Thursday, February 26, 2009
Sig Klein: Train Your Grip!"Bodybuilders do not have the grip they should have. I know. For many years I have found that few of them possess the grip that their large biceps would indicate..."That was written by Sig Klein about sixty years ago, and it's still true today. Although bodybuilder or not, everyone should train their grip. Sig's equipment of choice is a simple pinch block, attached by a chain to one of his "Klein Bells. Sig really liked the pinch grip exercise since it was such a favorite of many Oldtime Strongmen.
In fact, at his gym, Sig had a 20 Kilo French blockweight which he placed a $10 bill under, and which had an open challenge that anyone who could pinch-lift the blockweight could keep the bill. The prize was safe for many years until a football player named Harry Kloppenburg finally lifted it!
Labels: Blockweights, Challenge Feats, Grip Strength, Hand Strength, Pinch Grip, Pinch Lift, Sig Klein, Sig Kleins Gym
www.oldtimestrongman.com
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Friday, April 25, 2008
| Charles Batta, or, as he was more commonly known "Batta" was an oldtime strongman famous for his incredible grip strength. Standing at 5'10" and a bodyweight of only 200 popunds, Batta was the only man who duplicated one of the Apollon's greatest feats: the lifting of four 44-pound blockweights overhead -- each tied to a finger of one hand. It was also written that Batta cleaned (but did not jerk) Apollon's famous railroad wheels - an incredible feat in its own right, but even more so due to his light bodyweight. |  Batta |
Labels: Apollon, Apollon's Wheels, Batta, Blockweights, Grip Feat, Grip Strength, Oldtime Strongman, Oldtime Strongman Feat
www.oldtimestrongman.com
All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
Friday, January 18, 2008
| The "Muscle Out" is an oldtime lift where a weight is held at arms length to the front or side of the body. Generally a block weight or ring weight was used. This lift is quite a test of shoulder strength. If you can accomplish this feat with a 56-pound weight, like the French gentleman on the right, you are indeed strong. |  The Muscle Out |
Labels: Blockweights, Exercise, French Strongman, Muscle Out, Oldtime Strongman Feat, Ring Weights, Shoulder Exercise
www.oldtimestrongman.com
All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
Sunday, January 06, 2008
The Look of PowerYou'll often hear talk of the "look" of power... Sandow unquestionably had it. He trained with light dumbbells, heavy dumbbells, block weights, chest expanders, muscle control, heavy supports, bodyweight calisthenics, gymnastics exercises and a whole lot more --- but however he trained, he did so progressively...
Labels: Blockweights, Chest Expanders, Dumbbell Training, Eugen Sandow, Progressive Resistance Training
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All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
Saturday, November 17, 2007
 Staff Sgt. Alfred Moss | Staff Sgt. Alfred Moss was an early bodybuilder, circa 1900, although his tattoos often disqualified him from several contests despite his obvious muscularity. Sergeant Moss was considered the Strongest man in the British Army, once jerking a 56-pound blockweight 100 times in 2 minutes 52 seconds. He went on to write several training courses covering the parallel bar, vaulting horse, indian clubs, rings, tumbling and other gymnastic subjects. |
Labels: Blockweights, Bodybuilding, Gymnastics, Staff Sgt Moss
www.oldtimestrongman.com
All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
Monday, October 29, 2007
Strongman EquipmentYou've got to hand it to the oldtime strongmen, they didn't mess around when it came to quality equipment. How strong do you think you could get if you were training with the globe barbells, globe dumbbells, blockweights etc, in the above picture?
If you want to get strong and I mean STRONG you have to have good training equipment and that's just how it is.
It all begins with a quality barbell, good plates and a solid pair of collars. If you have nothing else, you must have at least that much. From there, add other equipment as needed.
Other equipment that will help you tremendously includes a solid bench, dumbbells, a power rack, a Gerard Trap Bar, chest expanders, Thick Bars, Hand Grippers and anything else that you will find on our Strongman Equipment Page.
Labels: Barbells, Blockweights, Chest Expanders, Dumbbells, Globe Barbell, Globe Dumbbells, Strongman Equipment
www.oldtimestrongman.com
All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
Monday, October 01, 2007
 The Kettlebell Handle | Kettlebells have taken many forms throughout the years. From the classic Globed MILO Kettlebells... to the Blockweights that were so common in many Oldtime Strongman acts of decades past... and to the many other unique forms which will be featured at a later date. One type of kettlebell that you don't often see mentioned much is the plate-loaded kettlebell handle, which has a very long history by itself. Of course, this type of kettlebell was used a bit differently in terms of training than what is often recommended these days. |
Labels: Blockweights, Equipment, kettlebell handles, Kettlebells, Milo Barbell Company, Milo Kettlebell
www.oldtimestrongman.com
All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Sig Klein's Classic Old-Time GymHere's another look at one of the classc gyms we have featured before: Sig Klein's place in New York City. This was the original location -- he moved into a facility overlooking Times Square later on.
Notice the mirror on the right revealing a set of globe barbells on the far wall, block and ring weights in the foreground and you can just make out a Roman Column on the extreme left.
There's nothing like Classic Equipment to make your training special. You can tell a lot of great workouts happened down at Sig's Place.
Sig Klein inherited much of the equipment after he married Professor Attila's youngest daughter in 1927. Professor Attila, of course, was the man who taught Eugen Sandow how to train.
Labels: Blockweights, Classic Strongman Gyms, Eugen Sandow, Globe Barbell, Oldtime Strongman, Professor Attila, Sig Klein, Strongman Equipment
www.oldtimestrongman.com
All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
| 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. |  |
Labels: Blockweights, Kettlebell, Strongman Equipment, Strongman Feat
www.oldtimestrongman.com
All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
Sunday, July 29, 2007
| Someday I may get around to putting together the Secret history of Kettlebells -- there's more to it than what most people would have you believe. Here's something that will make a good chapter: blockweights. These were an offshoot of the kettlebell "handled-weight" concept and used for many of the same exercises, at least in Strongman Lore (which is an important distinction.) The real function for blockweights is to provide ballast (i.e. just "weight") to hold down the scenery/props etc backstage in the theater. My theory is that many oldtime strongmen noticed these unusual weights during their performances in various places and thought they would make an interesting implement to train/lift with. The top ad is for a blockweight sold by the Milo Barbell Company circa 1926. The bottom two are vintage blockweights, weighing 50 and 30 pounds respectively. |    |
Labels: Antique Equipment, Blockweights, Classic Equipment, Kettlebells, Milo Barbell Company, Strongman Equipment
www.oldtimestrongman.com
All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
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