Sandow’s Grip Dumb-Bells Archives - www.oldtimestrongman.com

Sandow Spring-Grip Dumbbells In The Original Box

Posted on Tuesday, September 25th, 2018 by John Wood

A look at a pair of Sandow’s Spring-Grip Dumbbells in their original box. This pair is the very nifty deluxe nickel-plated “Girls” version as indicated by the three springs. If you’re lucky when you buy a set of these dumbbells, you’ll get the rare training poster along with them.

1901 Sandow Grip Dumbbell Poster

Posted on Monday, August 24th, 2015 by John Wood

Sandow’s Grip Dumbbells were one of the earliest pieces of commercial training equipment, and the most popular as well. Here we have a nifty advertising poster for them from 1901 that not many folks have seen before.

Sandow’s Grip Dumb-Bells

Posted on Thursday, December 4th, 2014 by John Wood

Back in 1899, the hottest thing going was Eugen Sandow’s Grip Dumb-Bells which consisted of two dumbbell “halves” joined together by a series of springs.

While they were not the first piece of mail order strength equipment, Sandow’s Grip Dumb-Bells were very close — and they were certainly one of the most well-known.

As one followed the suggested workouts, they could build their forearm strength by keeping the two halves “crushed” together as they trained the rest of their body through various other movements.

Also, according to several of the advertisements, regular training with these dumbbells also improved not only strength but will power and concentration as well.

Sandow’s Grip Dumb-Bells came in a variety of styles and types — ranging from “Basic Black” to nickel-plated models with leather handles. There were also different resistance levels for “Gents” men, women, youths and children. This ad is from 1907.