The Sandow Statue

The Sandow Statue
Just over a century ago, Eugen Sandow held the very first physique contest known simply as "The Great Competition." The first place prize for this contest was a magnificent gold statue of Sandow himself, holding a globe dumbbell.

In 1977, the promoters of the Mr. Olympia contest decided to honor Sandow and Bodybuilding's past and resurrected this statue as their first place trophy -- which it has become most well known as today. (The first Mr. Olympia Sandow Statue winner was Frank Zane.)

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Oldtime Strongman Feats: The Harness Lift

Thomas Topham harness-lifts 1836 lbs. of water barrels in the year 1741

"In making a harness-lift, the athlete stands on a platform above the weight. The lower platform, which bears the weight, is usually suspended by four chains, which join to one chain which passes through a hole in the upper platform. This chain, in turn, is attached to the lifter's harness. In many cases, this harness consists of nothing more or less than a loop of broad leather strap, which passes from the lifter's shoulders and runs down to a point just in front of the hips.

The athlete stands with his legs bent slightly at the knees, his body inclined forward from the hips, hand resting on a pair of railings or other firm supports.

In making the lift the athlete simultaneously straightens his legs and arms, and brings the trunk of his body to a vertical position. When only the shoulder strap is used the contents of the body are compressed, especially if the lifter arches his back instead of keeping his spine straight.

Real experts in harness-lifting use a belt around the hips as well as one around the shoulders, as this distributes the weight and enables them to lift far more than with only a shoulder belt." - From Super Strength by Alan Calvert

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Thomas Inch and Hints on The Art of Expander Pulling

Thomas Inch and Hints on The Art of Expander Pulling
Just got a very rare oldtime strength booklet written by Thomas Inch. There's no date on it but I would guess it was printed in the 1920's and as far as rare training courses, this one is simply impossible to find.

I finally tracked one down after four years of searching.

Anyhow, Thomas Inch, who is probably most famous for his incredible grip strength and his "unliftable" dumbbell was actually a very well rounded strongmen who excelled in many different types of feats - and some of his favorites were with chest expanders.

In his strongman act he used to do a standard press out with a 56 lb. kettlebell hanging on each thumb, and the expander generally had 30 strands on it.

Not bad at all...

Heres a few hints from the master:

"The first thing to do is to make sure your expander is of the detachable kind."

"The Secret to great strength is gradual progression, and as there is no doubt whatever that a large majority of physical culturists only use expanders so that they may become stronger than their fellows, it behoves them to practice themselves in a position to practice on the right lines and this means using handles which will take several strands."

"When starting out, enter the number of strands you find comfortable and easy to exercise with, going right through your movements without a pause, if possible, thus developing endurance as well as mere muscle."

"Start with, say, only five or six repetitions each hand of each exercise, and gradually work up to ten each hand. Keep at ten for a week or two, then return to five or six repetitions, and add another strand."

"The weight lifter will be advised to use a strong pull in every day work, and each day, or every other day, try himself out on strength tests I have previously quoted with a view to increasing pushing power for different lifts."

All good info, and all very useful if you happen to be paying attention.

Just goes to show you that sound training info never gets old. Chest Expanders, of course, make a great addition to any training program.

If Thomas Inch were alive today, here's the expanders he would be training with: Strongman Chest Expanders

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Arthur Jones, Nautilus and Hard Training

Arthur Jones
The year was 1970 and in the strength world the inmates were running the asylum. In their quest to become bigger and stronger, bodybuilders were spending hours in the gym, "bombing and blitzing" their muscles with set after set after set.

And then the bomb dropped...

a series of articles in Iron Man Magazine by a mystery man named Arthur Jones outlined very clearly and carefully, and in very plain english why many, if not most, bodybuilders were wasting their time.

And what's more, the key to unlocking strength wasn't doing workouts that lasted for hours or spending all day in the gym but a handful of properly performed exercises done in a workout lasting 45 minutes or less.

And then there was talk of a "wonder machine" -- the Nautilus Pullover -- that would build upper-body size and strength faster than any other exercise. More developments followed and the strength world has never been the same...

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Arthur Saxon: The Iron Master

Arthur Saxon: The Iron Master
Just before the turn of the century Arthur Saxon put more weight overhead with one hand than any man before or since -- a 371 pound bent-press.

