Monday, November 30, 2009
John GrimekHere's the great John Grimek performing what is commonly known as "the overhead downward pull" with a chest expander. This is an excellent movement for broadening the back muscles, and one that you should be doing if you train at all with chest expanders.
Labels: Back Exercise, Chest Expander, Chest Expander Exercises, Chest Expanders, John Grimek, Overhead Downward Pull, Upper Body Exercise, York Chest Expanders
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Sunday, August 16, 2009
John GrimekLike many of the oldtimers, John Grimek recommended the One-Arm Dumbbell Press for building wider shoulders. Grimek suggested six to seven repetitions per arm for best results.
Labels: Dumbbell Press, John Grimek, One Arm Dumbbell Press, One Arm Press, Shoulder Exercise, Upper Body Exercise, Wider Shoulders
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Wednesday, August 05, 2009
What Do You Press?"What Do You Press?" means something much different today than it did several decades back. It's a shame, the overhead press is a much better exercise for building upper-body strength than the much more popular bench press.
Are there any bodybuilders today even half as strong as John Grimek? Here's Grimek performing a continental & press with 285 pounds.
Labels: Continental, John Grimek, Overhead Press, Upper Body Exercise
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Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Training at The York GymYears ago, lifters didn't argue about what was "functional" and what wasn't... they didn't worry about working their white fibers or red fibers... and they sure didn't jump over any little plastic hurdles...
What they DID do was to pick a few basic exercises and focus on just getting strong. Here's the great lifter Chuck Vinci training at the Old York Gym. Vinci is shown bench pressing over 300 lbs. while weighing only 125 lbs (at a height of 4' 11"). At the time this picture was taken, at the Pan American Games, Vinci had recently broken Vilkhovsky's world record snatch with a lift of 223 lbs.
The spotters are Yas Kazuhara and Dave Sheppard.
Labels: 300 Bench Press, Chuck Vinci, Dave Sheppard, olympic weightlifter, Upper Body Exercise, Yas Kuzuhara, York Gym
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Tuesday, July 21, 2009
The Hammer Strength Dip MachineDips are a damn good exercise... One of the best, in fact, for building upper body strength. A very useful alternative, and a great exercise in its own right is shown here: The Hammer Strength Dip Machine.
One of the disadvantages with regular dips is that you are limited to using at least your own bodyweight. This machine allows you to plate-load the resistance and go as light or as heavy as you need to. If you have one in your gym or otherwise have access to one, by all means use it. One set of 12 reps at the end of a good workout should do nicely.
Labels: Dips, Exercise Machine, Hammer Strength, Hammer Strength Dip Machine, Upper Body Exercise
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Monday, June 15, 2009
Shaolin Log LiftingThey may not lift barbells but they still lift "weights". This particular Shaolin Monk is shown building shoulder and upper-body strength with a wooden log. ~ Any kind of object can build strength, so long as it is trained with in a progressive manner.
Labels: Log Lifting, Martial Arts Training, Odd Object Lifting, Shaolin Log Lifting, Shaolin Monks, Upper Body Exercise, Wooden Log
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Tuesday, June 09, 2009
The Bench PressNon-Functional? Please... When performed correctly, the bench press certainly can be an excellent upper body strength builder. John Davis certainly wasn't any worse for the wear for bench pressing in his routine, and he was one of the finest Olympic weightlifters and all-around strength athletes in history.
The bar looks to be loaded to around 400 pounds and Davis seems to be handling it pretty easily. Note the fact that there are no uprights. This shot was taken at Yarick's Gym in Oakland, California.
Labels: Bench Press, Ed Yarick's Gym, John Davis, Oakland California, Upper Body Exercise
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Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Doug Hepurn - Press!I wonder how different things would be if the standing press were as popular as the bench press? I suspect there would be many more strong folks walking around. Here's the great Doug Hepburn pressing 425 pounds from a rack - that's more than most people can squat! One thing's for sure, increase your press and you'll get a whole lot stronger everywhere else too.
Labels: Barbell, Doug Hepburn, Overhead Press, Upper Body Exercise
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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, April 06, 2009
 The Incline Press | Ike Berger does include, occasionally, some presses on the incline bench to build pressing power. |
Labels: Arm Strength, Ike Berger, Incline Press, Pressing Exercise, Upper Body Exercise, Upper Body Movement
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Friday, March 27, 2009
Sandbag TrainingDuring the second World War, the military needed a way for large groups of people to build physical condition. Excess iron and steel was needed for the war effort so normal "weights" were out...
Instead, they instituted a system of physical training which utilized sandbags. Above shows a session of sandbag training at the U.S. Navy pre-flight School in Athlens, Georgia, circa 1942.
Labels: Odd Object Lifting, Overhead Press, Sandbag Overhead Press, Sandbag Strength Training, Sandbag Training, Upper Body Exercise
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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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Friday, January 25, 2008
Edward Aston, Britain's Strongest ManEdward Aston was The World's Middle-weight Weightlifting Champion, British Heavy-weight Champion Weightlifter, and Britain's Strongest Man from 1911-1934 (Retiring undefeated.)
Here Aston demostrates his unique version of the "clean pull" - note the position of the elbow. -- This simple adjustment in technique will allow you to "pull" up to 15% more weight!
Labels: Art of Expander Pulling, Britains Strongest Man, British Champion, British Strongman, Clean Pull, Edward Aston, Globe Barbell, Oldtime Strongman Feat, Upper Body Exercise
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