Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Medicine Ball Training at West PointMedicine Ball Training was a part of the physical conditioning curriculum at the U.S. Military Academy at the turn of the century. This training program was devised by Herman J. Koehler who we will cover at a later date.
Labels: Herman J. Koehler, Medicine Ball Training, Medicine Balls, Military Exercise, Military Training
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Friday, May 01, 2009
Tossin' The Medicine Ball AroundToday it's called "core training" but fifty years ago it was just called "Tossin' The Medicine Ball Around." As simple as it is, this is still a surprisingly good workout - just a few minutes will leave you sore in muscles you never knew you had....
Labels: Core Strength, Core Strength Training, Medicine Ball Training, Medicine Balls, Medicine Balls Throwing, Upper Body Exercise
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Monday, March 16, 2009
Jim Jeffries If there's one thing that most strength athletes need more of, it is conditioning work. This was well understood by the legendary boxing champion Jim Jeffries. Check out the training schedule that he undertook in 1899 in order to face Bob Fitzsimmons for the Heavyweight Championship of the world:
"For this fight Jeffries ran some 14 miles in the morning, alternating between a jog and a 100-yard sprint, without stopping to walk or rest and finishing the run within two hours. In the afternoon, he played three games of handball, punched the bag for 20 or 25 minutes straight, and skipped rope 1,500 to 2,500 times.Jeffries knocked out Fitzsimmons in the 11th round, and in the 8th round in their remach which occured three years later. Interestingly, Jeffries' wrestling coach during his training camps was none other than Farmer Burns - we'll have more on that subject later on.
He would then box from 12 to 16 rounds, and 'wrestle around' or toss an 18-pound medicine ball."
Labels: Bob Fitzsimmons, Boxing, Boxing Training, Boxing Workout, Conditioning, Heavy Weight, Jim Jeffries, Medicine Ball Training, Oldtime Boxers, Road Work
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Saturday, March 14, 2009
"The Tipton Slasher" Benny Yanger"The Tipton Slasher" Benny Yanger gets in a workout with the wall pulley at an oldtime Chicago gym circa 1906. Note the small dumbbell which has been added to the weight stack. Like most boxers of that era, Benny was also fond of throwing the medicine ball around to build upper body strength and stamina. Over his career, the New York lightweight was 51-9.
Labels: Benny Yanger, Boxing, Boxing Training, Classic Gym, Medicine Ball Training, Oldtime Boxers, Upper Body Exercise, Wall Pulleys
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Thursday, February 19, 2009
HooverballNicknamed the Medicine Ball Cabinet, President Hoover's advisors often came to the White House, upon the president's request, for breakfast and exercise. Here, Hoover and members of his Cabinet play "Hooverball" on the South Lawn of the White House. To play, the heavy medicine ball was thrown back and forth over the net and score was kept just like tennis.
Labels: Herbert Hoover, Hooverball, Medicine Ball Training, Medicine Balls, President
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Sunday, January 11, 2009
Jack JohnsonThe first African American heavyweight boxing Champ Jack Johnson certainly earned his title inside the ring and out. When he did finally get his shot he had lost only two of his previous 63 fights going back almost a decade prior. As far as preparation for the ring, Johnson's condition bears the unmistakable mark of physical training and the old photos from the training camps in his era certainly back it up.
He threw the medicine ball performed calisthenics, jumped rope, chopped wood and generally engaged in exactly the kind of physical training he would have needed to in order to compete for(and Win!) the Heavyweight championship of the world.
The tale of the tape from the Johnson/Jeffries fight indicates that Johnson had a 7-7/8 inch wrist, 15-1/4 inch flexed forearm and 17-inch flexed upper arm all at a 210-pound bodyweight.
You may not realize this but Jack Johnson also was a performing strongman after his boxing days were over and one of his favorite feats was the human chain.
Labels: Boxing, Human Link, Jack Johnson, Medicine Ball Training
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Friday, February 01, 2008
Jack Johnson, Throwin' The Medicine Ball AroundMedicine Ball exercises have been part of the training programs of oldtime boxers and wrestlers for well over a century because they provide a great workout and build strength in a way that no other piece of equipment can match.
Here's the famous Heavyweight boxing champ Jack Johnson throwin' a medicine ball around a Chicago courtyard circa 1910, in his training to defend the Heavyweight title against Jim Jeffries.
That's a powerful looking man -- Do you think he's getting a workout for the all-important waist muscles? You sure wouldn't want to be on the business end of one of his punches.