Saxon is long gone, so too unfortunately, is the bent press -- however, his two great training books still live on: The Development of Physical Power (1906) and The Textbook of Weight-Lifting (1910)

Here's a few things that Arthur Saxon would like you to know about training:

"Genuine strength should include not only momentary strength, as proved by the ability to lift a heavy weight once, but also the far more valuable kind of strength for endurance..."

"Neither do I consider a man a really strong man if he is in certain parts developed out of proportion to others. If a man has tremendous arms and chest and weak legs then he is only half a strong man..."

"A man with 15 inch biceps and a strong wrist will raise a heavier weight in any position than another man with a 16 inch biceps who has a small and weak wrist."

"Do not make the mistake of limiting your practices to any one set of lifts... Practice everything."

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Rope Climbing For Strength and Development

Rope climbing has always been one of the "unsung" exercises of strength development. In terms of building incredible grip and upper-back strength, few exercises can compare to rope climbing. As documented by David Willoughby, William "The Scottish Herculese" Bankier, for example, used a 10 minute rope-climbing workout to develop his incredible bicep strength.

Rope Climbing

And keep in mind that the training of many of the old-time physical culturists originally stemmed from gymnastics in which rope climbing has always been very popular.

Here's a look at the only book that I know of written specifically on rope climbing techniques. The Rope Ladder, Knotted Rope, Inclined Rope, Vertical Rope, Double Ropes, Traveling Ropes and Rope Swinging are discussed.

Just as today, a quality 3-strand manila climbing rope was preffered. In competitive rope climbing, the goal was to make it up a 20 foot rope as quickly as possible. The "finish line" was a round, black, wooden disc known as a tambourine. The record for climbing a 20 foot rope is an incredible 2.8 seconds!

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Louis Cyr's Barrel Lifting Feat

Louis Cyr's Barrel Lift

As reported in David Willougthby's Super Athletes book, Louis Cyr could lift a heavy barrel to his shoulder with only one hand by grabbing the chines, tilting it on to his leg and maneuvering it up his body. Needless to say, lifting a barrel like this takes quite a bit of brute strength. Cyr's best barrel lift was a barrel filled with a combination of sand and water and weighed in at just under 450 pounds!

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Barrel Lifting Strength Feats

Barrel Lifting for Unusual Strength
It has been well written that many so-called "feats of strength" had their roots in manual labor. Back in the beer halls of Bavaria and old, Old, OLD Vienna I'm sure a couple of robust beirmeisters once sat around shooting the breeze when one bet another that he could lift the biggest barrel -- and it's all been down hill from there.

Many of the old timers were well-known for their barrel or keg lifting feats, including Louis Cyr (who was said to have been able to lift a 400 lb. barrel to his shoulders) and George Jowett who included a Barrel Lifting Course in his Molding a Mighty Grip training guide.

I would imagine the "Cincinnati Strongman" Henry Holtgrewe lifted a few barrels and kegs in his time. He owned a tavern down in the neighborhood of Northside in Cincinnati just after the turn of the century.

Several modern day strongmen have included barrel lifting in their training. Probably the two most well known are Steve Justa and Brooks Kubik who wrote extensively about barrel lifting in Dinosaur Training. Keep in mind that lifting a 200 pound FULL barrel is actually easier than lifting a 150 pound HALF-filled barrel.

Brooks Kubik

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The Strength of Paul Anderson

The Many Strength Feats of Paul Anderson
Back in the mid-1940's, Paul Anderson started lifting weights to get bigger for football and just kept growing. He eventually became one of the strongest men of all time while establishing many strength records and winning the Gold Medal at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia.

Paul Anderson was also a Senior World Champion and a 2-time Senior National Champion in Weightlifting. He set nine World Records and Eighteen American records during his career and retired undefeated.

He was also incredibly strong in what would eventually become the three Power Lifts: the squat, bench press and deadlift.

