You know, powerlifting should really have its own glitzy award show like the actors do. If this event was ever televised, I believe it would be a huge hit, unlike the sorry spectacle being delivered these days on network TV. I don’t know about you, but I rarely, if ever, watch the Academy Awards anymore.… Continue reading ‘A Lifetime in Powerlifting Well Spent: Ernie Frantz,’ Powerlifting USA, June (2010), 61-64
Lee Moran was the first man to squat 1,000 lbs. in competition and an absolute goliath within the sport. The following source, from a powerlifting magazine in the 1980s - annoyingly I've lost the source which so rarely happens it is worth mentioning - details his thoughts on a 3 month training split to bring… Continue reading Lee Moran’s Squat Workout
In many ways my home gym has ruined me. I no longer stress about how and where to workout. I have completely missed the influx of influencers and tripods on the gym floor and, owing to family/work commitments, my training schedule has fluctuated wildly (hello 10 pm deadlifts!). As I lose touch with my fellow… Continue reading Who Invented the Deadlift Bar?
Being a bodyguard is an important and demanding job that requires a diverse set of skills — from physical fitness and strength to combat and self-defense abilities. Bodyguards need to be physically fit and strong to handle potential threats and to respond swiftly in emergency situations. They should also be proficient in hand-to-hand combat, martial… Continue reading The Top 3 Bodyguards Who Can Compete in Bodybuilding
Ed Coan entered his first powerlifting competition at 16 years old, he went on become one of the best (if not THE best) powerlifters in the world. Here is my candid conversation with The Legend, Ed Coan. POWER: How did you get into powerlifting? ED: I saw Kaz [Bill Kazmier] on TV. That was the… Continue reading Mark Bell, ‘One on One with Ed Coan’, Power Magazine, 1, no. 1 (2009), 28-31.
A point previously discussed on this website was the regularity with which early physical culturists promoted light weight training as opposed to heavy lifting. The reasons for this are numerous. In the first instance, light weightlifting is easier to promote to the general public than heavy weightlifting. It requires less equipment, can be done in… Continue reading Eugen Sandow on Heavy Weightlifting
Undoubtedly we've all been faced with the question, who is stronger? As a teenager it emerged when those weighing 150 lbs. or less sought to square up to their heavier brethren. Was it more impressive bench pressing 200 lbs. at 150 or 280 lbs. at 200 lbs. bodyweight? While our adolescent selves often solved this… Continue reading The Confusing History of Strength Co-Efficients
Ed Coan entered his first powerlifting competition at 16 years old, he went on become one of the best (if not THE best) powerlifters in the world. Here is my candid conversation with The Legend, Ed Coan. POWER: How did you get into powerlifting? ED: I saw Kaz [Bill Kazmier] on TV. That was the… Continue reading Mark Bell, ‘One on One with Ed Coan’, Power Magazine, 1, no. 1 (2009), 28-31.
I have, I believe, been fairly open about my love of the World's Strongest Man, specifically the opening decade of the competition. Whereas today's competition is professional, modern and scientific, the contests of yesteryear were undoubtedly more tongue-in-cheek. This is not to say that the contests were no less contested and the competitors impressive but… Continue reading Deadlifting Cheese at the World’s Strongest Man (1983)
So often in today's world of World's Strongest Man, Olympic Weightlifting and Powerlifting, the assumption that strength is defined by maximum weight lifted goes unchallenged. It is as if we accept unquestioningly that the person who can lift 500 pounds once is stronger than the those who can 'only' lift 400 pounds for reps. It's… Continue reading What is Strength?
