A Website Dedicated to the Study of Strength, Health, Fitness and Sport Across Centuries, Countries and Contests.
The below text is something I'm rather excited about. Earlier this month, I stumbled across Doug Hepburn's website from the late 1990s and early 2000s. Hepburn was one of the strongest men of the mid twentieth century, famed for his seemingly inhuman feats of strength. You can imagine, then the joy I felt when I... Continue Reading →
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzjaUsIjsN4 In 1930s Europe, especially in the first half of the decade, the government sponsored fitness campaigns found in fascist regimes garnered a great deal of envy. As Charlotte MacDonald detailed in her fantastic work on the subject, democratic states like Britain, France and the United States were simultaneously fearful and fascinated by the implications... Continue Reading →
To gain great strength one needs to consider the factors that unite to produce it. For until this is done one cannot be sure upon what lines to work. The things that make for outstanding physical strength are great vital force, a high degree of nervous energy, and superlative quality of muscular tissue. Contrary to... Continue Reading →
When it comes to a broad meaning of bodybuilding it concerns a process of maximizing the muscle hypertrophy by mixing various exercises into training. The modern meaning of the concept has changed significantly since the first-time bodybuilding came to be. As a sport, bodybuilding focuses on a series of athletes who are showing off their... Continue Reading →
One of the most popular physical culturists of the entire twentieth-century, there is no denying the impact Charles Atlas had on the muscle making industry. Full of vigour, advice and the occasional insult, Atlas challenged his 'students' to improve their physique as much as possible. The yardstick for their success? None other than Atlas's own... Continue Reading →
There are some exercises so basic, so ubiquitous and so difficult that their origins are often taken for granted. Previously when detailing the history of the squat, we encountered the difficultly of tracing a movement found in every culture and arguably every human movement. The Chin Up and the Pull Up exercises offer a similar... Continue Reading →
Forced Rep, Negatives, Free Weights & Machines - People have called me mad. They say no sane man would inflict my degree of discipline on himself. Perhaps they're right, but I feel that extremism in the quest of your best is no vice. If I seem to be in be in the iron grip of... Continue Reading →
Image Source. Just this week we spoke about Dr. Karl Klein and his 1960s research on the back squat. As a quick reminder, Klein found that squatting below parallel or pushing the knees over the toes was detrimental to the knee's stability and long term health. Klein and those following in his wake advised against... Continue Reading →
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnfiV8-NOog In the past I've made my fondness for British Pathé videos pretty clear and the above video perhaps demonstrates why. While I cannot endorse many of the claims found in the video - weaker sex, light weight training, blatant chauvinism etc. - the image of gym owner/wrestler, Lou hypnotising his gym members is something I haven't... Continue Reading →
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 →