The following Chapter comes from Mark Berry's wondeful book from the 1930s Physical Training Simplified. In it, Berry addresses one of the biggest questions from his era, is lifting safe? Enjoy! Bar Bell Exercise is Different Than Competitive or Record Lifting. But Does the Weight Lifter Run Any Risks? In the minds of some persons… Continue reading Is Heavy Exercise Dangerous?
Okay, I admit it. I have become, for want of a better word, a home gym fetishist. What began out of necessity during the Covid-19 pandemic has now become a delightful, but expensive, obsession of mine. We recently moved home and, for the first time in two years, my home gym now has a roof!… Continue reading What did a Home Gym Set Up Look Like in 1950s America?
https://www.rawpixel.com/image/3566710/illustration-image-art-business-people It would be a grave understatement to claim that the COVID pandemic inconvenienced our day-to-day lives. Rather, at times, it felt as if this global health crisis was a roller coaster with no ending in sight. With that said, it appears most of us have taken one important lesson out of the pandemic –… Continue reading Guest Post: A Brief History of Fitness in Australia
“SANDOW, as a muscular phenomenon is of comparatively limited interest to the public, save as an exciting, and doubtlessly engaging, curiosity; but Sandow, as the culmination of a system which will enable even the weakest to attain a perfect physical development, is an object of stu- pendous interest to everybody.” The above forceful dictum is… Continue reading How Sandow Became Muscular (1894 Article)
From my daily mail I arrive at the conclusion that many barbell bugs have been considerably confused by the numerous super duper four-hour workout schedules credited to the prominent physique specialists in some of the muscle magazines. I have at least a dozen recent letters bearing the same complaint, 'These terrific workouts may be all… Continue reading Harry B. Paschall, ‘Training for the Working Man’, Bosco Strength Notebook,1: 2 (1951), 23-25
Almost a half-century ago the one and two hand swing lifts were very popular among lifters and bodybuilders alike, especially the one hand lift. Over the years, however, both of these lifts have slumped into oblivion so that today there are very few who ever practice them, either as an exercise or for record-breaking performances.… Continue reading Forgotten Exercises: The Dumbbell Swing
We all know at least one thing about CrossFit, and that is chiseled men and women repping fast pull-ups one after another and lifting and throwing around crazy weights. It might look crazy from the outside, but once you learn a few things about the history of CrossFit, you’ll see how amazing and effective this… Continue reading Guest Post: The Brief but Intense History of CrossFit
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
Alan Calvert was one of the most important strength entrepreneurs in twentieth-century America. The founder of Milo Barbell and Strength magazine, Calvert helped bring barbells and weights to the masses in the early 1900s. What makes him an even more fascinating figure is that in later years, Calvert became deeply disgusted with America's burgeoning fitness… Continue reading Alan Calvert, ‘Tricks of Lifting and Trickery of Lifters,’ Confidential Information of Lifting and Lifters (Philadelphia, 1926), 13-16.
Bovril is a blended meat extract created by Scotsman John Lawrence during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871). Made primarily from Beef, Bovril quickly associated itself with ideas of British nationalism and the caricatured embodiment of Britain, ‘John Bull’. This was certainly the case during the Second South African War when Bovril advertisements explicitly told of its… Continue reading The Bodybuilding History of Bovril
