Most Popular Articles on this site

[10 pages] There isn't much out there on Basque stone lifting, this article provides some unique insight....keep reading

[4 pages] Excerpted from the November 2, 1907 issue of 'Health & Strength' magazine.

"I propose in this brief article to deal with a branch of the art which has escaped the attentions of most experts -- namely the extraordinary advantages possessed by ordinary Indian clubs over all other appliances for endowing their users with not only all-around muscular development but with a stimulating action on all the involuntary muscles concerned with the digestive, respiratory and circulatory processes, thereby practically ensuring freedom from illness and consequently the perfection of health....keep reading

Home Exercise Chart With Special Exercises for Enlarging the Chest and Strengthening every Muscle in the Body...keep reading

[1 page] A few summers back, we picked up a couple pallet loads of material from the Iron Man Magazine offices. They were downsizing and had a bunch of "old stuff" that had just been taking up space in their warehouse and storage closets for the past few decades. Rather than toss everything in the dumpster, they asked if we would be interested in taking it off their hands ... we sure did!

Looking through the box of Paul Anderson, we came across this page, which was most definitely not authored by Paul Anderson. It was clear from the subject matter that it was one of the original manuscript pages from an Arthur Jones article....keep reading

[19 pages] "A BOY who rises to fame and glory in the athletic events of our schools and college is generally recognized as one whose skill in the performance of athletic feats has enabled his schoolmates. To be an athlete is one thing -- this requires skill. To achieve fame is another thing, and this has for its foundation the ability to show athletic skill. Whether the boy athlete is a sprinter, high-jumper, pole-vaulter, distance-runner or weight-thrower, he is credited with having perfected himself to a certain degree in the art of athletics. The ability he has to show his skill in competition with others, and the reputation which comes to him as a result of his competitive performances go hand in hand." ...keep reading

[156 pages] A Physical fitness program adequate for the Navy's needs must be of broad conception. Tasks of naval personnel involve long periods of standing; climbing up, down, and diagonally in close quarters; running, swimming, throwing, balancing, and moving quickly from place to place; carrying heavy weights ; and enduring strain under sustained effort in a variety of situations ... Alertness, the ability to respond quickly and appropriately to varying stimuli and under varying conditions, requires a high level of physical fitness. That is the objective of the Physical Fitness Program and the purpose of this Manual....keep reading

[20 minutes, 43 seconds]Here's another trip deep behind the Iron Curtain to learn more about how boxing is (or was) taught in Russia....keep reading

[16 pages]

The July, 1915 issue of STRENGTH magazine featuring:

* COVER: Waldon R. Adams

* More about Development by Alan Calvert

* William Francis Letter

* "Train for Development First"

* Matysek Makes an Attempt at 252 Pounds

* Waldon R. Adams Letter

* The One-Arm Military Press by Alan Calvert

* Peter Grammas Letter...keep reading

[16 pages] "...In Three months, using what is now calles "The Johnson System," I increased my weight from 145 to 190 pounds. At the same time, there was a big increase in the poundages I could handle... in the leg press, for example, I jumped from 165 to 660 pounds! I had become stronger and my days of being sick were over.

Knowing I was on the right track, I continued to work on my system for five years, impriving it continually. When I opened my studios in Chicago, I had a wonderful laboratory in which to study body-building thoroughly and to apply my many theories and ideas... "...keep reading

The grip is a good place to start. When I was growing up I'd purchased "sporting goods store" grippers(we called 'em "castanets" because they were so easy to "click") and my Dad even gave me a "gripper" made out of rubber (it had indentations for your fingers like a fancy pistol grip...but it was just a chunk of rubber)....keep reading

[4 pages]Between the late 70's and when ESPN started covering the World's Strongest Man contest in the late 90's there was a long period that very few Americans knew that the sport of strongman was still taking place. The WSM was still being contested every year but in different parts of the world and it had absolutely zero coverage of any kind in the U.S. at all because the show was now owned by the BBC in Britain. Every year Powerlifting USA would have a quarter page dedicated to announcing the winner of WSM and would have one tiny picture of the top three guys. I would see those huge guys with these Scandinavian names standing on the winner's podium and think: Man, it's still happening, why isn't it happening here?-...keep reading

Harold Cleghorn was a pretty decent weightlifter from New Zealand who won the gold medal at the 1950 British Empire Games in the men's 110 kg division and the bronze medal at the 1954 British Empire Games. Cleghorn also competed in the 1952 Olympics, finishing 7th in the heavyweight class.