Labels: Boxing, Boxing Workout, Jack Johnson, Medicine Ball Training, Oldtime Boxers, Physical Culture Equipment
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Friday, October 12, 2007
Hooverball on the South Lawn, Circa 1933"Once the day's work starts there is little chance to walk, to ride or to take part in a game"
Thats the problem that Herbert Hoover was facing when he took the presidency back in '28. Sure running the country is hard work, but you still have to keep in shape.
Fortunately this problem was solved ingeniously by White House physician Admiral Joel T. Boone.
Boone created a game for the President and his staff which required very little equipment, and very little skill but which provided the perfect amount of daily physical activity.
The game was simple - it was a combination of volley ball and tennis, yet played with a medicine ball. Team members simply hurled the medicine ball back and forth over an eight foot high net. Points were scored when a ball hit the ground on the opposing teams side.
As Hoover wrote in his Memoirs:
"It required less skill than tennis, was faster and more vigorous, and therefore gave more exercise in a short time,"And Will Irvin, a friend of the president, remarked:
"It is more strenuous than either boxing, wrestling or football. It has the virtue of getting at nearly every muscle in the body."Early each morning from four to 18 VIPs would show up for the games on the south lawn of the White House and at seven o'clock sharp they choose partners and begin.
They played until seven-thirty when a factory down by the Potomac blew a loud whistle.
They played every morning of the week and paid little attention to the weather, whether it was cold, windy, rainy or snowing, they played almost always without fail, with the exception of an unusually drenching downpour where they retreated to the Whitehouse basement to their games.
Only once during his presidency did Hoover miss a game.
Labels: Hooverball, Medicine Ball Training
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Monday, October 01, 2007
 The Farmer Burns School of Wrestling and Physical Culture | It had to be quite an experience to train at the Farmer Burns School of Wrestling and Physical Culture. Farmer Burns believed that every athlete should train like a wrestler - and I agree. The bulk of the training was, I'm sure wrestling -- holds, take-downs, blocks, breaks and plenty of sparring. Of course, the "Old Farmer" knew that wrestling was only "part" of what made a good wrestler -- physical training was important too. |
The advertisement above is from 1920.
Labels: Calisthenics, Farmer Burns, Indian Clubs, Medicine Ball Training, Wrestling
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Wednesday, September 19, 2007
| Just before the turn of the century, Martin "Farmer" Burns was one of the fiercest wrestlers the world had ever seen. He wrestled over 6000 matches, lost only 7 and held the World's Championship on two seperate occasions. Once his competitive career came to an end, the "Old Farmer" as he was known, focused on managing and training other wrestlers and athletes. |  Farmer Burns |
His most famous pupil was Frank Gotch, who, thanks in large part to Farmer Burns' coaching, became arguably the greatest wrestler of all time.
The foundation of Burns' method was physical conditioning. After all, a wrestler can never be too strong or well conditioned -- and at his "School of Wrestling" in Omaha, Nebraska, he employed any method that would help his athletes become the best.
Here's a look at his thoughts on training with the medicine ball:
Of course, if Farmer Burns were still alive and running his school of wrestling today, this is the medicine ball he would be training with:The Medicine Ball
"Perhaps some of my students are not familiar with the Medicine Ball. It is a ball that has been used in training during recent yeats and from my observations in training camps, I have decided that it has an important part to play in the routine work of the athlete...
It is a large leather ball of considerable weight, yet soft enough to avoid hurting or damaging the contestants.
Two persons are required when exercising with the ball. It is merely thrown back and forth from one to another, but is thrown and caught in a great variety of positions.
It should be thrown and caught in a variety of positions. It should be thrown with both hands over the head, from the right side and from the left side. It can also be thrown with the right arm alone and the left arm alone, and from various positions when you are sitting or lying down.
The person catching the ball should catch it first with the right arm and then with the left and make special efforts to exercise as much as possible, while catching and returning the ball to his companion.
If you have never worked out with the medicine ball, you will think from this description that it is child's play, but let me assure you that if you devoted ten minutes to fast work with the medicine ball, you will change your mind and readily appreciate the fact that it is a great exercise for limbering up the muscles and working up a good sweat."
Everlast Classic Leather Medicine Balls
Labels: Farmer Burns, Frank Gotch, Medicine Ball Training, Physical Culture Equipment, Strongman Equipment, Wrestling
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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
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