Results tagged “history of strength”

Logan Christopher.

Joining us is 'Physical Culture Renaissance Man' Logan Christopher, and Personal Trainer and Strength Athlete Josh Hewett. Fantastic.


NB : We love hearing from as many people as possible. Join Logan and Josh on the Hangout, or fire in your questions via the Q&A. Full details below.

And if you'd like to point your friends/colleagues to the discussion, just use the 'share' button at the top of that page. The more the merrier.

Details -

Who : 'Physical Culture Renaissance Man' Logan Christopher, Personal Trainer and Strength Athlete Josh Hewett, and You
Topic : Learning from Experts Outside of Your Discipline
When : Monday Nov 10, 8:00pm EDT (the Event page shows what time that is in your local timezone).
How : Watch the live stream, join the hangout (just add Top Form Fitness to one of your circles, and Josh'll send out the URL when the Hangout starts), or jump in the Q&A on the Event page itself. We'll also post the full video on the main site shortly after the Gymchat.

Thanks again to everyone who watched and sent in questions for the discussion Gymchat 237 - Old-Time Strongman Training [with 'Physical Culture Renaissance Man' Logan Christopher, joined by Personal Trainer (and Strength Athlete) Josh Hewett] - much appreciated. If you haven't seen it yet (or simply want to go over a particular point again), here's the entire video.

The Quest for Victory.

The incredible Kat 'The Mighty Kat' Ricker pointed me to a superb resource on the History of Strength, The University of Texas' 'The Quest for Victory' site. Love it.

Siegmund Klein demonstrating Exercise #4 in his Super Physique course.

See you there.

There's nothing quite like having a strong neck. And if you're a martial artist, rugby player or Formula One driver; you'll understand just why.

This week I'd like to return to this wonderful form of training (we first looked at it almost 3 years ago now, in Twitterchat 27) - what it involves, who it applies to, how to get started and a whole lot more. Helping us explore this fascinating topic is none other than combat athlete Andrew Nalepa. Fantastic.

And if you've just joined us on Google+, welcome. Join us on Mar 28, and add a comment/ask a question or three. Dive in.

Mountain Climber (see video below).

Unfortunately, bodyweight training hasn't received its due in the past. Many believed it boring -- lacking in choice and options. Others didn't feel it provided adequate challenge. Well, that's all changing. The secrets of ancient physical cultures are converging with the ingenuity of cutting-edge coaches to deliver captivating programs using only the trainee's body weight to garner impressive results. And with the economic uncertainty of our times, bodyweight and other low cost training options are growing in appeal.

Age-old Inspiration

If we look to the past for inspiration, we can tap into rich traditions such as the Iranian Pahlavani and the physical cultures of the Indian peninsula. Even yoga, before becoming diluted and filtered for the West, was rife with examples of strong and wiry practitioners using the resistance of gravity on their own bodies to build incredible physical prowess. And much closer to home, strongmen of the early 20th century were huge proponents of bodyweight training and published dedicated tracts on the subject such as The York Hand Balancing Course.

Today, the treasures of the past are being resuscitated and imbibed with new life by innovators such as Scott Sonnon, founder of the Circular Strength Training® system. Anyone who has ever tried his FlowFit® program or any of the exercises from his Body-Flow™ collection know that these are not milquetoast exercise options.

Examples of great bodyweight movements are all around us

More modern day options are available through the study of athletes such as gymnasts, acrobats and even break dancers. The extent to which these athletes can control and manipulate their own mass in space is an inspiring feat. But beyond their jaw dropping skill and strength, they are also a deep well of training ideas for anyone interested in using bodyweight exercises in their training.

Building off such solid examples, we can create programs for many different goals. In fact, the new Bodyweight Exercise Revolution introduces five turn-key programs for fat loss, strength, hypertrophy, longevity and general athleticism.

Bodyweight Circuit Training

In order to explore the power of bodyweight training, let's take a look at one of its most versatile uses, high intensity circuit training. By putting a bodyweight circuit together which taps into the range of high intensity exercise, we can use it for purposes such as fat loss or cardiovascular conditioning. This makes for an appealing alternative to conventional interval training, which can become tedious.

It can also be an excellent option for space and time efficient exercise when you are on the road or in the middle of a particularly busy period in your life. A small space in you hotel room, office or bedroom will suffice to receive the benefits of a hard-hitting conditioning session.

