The Second World War re-introduced the Western world back to the importance of health and fitness. The inter-war years were characterised by concerns that Europeans and Americans were no longer as strong as they once were. In the midst of war, Leaders became concerned. Victory in the battlefield could only be achieved through victory in the gymnasium. In 1942, the US Army introduced a formal fitness test to the incoming troops, with this in mind.
For the first time in American history, troops would be put through their places in several exercises to determine their value to Uncle Sam.
The men of 1942 had to do it. How would you have fared?
Earlier in the week I was fortunate enough to spend time with a friend of mine who has recently qualified as a physiotherapist. Discussing the relative merits of different exercises and training protocols, my friend lamented his profession’s reliance on cookie cutter protocols for rehabbing patients. In their view, many physiotherapists tended to prescribe 10 reps x 3 sets on exercises for patients regardless of their training experience, interest or age.
Now admittedly my friend has been strength training for the better part of a decade, which perhaps explains his enthusiasm for varying rep ranges across populations. Indeed in their training lifetime, they’ve used 5 x 5, 3 x 8, 1 x 20 and a host of other schemes. Hence they’ve experienced the effects that different protocols can produce. Ruminating however on their complaints, I realised that even outside the world of physiotherapy, people can adhere to rep ranges with a quasi-religious real. After all, when was the last time you heard someone promote 4 sets x 11 reps? Sacrilege….rep ranges must be divisible by 2 in the vast majority of cases!
Indeed, it’s not just the world of physiotherapy that has become enamoured with 3 sets x 10 reps. Many beginner and advanced programmes promote likewise. Certainly when I finished my first ‘real’ programme of 5 x 5, I was encouraged by older lifters to move to 10 x 3 for an introduction into bodybuilding. So with this in mind, today’s post examines the history of ’10 x 3′, a training protocol favoured it seems by gym goers and professional clinicians alike.
‘So many excellent men have been lost to tobacco poisoning.’
Adolf Hitler, 1942
Much historical study has been conducted into addressing the atrocities committed by the Nazi Regime from 1933 to 1945. However, considerably less attention has been dedicated to the Nazi anti-tobacco campaign, a relatively benign government policy, which importantly, was one of the first campaigns by a Western government designed to deal with health issues arising from tobacco use. This subject is particularly topical in the current climate, as many Western governments are attempting to reduce tobacco use among their own citizens. This paper will examine the first mass Western government campaign against tobacco and its ultimate failings.
Why were the Nazis so concerned to control the use of tobacco among its citizens? Is it possible that the Nazis were concerned with the wellbeing of some of its citizens? Or were more selfish motives involved?
Ah yes the trans fat. Now reviled as one of the most unhealthy substances a human can eat, trans fats were once presented as the epitome of clean eating in the United States. They were cheap to manufacture, easy to cook with and marketed with aplomb.
Today we look at the fascinating history of the unhealthiest of fats.
The Second World War re-introduced the Western world back to the importance of health and fitness. The inter-war years were characterised by concerns that Europeans and Americans were no longer as strong as they once were. In the midst of war, Leaders became concerned. Victory in the battlefield could only be achieved through victory in the gymnasium. In 1942, the US Army introduced a formal fitness test to the incoming troops, with this in mind.
For the first time in American history, troops would be put through their places in several exercises to determine their value to Uncle Sam.
The men of 1942 had to do it. How would you have fared?
The Second World War re-introduced the Western world back to the importance of health and fitness. The inter-war years were characterised by concerns that Europeans and Americans were no longer as strong as they once were. In the midst of war, Leaders became concerned. Victory in the battlefield could only be achieved through victory in the gymnasium. In 1942, the US Army introduced a formal fitness test to the incoming troops, with this in mind.
