Owing to the increasing popularity of powerlifting, cross fit and olympic lifting, chances are you either own a weightlifting belt or see them on a regular basis on the gym floor. A means of bracing the abdomen, weightlifting belts are a source of controversy in the weightlifting world between those who see them as legitimate… Continue reading The History of Weightlifting Belts
WITH regard to the routine of training, I again repeat, my idea is not to develop muscle at the expense of either health or strength. It is really impossible for me to prescribe special exercises with fixed time limits for same, and fixed days for each individual who may ready this book, as we are… Continue reading Arthur Saxon, ‘Routine of Training’, The Development of Physical Power (London, 1906)
By the time you receive this issue of HARDGAINER we will be about half way through the year. So it's a good idea to take stock as to how your training is going so far, so that you make the rest of the year as productive as possible. Question #1 Are you stronger now than you… Continue reading John Christy, ‘Mid-Year Checkup’, Hardgainer Magazine, July/August (1999)
Looking for something to break the monotony of dumbbell and barbell training? Admit it, every once and a while you like to try something new. Exercises or machines that truly test you. Well today, we're going to look at the Swingbell, an old school piece of bodybuilding equipment promoted by York during the heyday of… Continue reading The Lost Art of Swingbell Training
The following post is taken directly from Thomas Inch's 1920s work, On Strength. Inch, as we have previously discussed on Physical Culture Study, was one of the early and influential British physical culturists. Inch was a weightlifter, weightlifting organizer and a prolific writer. He wrote for several decades with Health and Strength magazine, likely contributed… Continue reading How Do You a Single Handed Dead Lift? 1920s Style
The Olympics are finally here! And I could not be more conflicted. As a weightlifting/powerlifting/bodybuilding/CrossFitting fan, I love watching all manner of strength displays. Because I have a romantic soul, Olympic weightlifting is the event that I always look forward to. In fact, one of my first memories of physical culture was seeing clips of… Continue reading When Did Bodybuilders Stop Doing Olympic Lifts?
Chest/Triceps, Back/Biceps and Legs/Shoulders. The Holy Trinity of bodybuilding split routines. Nowadays the idea of split routines is so ingrained in the fitness community that the idea of whole body training for anyone other than a beginner is scoffed at. This is despite the fact that men like Eugen Sandow, George Hackenschmidt right up to Reg Park… Continue reading The Rise of Split Training in Bodybuilding
Today's post comes primarily from the Ma Strength Olympic weightlifting book written by Manuel Buitrago, an expert on Chinese weightlifting techniques. After the failure of the Great Leap Forward (GLF) and subsequent natural disasters affecting crop harvests, China entered the Great Famine of 1962–63 (Fan & Lu 2012a). Additionally, while the experience with Soviet teams laid… Continue reading Guest Post: History of Chinese Weightlifting Part 3: Crash and Recovery through the Cultural Revolution
Chest/Triceps, Back/Biceps and Legs/Shoulders. The Holy Trinity of bodybuilding split routines. Nowadays the idea of split routines is so ingrained in the fitness community that the idea of whole body training for anyone other than a beginner is scoffed at. This is despite the fact that men like Eugen Sandow, George Hackenschmidt right up to Reg Park… Continue reading The Rise of Split Training in Bodybuilding
"Friends don't let friends skip leg day." If you're looking for some inspiration for your next leg workout then you've come to the right place. Today we look at some of the greatest leg exercises that time has forgotten about. They were invented by iron legends like Gironda and used by men like Arnie. Needless… Continue reading Old School Leg Exercises