The ways you can set up your circuits are almost limitless. Here, we'll borrow a protocol I learned from Scott Sonnon during a TacFit session in Bellingham, Washington. You'll have three minutes per round. Each round starts at the top of the three minutes. So you'll have to get in all your repetitions and rest within that timeframe. The faster you go, the more rest you'll have.

I suggest you start with a thorough warm-up of joint mobility and movement prep. I use the Intu-Flow joint health and mobility program, along with a selection of movements from the Body-Flow library and some easy but sophisticated routines with my Mini Clubbells®. This gets the joints lubricated, the body temperature up, and the muscles all firing properly.

Chris Rider.

1. Firstly, a bit of background. What is your name (and nickname), and where did you grow up?
   
   

   My name is Chris Rider. I grew up in a small town located outside of York Pennsylvania, about 45 minutes from the famed York Barbell Company of Bob Hoffman.



2. How did you get started as a performing Strongman?

   In the fall of 2006 a friend of mine had seen a fellow on television tear a phone book in half. Knowing that I was a lifter and had a high level of general strength, he had asked me if I could do it. I told him I didn't know, I never tried it. With that I grabbed a phone book and tore it in two on the first attempt. Wondering if it was a fluke, I grabbed a second, this time much thicker book, and tore that one as well.

   I continued with tearing phone books, and began to wonder what else I was capable of. The next feat of strength I tried was to tear a full deck of playing cards in half. Again, I was successful on the first attempt. Then came the bending of a 60 penny nail, tearing a license plate, bending a horseshoe, breaking a baseball bat, etc., all successful on the first attempts.

   I began to seriously wonder what I had tapped into. My friends and family were wondering the same thing too. I began to research the great performing strongmen of the past and the feats they demonstrated. I had come across two relatively small fellows on the Internet who were doing things that were just incredible sounding. They are a pair of modern day performing strongmen, A Mentor and his Protege - Dennis Rogers and Pat Povilaitis. This was the stuff I was looking for, instruction offered by a Grand Master in his field. I began to train with the materials offered by Dennis and my list of accomplishments continued to grow.

   I attended the 2007 A.O.B.S. reunion in June of that year, after only seriously training as an oldetime strongman for 3 months. I had completed some very notable feats and thought it would be wise to go show the top guys that I wasn't just a keyboard warrior, that my claims were on the level. I did just that, after the festivities were over I ended up bending, breaking, ripping, and tearing all sorts of things in the hallway out side of the reception room until around 3 AM. It was my first real taste of performing in front of people I didn't know, and it was in front of many of the best in the business. I've been hooked on performing feats of strength since.



3. Which accomplishment (sporting or otherwise) are you most proud of?

   That is a hard one. I guess the one sporting accomplishment that really puts things in perspective is after being diagnosed with multiple severely herniated and degenerative disks in my spine, and being told I would not be able to lift weights again, I worked my way up to completing a set of four with 315 in the stiff leg, full range good morning exercise. This was done after refusing surgery and pursuing healing through natural means coupled with proper training.

   It just goes to show that things thought impossible can be achieved with the proper mind set and dedicated training.



4. What are your goals for the next year or so? The next 10 years?

   I just completed the certification process for the IronMind Red Nail. For a short term goal, I am now working towards becoming certified in closing the Captains of Crush # 3 gripper.

   My long term goal is to consistently become stronger than I am. I am also looking forward to a long career as a professional performing strongman.



5. What changes in the world of Old-Time Strongman have you seen over the
   past couple of years? What would you like to see?

   I am still relatively new, but I have seen more interest arising in the traditional feats. I would like to see interest continue to rise and catch on mainstream.

Siegmund Klein.

Sig Klein with one of Louis Cyr's challenge dumbbells.

Pierre 'French Hercules' Gasnier.

19thC French Strongman well known for chain breaking - Pierre Gasnier.

I love gyms like this. Zoorkhaneh.

Arthur Saxon demonstrating bent press. Photo via Tom Black.

Now of course there are always the exceptions to the rule such as wolves, hyenas, and other wild dogs which are often noted for their great endurance by trotting country sides for hours on end. As for humans, there are many anecdotal stories of African and Native American hunters running down their prey, but again this is not a routine matter as it is with traditional aerobic jogging or any other traditional aerobic fitness forum.

While humans cannot out sprint many animals we can do surprisingly well in endurance running contests. Another great exception to the endurance running rule is the Tarahumara people from the Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico. They originally began distance running in order to communicate from village to village, but then turned it into competition forming a "foot throwing" sport similar to soccer over long distances.

For every good study that comes out about jogging there will always be a negative one. I am not in full support of distance running in any sense, but only in the times where it may be necessary in life to survive. Looking at it from a hormonal perspective long distance jogging does indeed produce large amounts of cortisol in relation to growth hormone and testosterone. The best exercise to deliver the most "bang for your buck" is increased intense, but brief (15- 45 minutes total), amounts of sprinting variations which use the whole body as opposed to just the legs. Sprinting, Kettlebells, pushups, pull-ups, clean and presses, intense yoga, etc. are all much better then jogging. Essentially sticking to the basic human movements and then simply adding weight will provide the absolute best long-term results packed environment. Not only will you add muscle to your body, but you will get the look of a sprinter, professional dancer or a completive fighter as opposed to a jogger or marathon runner. Personally I like the look of the former a lot better. Not only that, but many studies have shown that high intensity workouts yield much bigger, stronger hearts, lungs and dramatically increase overall physical capacity than compared to that of long distance counterparts. This type of training will enable and empower you to survive critical situations where overall physical fitness is not just needed, but in many cases vital.

I enjoy reading about some of our modern day warriors and even some of centuries old that didn't really battle in wars per se, but instead in the competition arena such as Milo of Croton.

Blob.

Richard Sorin.

Recently, there has been some confusion about true Blobs, and it is my goal with this article to set the records straight so that the new athletes who are entering the ranks of the sport of Grip strength can be clear about what they are purchasing and training with. After all, it wasn't too long ago that a new grip trainee wrote in about purchasing what he thought was a legitimate blob only to find out he had been misled in the deal. Here we go.

The Original Blobs

The Original Blob.

True Original Blobs are very rare for many reasons. One thing that makes them rare is credited to their color. Because they are a dark brown to black color, they do not look like the flashy, silvery colored dumbbells that are so common in gyms and health clubs today. For that reason, they are often discarded and replaced by "nicer looking" dumbbells.

I recently heard a story from a friend in New York state. He said he was checking out gyms to see if they had any of these dumbbells and he was told that they had just swapped out their old dumbbells for new ones. Where'd the old ones end up? The dumpster. Now that's a crying shame.

The version of York dumbbell that Richard Sorin first trained on and named looks much like the Blobs that many Grip enthusiasts currently own, but are actually a bit different and more difficult to lift.

One of the first.

If you really take a hard look at the original style Blobs, both sides of them curve out almost equally. This curvature on both sides of the blob is what makes them so much more difficult to lift that the blobs that many of us have run across today. It is very difficult to get any kind of dig or bite with the thumb like can be done on the next generation of Blobs.

York Blob Replicas

York Blob Replica.

As noted, one edge of this generation of Blob is straighter than the original. Experienced lifters know that the most advantageous way to situate their hand when lifting the Blob is to put the thumb against the straighter side and the fingers along the side that is more curved. Since the thumb is the weakest part of the hand in this equation, it needs to get any advantage it can when you are lifting the Blob. This advantage is attained by digging it into the sharper edge of the blob.

Training now.

On the Gripboard, I maintain the Records Lists for many established feats of Grip Strength. There is a list dedicated to Blob lifts there, and because of the rarity of true blobs, these York Replicas are also honored for that list.

In Summer 2003, I picked up a 100-lb dumbbell from York, right at their facility. Shortly after this time I began hearing and reading that York would be stopping the production of this style of dumbbell, hence cutting production of new Blobs. Ever since then, half 50's from old York dumbbells have gotten more and more rare...

Hip Lift.

The Hip Lift - nice and heavy.

Maxick (Max Sick).

Gymnast, strongman and performer Max Sick (better known as 'Maxick'). For a rare video treat, check this out.

Sigmund Klein aged 57.

Sigmund Klein.

I'm travelling for a couple of weeks (back around March 15). In the meantime, here are a few hidden gems from the archives.

Enjoy.

The Hack Squat

This is the third in a series of Timeless Exercises; a collaboration with Run to Win's Blaine Moore. The Hack Squat.

The Hack Squat is an exercise that seems to be commonly associated with a machine; however the barbell version is indeed a thing of beauty. If they aren't forming part of your current routine, perhaps it's time to give them a shot.

Origins

The exercise is usually thought to be named for its creator - or at least the first to openly harness its powers - wrestler George 'The Russian Lion' Hackenschmidt; or 'Hack'. As a wrestler he was seemingly unstoppable; competing in over 3,000 fights from 1889 - 1908 and winning all of them [1]. Yes, he was that good.

