Upper Body Exercise Archives - www.oldtimestrongman.com

“The Tipton Slasher” Benny Yanger

Posted on Thursday, December 6th, 2018 by John Wood

“The Tipton Slasher” Benny Yanger gets in a workout with the wall pulley at an oldtime Chicago gym circa 1906. Note the small dumbbell which has been added to the weight stack. Like most boxers of that era, Benny was also fond of throwing the medicine ball around to build upper body strength and stamina. Over his career, the New York lightweight was 51-9.

Shaolin Log Lifting

Posted on Thursday, November 29th, 2018 by John Wood

They may not lift barbells but they still lift “weights”. This particular Shaolin Monk is shown building shoulder and upper-body strength with a wooden log. ~ Any kind of object can build strength, so long as it is trained with in a progressive manner.

John Davis’ Bench Press

Posted on Sunday, April 22nd, 2018 by John Wood

Non-Functional? Please… When performed correctly, the bench press certainly can be an excellent upper body strength builder. John Davis certainly wasn’t any worse for the wear for bench pressing in his routine, and he was one of the finest Olympic weightlifters and all-around strength athletes in history.

The bar looks to be loaded to around 400 pounds and Davis seems to be handling it pretty easily. Note the fact that there are no uprights. This shot was taken at Yarick’s Gym in Oakland, California.

Doug Hepurn – Press!

Posted on Thursday, December 28th, 2017 by John Wood

I wonder how different things would be if the standing press were as popular as the bench press? I suspect there would be many more strong folks walking around. Here’s the great Doug Hepburn pressing 425 pounds from a rack – that’s more than most people can squat! One thing’s for sure, increase your press and you’ll get a whole lot stronger everywhere else too.

The Mark Berry Bar Bell Courses Poster Set

Posted on Friday, September 15th, 2017 by John Wood

“Something NEW for your Gym Wall!”

Give your weight room an OLD SCHOOL look with the Mark Berry Bar Bell Course training posters:

John Grimek ~ Chest Expander Training

Posted on Saturday, January 14th, 2012 by John Wood

John Grimek did every kind of barbell, dumbbell and kettlebell exercise known to man in his training. While his preference was always “weights,” he often augmented his workouts with chest expanders to fill in some of the gaps. It should also be noted that training with one of the chest expander handles “anchored,” like Mr. Grimek is demonstrating here, offers a tremendous number of possibilities which are not often covered in most chest expander training guides.