Swingbell Exercises

Swingbell Exercises with Jules Bacon, Mr. America 1943
I've mentioned the Swingbell before, now here it is in action.

As you can see you can do several exercises with a swingbell that would be difficult with normal barbells or dumbbells dumbbells. Swingbell Exercises are particularly good for strengthening the abdominal muscles.

That's 1943 Mr. America winner Jules Bacon demonstrating.

---

The Swingbell

The Swingbell
A piece that you used to see all the time in the old magazines that has all but disappeared these days is the Swingbell -- essentially a combination of traditional free weights and medicine ball training exercises.

As you can see, a swingbell consists of a dumbbell bar loaded in the middle rather than the ends. It is grasped at either end and used for a variety of rotational and "circular" movements.

---

The York Big 12 Special

The York Big 12 Special
This is the weight set that helped put a lot of muscle on a lot of people - The York Big 12 Special as advertised on the back of the June, 1952 issue of Strength and Health Magazine.

That's Jack Delinger (Mr. America, 1949) on the left, and John Farbotnik (Mr. America, 1950) on the right.

This set included 240 pounds of barbell plates, long barbell bar, short dumbbell/swingbell bar, health boots, a head strap for building neck strength, wrist roller, kettlebell handles, collars and four York training courses (York Dumbbell course 1 & 2, Leg Development and Swing Bar Training.)

---