George Karl Julius Hackenschmidt (he was of Swedish descent, if you're wondering why he doesn't have a Russian name) was famous for many strength feats (including some that remained unequalled for an astonishing 50 years). The Hack Squat is at the centre of some of these (including a staggering 550 reps with 110lb).

A word on the name

Although it is seemingly self-evident that the name 'Hack Squat' comes from the short version of his own name, Hackenschmidt claimed in The Way to Live that the name actually came from the word hacke, meaning 'heel'. Either way, the name 'Hack' is entirely appropriate.

Technique

Load up a bar and place it on the floor. Stand just in front of it, with feet roughly shoulder-width apart, and grasp it with a double overhand grip. Stand up.

The bar itself will mainly move vertically (there's very little horizontal motion). As with a deadlift, think of your hands simply as hooks, keep your back straight and move upward until you're standing upright.

Muscles involved

Although this is primarily a quadriceps exercise (especially for the Vastus Medialis), a number of other muscles come into play. These include [2]:

Synergists

* Gluteus Maximus
* Adductor Magnus
* Soleus

Dynamic Stabilizers

* Hamstrings
* Gastrocnemius

Stabilizers

* Erector Spinae
* Trapezius, Middle
* Levator Scapulae
* Trapezius, Upper

Antagonist Stabilizers

* Rectus Abdominis
* Obliques


Things to consider

As with other Squat varieties, there is a greater emphasis on the glutes when below parallel. Range of Motion is as important here as with any other exercise (with the usual exceptions, of course).

If you are unable to perform the full-range lift, simply set the pins of a power rack to the lowest position you can manage and perform them from there.

Keep the feet flat on the floor. If your legs are too tight to allow this, stretching is a better option that elevating the heels (standing on plates, for example). That said, elevate the heels if you find it's still necessary to perform the exercise.

During the upward portion of the exercise, push with your heels rather than your toes. This will help minimise the stress on your knees [3].

Conclusion

The Barbell Hack Squat's a great exercise - simple, inexpensive and quick to perform. If it isn't already part of your current routine, give it a run.


References

1. George Hackenschmidt: The Russian Lion.
By David Gentle
Natural Strength
(part 1, part 2)

2. Barbell Hack Squat
EXRX

3. Hack Squat
ABC Bodybuilding


Images and video

Nate Dogg Hack Squatting 140kg

132kg Hack Squat (thick bar) [929kb .flv download]

Singapore Sports Council (exercise demonstration)

Fitrex (exercise demonstration)

Over the past couple of weeks there have been a number of strength feats involving replicas of the Inch Dumbbell. What was the original, and why is it held in such high regard?

Let's take a look at the history of this incredible piece of equipment.

Origins of the Inch Dumbbell

Thomas Inch (1881 - 1963) was a Strongman, Bodybuilder and Circus Performer in the early 20th century. In addition to his time with the iron, he wrote a number of superb books and articles; and is often credited with the introduction of plate-loading barbells and dumbbells to the general public.

For one of his circus shows (around 1897), he had a local ironworks produce four dumbbells for him - weighing 75, 140, 153 and 172 lb. These bells were all manufactured - at Inch's request - with handles somewhat thicker than normal; making them extremely difficult to lift. The lighter bells were given a 2" handle, whilst the 172 (the one that's usually replicated) had a handle almost 2.5" (2.38", to be precise) in diameter.

This exceptionally thick handle is a large part of the bells' enduring appeal.

Headstand with a twist.

Think of it as a coupling between two pipes. The stronger the coupling, the more pressure that can be handled within those pipes. Your body is very similar. Now there are a few things that your core does; I'd explain what core stability is, but to some (especially on T-Nation) it's a buzzword. So let's just say that it's your ability to maintain any position throughout any plane of movement, whether it's standing up, upside down, on your sides, in a handstand, on your tip toes, etc.


That's the stability portion, and All Around Strength loves a strong core. In fact all the authors have benefited greatly from direct core training. All the movements in this video fall into one or more categories; flexion and/or extension in the transverse or coronal plane, rotation, and lateral flexion and extension. So here are a few explanations of some of the exercises to go along with the video.

Dragon Flag

Hanging Lateral Hip Swings

Standing Russian Twists

NB : For a great collection of exercises similar to this one, head over to 29 Things to do with a barbell in the corner. You won't be disappointed.