Oldtime Strength Blog - www.oldtimestrongman.com

Isokinetics!

Posted on Wednesday, January 18th, 2023 by John Wood

Isokinetics is a fancy word describing a form of muscular contraction where movement is at a constant constant speed, no matter how much force is applied. Coaches always loved isokinetic machines because they were cheap and manufacturers loved isokinetic machines because they didn’t require a weight stack making them both cheaper to produce and cheaper to ship. Do isokinetics really work for building muscle? Who cares? –the machines are cheap and they give athletes something to do during gym class. This advertisement is by the Mini Gym Co. from 1974.

Dr. Ken Leistner: Lugging and Loading

Posted on Wednesday, January 18th, 2023 by John Wood

A tip of the hat to our good friend Dr. Ken Leistner on what would have been his 75th birthday if he were still with us. Here’s Doc during a typical “lugging and loading” workout up and down the driveway at 54 Flatcher Avenue — probably scaring the neighbors, as usual.

Get Tiger Power!

Posted on Wednesday, January 18th, 2023 by John Wood

Another great exerciser gizmo ad from out of the back of a comic book, circa, 1943. I mean who wouldn’t want to save up their paper route money to get some Tiger Power?

The Mighty Young Apollo

Posted on Wednesday, January 18th, 2023 by John Wood

Paul Anderson, The Mighty Young Apollo, can tow five cars with his teeth like it’s no big deal.

The Fred Medart MFG Co.

Posted on Wednesday, January 18th, 2023 by John Wood

Starting in 1875 and throughout the first half of the 20th century, The Fred Medart MFG Co. in St. Louis, Missouri was the place to get lockers, benches, basketball hoops, balance beams, wall pulleys,boxing rings, ladders, climbing ropes and anything else one would need to set up and run a gymnasium.

Their logo featured a kettlebell lifter (although they didn’t sell kettlebells.) You can get a Fred Medart T-shirt here.

Chuck Ahrens and Bert Elliott

Posted on Wednesday, January 18th, 2023 by John Wood

A couple west coast weightlifting legends: Chuck Ahrens(left) and Bert Elliott(right) Ahrens was a man of mysterious strength who could easily press a pair of 165. lb. dumbbells. Elliott was a champion weightlifter who specialized on the bent press. At their feet is Elliott’s 201 lb. challenge dumbbell. Ahrens was said to be able to toss around this dumbbell “like a toy.”

Peter Cortese: Anvil Lifting

Posted on Friday, January 13th, 2023 by John Wood

Peter Cortes, of Boston, Massachusetts was stricken with double pneumonia as a child and it necessitated the removal of one of his lungs. He was not expected to live very long there-after but he not only beat the odds but also became a champion weight lifter. His specialty was heavy one-arm deadlifts, one of which can be seen in this post Above he lifts a 120 lb. anvil with one finger.

The Ed Block Hand Exerciser

Posted on Wednesday, December 14th, 2022 by John Wood

Ed Block was a long-time trainer for the (then) Baltimore Colts football team. In his years of service, he noticed that many of his football players experienced injuries to the fingers, hands, and wrists which prevented them from playing their best. Furthermore, he believed that specifically strengthening the fingers and hands could potentially reduce the likelihood and severity of injury to these areas and thus give his team a tactical advantage on the field. He came out with “Ed Block Hand Exerciser” which was a tin filled with putty which could be squeezed to build grip strength (and which was likely the very first commercially available hand exerciser for athletes). It worked! The Colts were one of the best teams in football for a number of years, winning Championships in 1958-59, 1968, and 1970.

in his autobiography, Raymond Berry, the Hall-of-Fame receiver who led the NFL multiple times in yards, receptions, and touchdowns pointedly mentioned The Ed Block Hand Exerciser as a tremendous factor in his ability to catch the football. Berry writes that he used the Ed Block Hand Exerciser to strengthen each individual finger!

Training your grip is one of the best things you can do as a football player.

Away from football, Ed Block also let his services to a hospital for crippled children in Baltimore.

Today, “the Ed Block Courage award” is given annually to a player from each team in the National Football League (NFL) who are voted for by their teammates as role models of inspiration and sportsmanship.

Williams Moor-Znamensky

Posted on Saturday, December 10th, 2022 by John Wood

Williams Moor-Znamensky, also knows as Alexander Vladimirovich Znamensky, was another great (but somewhat little known) circus strongman, wrestler, and weightlifter from early 20th century Russia. Moor-Znamensky is thought to be one of the first strongmen to put over 400 lbs. overhead, a feat which he accomplished in 1895.

Madame Yucca

Posted on Monday, December 5th, 2022 by John Wood

Mary Anna Carson was known as Madame Yucca in various circuses in the late 1800’s. One of relative few performing strong women, Yucca was also billed as “The Female Sandow,” “The Female Samson,” or “The Female Hercules” — take your pick. Yucca was, however, the real deal in the strength department, she could lift a 1200 lb. horse with the aid of a harness and a 170 lb. man sitting in a chair — or a 300 lb. anvil — with her teeth. Above, a rare shot of Yucca hoisting a globe barbell. She was also quite fond of lifting kettlebells.

We did a very cool Madame Yucca Mug which you can get here, plus here’s a video feature: