Although sporting historians have long noted the importance of Englishwomen in the development of sport in general, few studies have devoted themselves to the study of callisthenics. Those that do, often employ problematic timelines. Indeed, although Fletcher, McKrone and Holt famously argued that women used sport and callisthenics to gain some form of social freedoms,… Continue reading Marian Mason: England’s Trailblazing Woman of Fitness
Ah yes, the dreaded Smith Machine. Criticised for its unnatural movements, failure to fully tax the muscles and its generally unappealing design. Who invented the Smith Machine? Why did they do it and how did it become so popular? These are some of the questions answered in today's blogpost on the history of the Smith Machine!… Continue reading The History of the Smith Machine
After three years of pumping up, slimming down and posing, Britain, and the world was treated to the first ever bodybuilding competition in 1901. Hosted by the legendary Eugen Sandow, the 'Great Competition' as it was known claimed to have found the most perfect specimens alive. Unsurprisingly it wasn't long before other nations, notably America, began to hold their own… Continue reading 1903 and the birth of American Bodybuilding
Are bodybuilders becoming too large? It’s a simple question but one loaded with controversy. Today most Internet forums are filled with heated arguments about whether the ‘mass monsters’ of today are helping or hurting the sport. Rather than continue the common narrative that the 1990s and the Dorian Yates era was the dawn of the ‘Mass… Continue reading Tracing the Mass Monster in Bodybuilding