Here's a look at some of Paul Anderson's record lifts:

Squat: 1185 lbs. Bench Press: 625 lbs. Deadlift Record without Straps: 780 lbs. Deadlift Record with "Hooks": 820 lbs. Clean & Press: 485 lbs. Clean & Jerk: 485 lbs. Snatch: 375 lbs. Push Press: 545 lbs. Back Lift: 6270 lbs. Dumbbell Side Press: 240 lbs. x 40 / 300 lbs. x 11

Paul Anderson Deadlifting

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Clevio Massimo & Classic Kettlebell

Clevio Massimo with a Classic Kettlebell
Doing snatches and clean & jerks with a kettlebell is actually a pretty common thing these days although you rarely saw many oldtime strongmen doing them... they mainly used kettlebells for overhead pressing.

Here Clevio Massimo strikes a classic pose with a classic kettlebell.

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Alexander Zass: The Amazing Samson

Alexander Zass: The Amazing Samson
As far as Oldtime Strongmen go, few were more impressive than Alexander Zass.

Bending or breaking nails, twisting horse shoes, driving nails, supporting feats, scrolling steel, breaking chains, carrying horses, -- he did it all.

The Amazing Samson attributed much of his strength to isometric training.

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More on The Human Link Feat

Here's another look at some performances of the Human Link Feat:

An unknown strongman holds back four horses in the 1910's
A German Strongman holds back a pair of automobiles
Hermann Goerner restains the pull of a dozen men
Dennis Rogers established the all-time mark for the Human Link Feat when he held back two US Airforce T-34 Airplanes -- That's 285 horsepower on each arm!

(This incredible feat of strength earned Dennis Rogers "The Association of Oldetime Barbell and Strongmen Highest Achievement Award" in 1993.)

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The MILO Barbell Company Showroom

The MILO Barbell Showroom
Alan Calvert established the MILO Barbell company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the turn of the century. It was the very first source for barbells and heavy dumbbells in the United States.

Located at 1116 Olive Street, the MILO Barbell showroom must have been quite a sight to see with its grand selection of globed barbells, dumbbells and kettlebells.

Unfortunately the MILO Barbell Company is long gone but we do have a number of Alan Calvert's training materials left to instruct future generations:

The Milo Barbell Courses

The Truth About Weight Lifting

Super Strength

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David Webster - 1954 World's Strand-Pulling Champion

David Webster
Before he became one of the world's most well known strength historians and authors, David Webster was quite a "Strongman" himself. In fact, David won the Strand Pulling World's Title back in 1954. He wrote two books specifically on strand pulling (Modern Strand Pulling (1962) and Strength Lore and Strands (1978))

Here's a look on something he wrote in The Complete Physique Book (1963):

"Much has been said in favor of the chest expander for the man who trains at home in limited space, for the person who has to travel around the countryside and for the person who just wants to keep fit or develop big muscles and herculean strength.

Most certainly strand pulling is ideal for these people but it can be also
be adapted to suite all other physical culture purposes.

Great progress has been made since the first days of the "Chest Expander" - as it was known. Nowadays, the strands are used for everything from remedial work in hospitals to competitive sport and there is considerable evidence to consider evidence to indicate that strands are sold in greater quantities than weight-lifting equipment.

There are a number of reasons why strands are so popular:

1. They are inexpensive, and are now available in numerous strengths ranging from 5-50 pounds.

2. In use or in storage little space is necessary.

3. They have several resistance properties which are not present in other forms of resistance exercises. Some of these properties are a bit too involved for discussion, kinetic recoils and oscillation having a rather specialized application but one great asset will immediately appeal to the enthusiast who is well-versed in the subject.

4. The tension of the springs or bands increases as they are stretched thus "peak contraction" or heavy inner range muscle work is done in every exercise.

For those who are not particularly interested in championship honours it should be stressed that it is not my intention to claim that you should devote all your time to strand-pulling. I believe by strand-pulling, the average person can cram lots of exercises into a short workout and those who practice weightlifting, hand balancing and so on would profit greatly by adding a few strand pulling exercises for variety and all around work."

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Oldtime Strongman Feats: The Human Link

One of the great traditional "feats" of Old Time Strength is the Human Link.

There's no telling who came up with it first but what we do know is that Strongmen have been perfomring this feat for well over a century -- and because it is very dangerous, always goes over great with the crowd.

Many of the great ones such as Louis Cyr, Warren Lincoln Travis, George Levasseur, Apollon and many others included the "Human Link" feat in their shows.

