Admit it. We're somewhat spoilt for choice these days when it comes to contests of strength. Though not as well televised as some of us might like, myself included, strongmen competitions have grown exponentially over the past decade and a half. We have the World's Strongest Man (WSM) and its various qualifying rounds around the… Continue reading The Rise and Fall of the World Muscle Power Classic
You can’t talk about great strongmen without mentioning Jon Pall Sigmarsson. He was a complete strength athlete. From competing in strongman, Highland Games, Powerlifting, Olympic Weightlifting, and even Bodybuilding, Jon Pall embodied his Icelandic Viking heritage in all that he did. It was the combination of his physical ability and larger-than-life personality that have left… Continue reading Guest Post: Jon Pall Sigmarsson
Just how strong can a gorilla be? After watching the latest iteration of King Kong over the weekend, the answer seems obvious. They're very strong. As in smash anything in their way strong. Not the most scientific of answers but hey, it works for me. Luckily not everyone is as lazy as my good self.… Continue reading Are you Stronger than a Gorilla?
Famed for his remarkable strength and at times, his flair for the theatric, the early twentieth-century physical culturist Thomas Inch has left quite a mark on the current strength training population. Not least for competitors of the World's Strongest Man competition who are often tasked with lifting a replica 'Inch Dumbbell' overhead. This being no… Continue reading Thomas Inch and His Dumbbell (Old Physical Culture Footage!)
Lower back pain is an all too common problem these days for the average office worker. Long stints in the chair, hunched over, with poor posture. It's little wonder back ache is one of the leading complaints for desk jockeys. If just sitting for extended periods of time causes such pain, imagine what lifting hundreds… Continue reading The History of the Reverse Hyper Extension Machine
You can’t talk about great strongmen without mentioning Jon Pall Sigmarsson. He was a complete strength athlete. From competing in strongman, Highland Games, Powerlifting, Olympic Weightlifting, and even Bodybuilding, Jon Pall embodied his Icelandic Viking heritage in all that he did. It was the combination of his physical ability and larger-than-life personality that have left… Continue reading Guest Post: Jon Pall Sigmarsson
One of the strongest men of the early twentieth-century, Thomas Inch was known in both Great Britain and the United States for his feats of strength. Unlike others however, Inch was hardly strict with his diet. In fact Inch was recorded as saying There is nothing so wearisome as having to be extremely particular about what one… Continue reading Thomas Inch’s Diet
As Jan Todd noted in her article on classical fitness systems, physical culture historians have tended to devote their attention to the latter half of the nineteenth-century and beyond. This has, perhaps unsurprisingly, led to a dearth in materials on the forbearers to modern strength training and strength sports. Weightlifting, as we well know, is… Continue reading Pioneers in Strength Sports
Why train like a strongman from the 1900s? Well if that strongman is Eugen Sandow, the father of modern day bodybuilding, the answer should be obvious. Sandow came at a time when steroids hadn't infiltrated gyms and exercisers were forced to rely on food and training alone. Coupled with this Sandow was inspired by the… Continue reading Train like a Sandow!
Who is the strongest man in the World? Ever since man began to lift heavy objects for fun, there has been an insatiable desire to know who is the strongest. It was this desire that led to the creation of the World's Strongest Man (WSM) Competition in 1977, a yearly event that has since become… Continue reading 1977 and the birth of the World’s Strongest Man
