Teeth Lifting

Teeth Lifting Bit

Teeth Lifting was a favorite feat of many oldtime strongmen, and this particular mouthpiece was sold by the York Barbell Company in the pages of Strength and Health Magazine Several hundred pounds can be lifted in this manner and this type of lifting will build incredible neck and jaw strength, however, we do NOT recommend this style of lifting (If you decide to do it anyway, please have a dentist onhand.)

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Hoffman's Super Hi-Proteen

Hoffman's Super Hi-Proteen

I'm sure many of our viewers won't forget their first taste of Bob Hoffman's Super Hi-Proteen mix which was one of the very first commercially available food supplements. Hoffman's Super Hi-Proteen was available in standard plain, chocolate and vanilla flavors and black walnut and coconut flavors for more adventurous trainee. It was a little rough around the edges, not unlike today. Hoffman's Hi-Proteen is also responsible for many of the greatest "blender bomb" stories ever told (in the pursuit of making it palatable - which, I'm sure, was quite a task.)

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The York Barbell Broad Street Gym

The York Barbell Broad Street Gym
One of the great training halls was the old York Barbell gym, located on Broad Street on York PA. It was an old factory converted to a gym, with nothing but a couple lifting platforms, a climbing rope, a few old dumbbells and plenty of iron.

It was hot, dark and cramped (just like a great gym should be)and the equipment was old, but solid and it produced an untold number of strength Champions in bodybuilding and Olympic weightlifting.

That's Ike Berger on the platform working on his press while Bob Hoffman, Tommy Kono and others look on.

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The Hip Lift

The Hip Lift
The Hip Lift is an old time exercise for building leg power. -- It involves using a belt attached to a heavy weight that will just clear the floor when the legs are straightened.

Several thousand pounds are able to be lifted in this manner.

On the left, Charles MacMahon hip lifts a heavy barbell circa 1917 at the Milo Barbell Company.

On the right, John Grimek uses the very same setup to train for Warren Lincoln Travis' Challenge at the York Barbell Company in 1949.

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The York Abdominal Course

"The Most important muscles of the body and also the most neglected are the muscles of the mid-section." ... That's how the York Abdominal course begins, and I agree. Bob Hoffman and the York Barbell Company produced several training courses like this one and they are all classics. That's John Grimek on the cover, using the York abdominal board for situps.

The York Abdominal Course

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York, Pennsylvania: Muscletown USA

York, Pennsylvania: Muscletown USA
As you're heading down Highway I-83 in South Eastern Pennsylvania you can't miss this fellow -- he's 7-1/2 feet tall and revolves (or at least used to) for all to see, marking what was once the center of the strength universe: York Pennsylvania.

York, PA became home to so many champion bodybuilders, weight lifters, strength athletes and other assorted "barbell men" that it became known simply as MUSCLETOWN USA.

Hoffman, Grimek, Stanko, Terpak, Strength & Health Magazine, Protein From the Sea, Functional Isometrics, The York Picnic, The York "Gang," The Big 12 Special, Olympic Barbells, Dumbbells, Kettlebells, Iron Boots, Chest Expanders, Iron Shoes, and so much more... it all happened here.

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York Dumbbells

York Dumbbells
The York Barbell Company used several different designs for their dumbbells over the years. In the 1970's they came out with the distinctive "hocky puck" design shown above.

This particular design, with its slighly sloping sides, was adopted as a grip challenge with half of the heaviest available dumbbell (the 100 pounder)known as "The Blob."

This design was discontinued in the late 1990's.

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York Rubber Chest Expanders

York Rubber Chest Expanders
The York Barbell Company sold several different versions of Chest Expanders over the years and here's a look at one of them.

Pretty ingenius really - a set of detachable hands with progressively harder rubber straps. They came in four levels: "Medium," "Athlete," "Strong" and "Hercules" strength.

On the right that's Mr. America Winner and Champion Weightlifter Steve Stanko demonstrating the overhead pulldown chest expander exercise.

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John Terpak - Eleven Time Senior National Weightlifting Champion

John Terpak - Eleven Time Senior National Weightlifting Champion
John Terpak was a member of the "York Gang" and one of America's best Olympic-style weightlifters, winning eleven Senior National Weightlifting Titles (1936-1945 & 1947).

Over his career he lifted in three different weight classes (148, 165 and 181.) His best performance occurred winning the 1947 Worlds as a light-heavyweight:

Press - 253-1/2 pounds
Snatch - 264-1/2 pounds
Clean & Jerk - 336-1/4 pounds
Total = 854-1/2 pounds

He also one-hand snatched 154 pounds and one-hand jerked 170-1/2 pounds in some early weightlifting contests when those lifts were still contested.

Terpak was a three-time Olympic Team Member (1936, 1940, & 1948) and a part of nine total Olympic teams and sixty consecutive National Championships as a lifter, judge or coach. He eventually served as an executive for the York Barbell Company.

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Sandbag Training With The York Gang

The York Barbell Company sold more iron than anyone, so why is John Grimek pictured here throwing a canvas sandbag around? A couple of reasons:

Sandbag Training With The York Gang

One is that these pictures were taken during World War II when Iron and Steel were being used for the war effort, not barbells and dumbbells.

Secondly, Grimek loved all different kinds of training and a sandbag offered a new challenge, something altogether different than regular barbells and dumbbells would provide. Not to mention that the sandbag provides more of a grip challenge than a barbell ever could.

Front Raises, overhead Press, Row, Deadlifts and Curls -- A pretty nifty program for full-body strength.

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Horseshoes Bent by The Mighty Atom

Horseshoes Bent by The Mighty Atom
The Mighty Atom bent these horseshoes and iron bar at the 1962 York, Pennsylvania Interstate Fair. That year marked his 42nd consecutive appearance at that particular fair.

These bent horseshoes are currently on display at the York Barbell Company museum in York, Pennsylvania.

It takes quite a bit of grip and forearm strength to be able to accomplish that strength feat. To see footage of horseshoes being bent by modern Strongman Pat Povilaitis, you'll want to check out 336 Pounds of Fury.

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