Here's a look at a few famous performances:

The Great Canadian Strongman Louis Cyr
holds back two draft horses circa 1896


George Levasseur upped that ante with four hourses
as he performed this feat in the Circus


Dennis Rogers, The Pound-For-Pound World's Strongest Man for the feats he performs takes the "Human Link" feat to a whole new level as seen in his great video 336 Pounds of Fury -- That's a Harley Davidson Motorcycle at full blast on both sides!

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Fred Rollon: Oldtime Strand Pulling Champion

Fred Rollon
Many old timers built powerful bodies with Chest Expanders, and of them, Fred Rollon was the greatest.

While many strongmen frowned upon Chest Expanders as a means of testing strength, prefering weights instead, Rollon was never beaten at cable pulling.

For sheer muscular separation in the upper body, no one has yet surpassed Rollon. A look at this photo has started many bodybuilders and young trainees into more vigorous training with Chest Expanders and other strength cables.

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George Barker Windship's Adjustable Dumbbell

George Barker Windship's Adjustable Dumbbell
George Barker Windship was one of the very first proponents of "Physical Culture" and unlike many of his contemporaries, promoted hard work and heavy lifting for super strength.

Pictured above is the dumbbell he patented on February 2nd, 1865 which could be loaded from eight to 101 pounds in 1/2 pound incriments.

"The body should be made as strong as possible, with no weak points. It should be balanced and symmetrical with the muscles full and round and strong, like those of the "Farnesian" Hercules. Heavy weights and short workouts are the secret to health and longevity.

Training should be systematic, with the intensity of the exercise gradually increasing over time. Workout sessions should never last more than an hour and that proper rest must be obtained before the next day's training."
- George Barker Windship, February, 1861

(Couldn't have said it better myself. -- JW)

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Oldtime Strongman Joseph Steinbach

Joseph Steinbach Austrian Strongman
Joseph Steinbach of Vienna, Austria, officially performed a Two Hands Continental Jerk of 387 pounds, a Two Hands Snatch of 264 3/4 pounds and a Two Hands Continental Press of 335 pounds (besting Louis Cyr's mark by 34 pounds.)

At the same time, he held the world's records on lifts performed with two dumb bells and narrowly missed winning a gold medal at the 1904 Olympics.

You can read more about him in Physical Training Simplified by Mark H. Berry or The Truth About Weight Lifting By Alan Calvert

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The Blockweight Challenge

Here's a look at one of the unique exercises that can be done with the Block Weights that I mentioned in an earler Blog Post. Two blockweights are placed together handle-to-handle and then lifted, making a challenge for grip strength as well as full body strength to keep the two halves from splitting while in motion. This setup is a challenge to simply deadlift but to be a real "Strong Man" you need to be able to get the weights above your head. This lifter is shown bent-pressing a pair of blockweights.

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The Blue Monster

The Blue Monster: Culver City, California 1970
The Nautilus phenomenon essentially began in Culver City, California at the 1970 Mr. America Contest where Arthur Jones unveiled "The Blue Monster" -- the prototype of what would eventually become his Nautilus exercise machines.

It was a series of torso machines focusing on training the "pulling" muscles without the disadvantage of having to depend on grip strength to hold the bar, thus being able to develop that musculature far beyond what was capable with that limitation.

This simple observation led to advancements in physical training that had never before even been dreamt of...

To find out more about Arthur Jones and his system of training you will want to pick up a copy of Ellington Darden's New Book The New Bodybuilding for Old-School Results

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Kettlebell Contest Medal

Speaking of kettlebells, I'm not sure if this is a medal for a kettlebell contest or something having to do with the 1980 Moscow Olympics (As indicated by the familiar Olympic Rings in the upper right) -- either way, this is a pretty cool medal showing a kettlebell lifter.

Kettlebells have always been very popular in Russia and other easter bloc countries.

In competetive contests the lifts are the 'Two Kettlebell Jerk' and 'One Kettlebell Snatch'; performed in that order for ten minutes each. The competitor with the highest overall score wins.

