In order to maintain health and provide for optimal growth, our bodies require more than 40 different nutrients. These various nutrients can be found in the six primary food components: water, protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals. WATER: Whether or not you believe live began in the sea, the fact remains that life exists in… Continue reading MIKE MENTZER, ‘The Essential Nutrients’, HEAVY DUTY NUTRITION (1993), 11-14.
Almost a decade ago, a retired Soviet hammer thrower came to the conclusion that traditional forms of squatting were not the best way to strengthen the muscles of the thighs and hips. Many in the Soviet Union considered this heresy, as the squat was the king of leg training in that country just as it… Continue reading Dr. Terry Todd and Angel Spassov,’Bulgarian Leg Training Secrets,’ Muscle and Fitness (1989).
Strength sports, as an endeavour, are simultaneously a modern, and pre-modern, sport. Accounts of men engaging in contests date back to the Chinese practice of lifting heavy stones and cauldrons in 6000 BC (Hai-sheng, 2012). Likewise, Ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt, among other regions, had strength cultures (Crowther, 2007). That withstanding, strength contests and feats,… Continue reading A Brief History of Strongman
nyone who has spent any time in- volved in any form of competitive athletics fully realizes the importance of mental con- trol. Hitting a baseball, spiking a volleyball, and catching a football all require a high degree of mental concentration. Tommy Kono, the great Olympic and world weightlifting champion of the 50s and 60s, contented… Continue reading BILL STARR, ‘Mental Preparation’, DEFYING GRAVITY HOW TO WIN AT WEIGHTLIFTING (NEW YORK, 1981), P. 24.
Hundreds of prospective pupils write me to ask how long they will have to train; how much time they will have to spend each week, etc., etc. This seems a good place to answer those questions. The average pupil practices the first course in developing exerÂcises for two or three months. He practices every other… Continue reading Alan Calvert, ‘General Training Program’, Health, Strength and Development (Philadelphia, c. 1920s).
Although unknown to the modern olympic lifter, Abele was one of America’s finest lifters during the 1940s and 1950s. Unfortunately he was overshadowed by fellow US lifters John Grimek, Steve Stanko, and John Davis during the course of his career. Similarly the outbreak of the Second World War denied Abele the chance to lift at… Continue reading Louis Abele’s Back Program c. 1948
Owing to the inquisitive nature of a PCS reader, I've finally gotten my act together, or at least come close enough to some semblance of normality, to go down the rabbit hole once again. The topic of todays post, is the rather more niche but nevertheless effective Glute Ham Raise (GHR) machine. Having spent years… Continue reading The History of the Glute Ham Raise
The passing of Dr. Fred Hatfield in 2017 saw the passing of one of the lifting community's most prolific coaches. Known as 'Dr. Squat' thanks to his own immense strength, Hatfield also helped to popularise scientific forms of training. The above article, written sometime before 2001 is perhaps the most comprehensive guide I've come across… Continue reading Fred Hatfield, ‘I May Know Diddly, But I Know Squat!’ (2001)
That stone had lain in that place as long as the oldest traditions in the village could remember. And from time immemorial it had been the custom of the young men of the village to test their strength by lifting it …[i] Liam O’Flaherty, 1937. Simply titled, ‘The Stone’, Liam O’Flaherty’s short Irish story from… Continue reading Informal acts of weightlifting in Ireland
