Anthropometry Archives - www.oldtimestrongman.com

Chest Dynamometer

Posted on Friday, August 17th, 2018 by John Wood

Back in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, physical educators such as Dudley Allen Sargent at Harvard University, were big on anthropometry which literally, translates to the science of human measurement. Dynamometers were very popular since they were portable as well as practical. This is an old woodcut of a chest dynamometer which measured upper body strength.

The Collins Dynamometer

Posted on Friday, October 7th, 2016 by John Wood

Many of the oldtime strongmen and physical culture pioneers were big on measurement (or Anthropometry, as it was known) for the sake of better understanding their training techniques as well as measuring their improvement over time. The Collins Dynamometer shown here was used for measuring grip strength.

Grip Dynamometer

Posted on Monday, August 6th, 2012 by John Wood

The early physical training pioneers were very interested the study of Anthropometry, or the measurement of various aspects of the human body. The device above, a grip dynamometer, which was designed and used by Dudley Allen Sargent at the Hemenway Gymnasium, was used to measure the strength of the hand and forearm musculature. Squeezing the two handles together compressed the springs which caused a small dial to turn and register the applied amount of force thus giving the amount of grip strength (or lack thereof) possessed by the user.