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Steve Reeves

Steve Reeves
The Man:

Steve Reeves is known as THE classic physique of all time. His Herculean good looks led to a number of movie roles and dozens of magazine covers. Steve Reeves won the following bodybuilding titles over his career:

1946 - Mr. Pacific Coast
1947 - Mr. Western America
1947 - Mr. America
1948 - Mr. World
1950 - Mr. Universe

The Exercise:

A full lateral raise with a pair of MILO kettlebells... a highly underrated movement for shoulder development made that much more enjoyable with classic iron. The rotating handles of the MILO kettlebells allow for certain exercises that are difficult to do with cast-iron kettlebells. (As a side note, Steve Reeves was well known for his broad shoulders which were measured by Armand Tanny at an unbelievable 23-1/2 inches.)

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Clevio Massimo

Clevio Massimo
CLEVIO MASSIMO SABATINO, professionally known as Clevio Massimo , was born in Opi Labruza, Italy in 1895. When only a small boy he immigrated into this country and made Buffalo, New York his home.

During his early school days his love for athletics found him participating in all sports, and by other systematic forms of bodybuilding built for him a musculature which even today is envied by many bodybuilders.

Shortly after finishing high school, Clevio Massimo toured the country performing strongman feats, hand balancing, adagio dancing and muscle control. For a time he even ventured into professional wrestling.

You can find out more about Clevio Massimo in The Mark Berry Bar Bell Courses.

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The Magic Circle for Magic Results

The Magic Circle - FOR MAGIC RESULTS - The most satisfactory device yet found for doing quarter, half and full squats -- for doing Hise Shoulder Shrugs and other heavy poundage exercises where weight is held on shoulders. It has made squatting a pleasure by removing the agonizing and sometimes paralyzing pain and discomfort of a heavy bar across the shoulders cutting into the flesh and putting pressure o the spine. The "Magic Circle" gives a freedom for deep breathing in the popular and result-producing "Breathing Squats" for the exerciser can stand erect and breathe normally with a high lift of the chest at every breath, and is not compelled to hump over forward and breathes it the abdominal area as with a bar. In use, the "Magic Circle" is loaded up on the side pegs (unless you go over 700 lbs., in which case you have front and back pegs to load on), step in the circle (which is supported on side horses or boxes), lift shoulder straps onto shoulders, center straps, stand erect and walk away from stand and begin squats in normal manner. When finished, walk back to stands and lower ring to supporting rack. While squatting it helps to grasp ring in front and pull slightly toward you. If you get stuck at bottom you place hands on legs and push upward to recover. No more getting stuck at bottom, will hold 1200 lbs. or more.

If you read Iron Man Magazine in the 70's you remember Peary Rader demonstrating the Magic Circle. I actually grew up with one in our basement gym -- that's right a fully functioning Magic Circle, one of the last ones left. I don't like using it for squats -- it changes the center of gravity in the bottom position too much for my taste. Though not necessarily the same concept, (but very much along the same lines), a Gerard Trap Bar will give you a much better leg workout.

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Charles Phelan - The Brooklyn Strongboy

Charles Phelan - The Brooklyn Strongboy
Charles Phelan was the American Professional Lightweight Champion and also performed a strongman act for many years at Coney Island. Notice the unusually large kettlebell and the thick handle on the Globe Dumbbell. I believe Charles Phelan was a friend of Vic Boff.

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Joe Nordquest Presses a Milo Dumbbell

Joe Nordquest Presses a Milo Dumbbell
Oldtime Strongman Joe Nordquest presses one of Alan Calvert's Milo Dumbbells circa 1915. Joe could also perform 28 handstand pushups in a row and bent-press 277 pounds with his left arm.

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Muscle Builder- September, 1925

If you were interested in strength training in the early part of the 20th century, Bernarr Macfadden's Muscle Builder would have been one of the few magazines where you would find training info.

Here's a look at the September 1925 issue which featured Harry Glick on the cover.

Articles include:

"The Real Life KING of the Ring" written about John L. Sullivan "Every Boy a Fighter" by Bernarr Macfadden "Getting your Second Wind" (How your Heart and Lungs Should Work Rhythmically, Becomming Gradually Adjusted to Increased Physical Exercise) by Edmund C. Gray M.D. "A Licking Made Me a Strongman" by Joe Bonomo "Learning to Be Handy With Your Mitts" (How to Beat The Other Fellow to The Punch) by Sid Terris -- All in all, a very nice collection of strength and physical culture training info from way back.

Muscle Builder - September, 1925

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