Aside from his Olympic lifting accomplishments, Cleghorn's introduction to many Iron Game enthusiasts came through the early John Mccallum Keys to Progress article "For Size and Strength" which appeared in the January, 1966 issue of Strength and Health....keep reading

[1 pages] During a recent shoulder day I wanted to introduce my lifting protoge to the world of the axle clean and presses. Even though I was nursing a really tender elbow I decided to see see what I could comfortably work up to without really aggravating it. We warmed up with lots of light sets and made small jumps and I eventually clean and pressed 290lbs before the elbow started acting up. I had the kid practicing the continental style clean with the axle because his girly hands gave out on him pretty quick....keep reading

"As a result of several years of practical experience and demonstration, I am convinced that as an ideal home exercise and a means of symmetrical development, the art of Indian Club swinging stands far in advance pf all other methods.

True, it does not tend to produce that abnormal development which is the result of some forms of muscular exercises but can that heavy, ill-proportioned muscle so produced compare with the supple wrist, full chest, erect carriage and slim waist which is the outcome of Indian club exercise? I think not--nay I am sure of it." ...keep reading

[12 pages] For the past several years the coaching staff has encouraged weight lifting at L. S. U. Contrary to popular belief, weight training when judiciously directed will not cause "muscle boundness", make a person slower, or cause him to become awkward. Alvin Roy, a former Olympic trainer and a dedicated believer in weight training programs, after several attempts sold his ideas to Fuzzy Brown, a local high school coach. However, it took a defeat at the hands of a local rival before Fuzzy consented to try the program. We at L.S.U. observed the progress and noted the results obtained. Not only did Fuzzy produce championship teams, but his individual players that came to L. S. U. and participated in athletics showed the results of the extra training that is provided by such a program....keep reading

[28 pages] SKILL magazine was an incredibly interesting publication from the UK in the 1960's and was devoted to weightlifting, hand balancing, acrobatics, contortionism and all manner of other unusual feats requiring a lot of deliberate practice. Here's a look at the November, 1966 issue....keep reading

[20 pages] Good training equipment is essential in every gymnasium. Give an ambitious barbell man some wood, a hammer, saw, and a batch of nails, and he can make some pretty useful pieces of bodybuilding equipment....keep reading

[12 pages]Judo is a science, just as complete a science as physics, chemistry, mathematics or any other science you study at school. As a science it must be thoroughly understood or it is nothing. And, like the science of the atom, it has both positive (good) and negative (bad) qualities. It can help or it can destroy. It is positive when it is used as a natural defense against attack. It is negative when it is used to injure someone. In teaching you the science of Judo, as well as its deadly secrets, I want to impress upon you that you should think of it only as knowledge of how to defend yourself or some person who needs protection. You never know when some bully, some thief, some armed man, or some mentally deranged person is liable to attack you. Judo is of the greatest value in protecting you against a surprise attack, a "no-holds-barred" attack, or when you are greatly out-numbered by your attackers....keep reading

[96 pages] That muscles grow in size and increase in strength with use was no doubt known to prehistoric man and may therefore be listed among the earliest physiologic observations. But the nature of this increase and its intimate cause are still only partly understood. In 1897, Professor B. Morpurgo of the Pathological Institute of the University of Siena demonstrated on dogs that a fifty percent increase in cross section following exercise was due to growth of muscle fibers already present, i.e. true hypertrophy and not to an increase in the number of fibers. His findings also indicate that there was a maximum size to which fibers could grow. Thus he produced data that explain why there is a limit to the amount of growth that any muscle can undergo....keep reading

[45 minutes] For whatever reason, a Hungarian film crew covered Olympic weightlifting events for several decades. Here's a rare look at what they shot -- you'll get to see MANY great lifters in action, Vlasov, Schemansky, Kono, etc, plus there is a documentary on lifting techniques at the end....keep reading