Oldtime Strength Blog - www.oldtimestrongman.com

Vlasov’s Press

Posted on Tuesday, September 19th, 2017 by John Wood

You know you are really doing something when you can accomplish world class feats without even thinking twice. Here’s the great Russian lifter Yuri Vlasov pressing around 250 lbs. from behind the neck wearing street clothes. Vlasov set thirty four world records over his career, seven of those were in the press, his best mark being 199kg, achieved in 1967 in Moscow.

John Gibson Barbell Plates

Posted on Tuesday, September 19th, 2017 by John Wood

Ever hear of John Gibson Barbell plates? Not many people have. Johnnny Gibson was a barber from Tucson, Arizona who got shot through the lung fighting in the Battle of The Bulge in WWII. As he convalesced in England, he had the good fortune of making the acquaintance of the great William Pullum who introduced him to lifting. His interest and a life-long career in physical training grew from there.

Back in the states, Gibson placed very high in many local AAU lifting meets in the southwest and west coast. He was the 148-pound Arizona champion for eight years running and at the 1955 Southwest United States AAU Weightlifting championships, he set a record that he had been pursuing for over 15 years: a clean and jerk of 250 pounds — pretty good for a light weight. Gibson also did a little bodybuilding, winning Mr. Arizona in 1950 and Mr. Tucson in 1951. At any rate, eventually, he founded “Gibson Gym Equipment Co.” which manufactured and sold gymnastic supplies and sporting goods, among them weight sets, where this plate came from.

Alberto Pigaiani

Posted on Monday, September 18th, 2017 by John Wood

Alberto Pigaiani was an Italian heavyweight weightlifter who competed in the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne and 1960 Olympic games in Rome, finishing in third (452.5 kg total) and seventh place(450 kg total), respectively. Here he is on his way to a Bronze medal finish at the 1960 European Weightlifting Championships in Milan, Italy with a 374 lb. jerk .

Three Wrestlers

Posted on Tuesday, August 8th, 2017 by John Wood

A Trio of early wrestlers, from left to right: Paul Pons, Raoul “Le Boucher” (The Butcher) Musson and Ivan Shemyakin. This rare shot was most likely taken at “Le tournoi annue de lutta de la Ceinture d’or” held at the Folies-Bergere in 1904.

1938 World Weightlifting Championships – Heavyweight Winners

Posted on Wednesday, June 21st, 2017 by John Wood

A rare shot of the lineup of heavyweight winners at the 1938 World Weightlifting Championships held in Vienna (Which was then a part of Germany.) From left to right Josef Manger of Germany (410 kg. total), Steve Stanko of the United States (397.5 kg. total) and Arnold Luhaar of Estonia (390 kg. total).

Signor Cronos

Posted on Wednesday, June 21st, 2017 by John Wood

Here’s the Italian strongman Signor Cronos performing a harness lift of an automobile, circa 1925. Other than clearly not skipping leg day, unfortunately we don’t know anything else about him.

Universal Bodybuilding Course – POWER

Posted on Wednesday, June 7th, 2017 by John Wood

Another great vintage ad for the Universal Bodybuilding Course ~ The most fantastic muscle-building system known to man! The Universal Bodybuilding Course is available HERE on Kindle or also in The Iron League.

The Expander Overhead Downward Pull

Posted on Wednesday, June 7th, 2017 by John Wood

John Grimek demonstrates the overhead downward pull with a set of York chest expanders. This movement is STILL one of the very best back developers and can’t be done with a barbell or dumbbell. If you are lucky enough to have access to a good set of expanders, this move should be in your program. Grimek also may have done a few squats in his day, eh?…

Hercules Curls

Posted on Wednesday, June 7th, 2017 by John Wood

Steve Reeves getting in a little arm work during the filming of one of his Hercules movies. Italian beauty, Sylva Koscina, looks on in amusement. She was Reeeves’ co-star in both Hercules (1958) and Hercules Unchained (1960).

Elwood Holbrook

Posted on Tuesday, May 30th, 2017 by John Wood

A look at strength star Ellwood Holbrook right around the time when he placed second in the light-heavyweight class at the 1944 Sr. Nationals with a 720 lb. total. Just a few years before, Holbrook rightly took home the ‘Best Arms’ sub-category and placed fourth overall at the 1941 AAU Mr. America Contest. Holbrook weighed only 165 pounds or so and routinely bent-pressed well over his bodyweight — his best was around 270 lbs. while he never weighed over 170 lbs. Hollbrook didn’t do any special physique training other than his focus on the bent-press. After a long day of construction work he trained in his garage with nothing more than an Olympic set.