William Pagel was a circus strongman born in 1878 in Germany. Like many men of his time, Pagel was a sailor in his young days and enjoyed traveling around the world. During one of those journeys Pagel decided to leave the ship and settle in Australia. When he turned 19, …
What I have Achieved…and YOU Can Too
Like I told you in my last article about practicing what I preach its one of the most important things that I do. So I wanted to take a moment and share with you the achievements I have accomplished and how you can do the same or similar ones by …
Top 5 Strongwomen
Even though oldtime strongmen are the ones who are most recognized for their incredible power and ability to execute extraordinary feats of strength, many strongwomen have also performed in circus shows, music halls and carnivals on a regular basis throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, showcasing their strength. They did …
John Y. Smith
John Y. Smith was a strongman born in 1866 who lost both parents at the age of four. He spent next 25 years working on ships where he grew up, only to retired at the age of 29 and start weightlifting a year later. Unlike most oldtime strongmen, John Y. …
George Zottman
George Zottman was a strongman born in 1867 in Philadelphia who set numerous records, some of which still haven’t been broken, like the dumbbell press. George was able to clean & press 175 pounds heavy dumbbell while sitting on a chair, which is something no one else managed to achieve …
Louis Attila
Ludwig Durlacher, better known as Louis Attila was a German strongman born in 1844 and one of the greatest men in the history of physical culture. Professor Attila wasn’t just a strongman, but an accomplished pianist who spoke five languages fluently. He was very well educated and didn’t really trained …
Henry Steiborn
Henry “Milo” Steinborn was a German weightlifter and strongman born in 1894. He grew up near Dusseldorf and fell into British captivity during the World War I, where he started weightlifting. Luckily, some of the prisoners had already built some basic equipment using concrete blocks and hard wooden bars, which …
Arthur Saxon’s Dumbbell Swing
Check out my newest article on Arthur Saxon’s Dumbbell Swing on Breaking Muscle. Strongman Profile: Arthur Saxon Teaches Us the Dumbbell Swing In the coming months I am planning to write a series of articles on some of my favorite old-time strongmen. This will include how they trained, their amazing feats …
Wayne Smith
Wayne Smith was a strongman born in 1932. He became interested in training in early years, along with a twin brother Ward, but he actually started training after he joined the Navy. During his service in Hawaii, Wayne became a friend with Tommy Kono and below is the picture from …
Different Kettlebell Presses
My newest article over at Breaking Muscle has just been published. In it I talk about a variety of ways to put a kettlebell overhead. Military Press Side Press Bent Press Rotational Press Upper Body Push Press Push Press Jerk Bottoms Up Press Read 8 Way to Get a Kettlebell …
Dan Lurie
Dan Lurie, a physical fitness pioneer and father of bodybuilding, was born on April 1st 1923 in Brooklyn. He was a world class bodybuilder during 1940’s and managed to take the “America’s Most Muscular Man” title not once, but four times by 1949. Lurie established the International Federation of …
Pierre Gasnier
Pierre Gasnier was a famous french strongman and a member of Barnum and Bailey Circus in 1890’s, who use to perform various feats of strength, some of which were quite unusual. Aside from regular feats of strength like tearing a deck of cards in half, Pierre used to break chains …
Thomas Inch
Thomas Inch had a promising future even in his teenage years, since he won the “Britain’s Strongest Youth” title at 16, followed by “Britain’s Strongest Man” in 1910. Perhaps he was most famous for lifting a dumbbell that weights 172 pounds with one hand, with particularly thick handle ( 2 3/8 inches). …
Warrior Upper Body Video
Here is a guest video from Tyler Bramlett showing you two great, and advanced, exercises. The Muscle Up on rings and the Bent Press. Go grab his brand new Warrior Upper Body Training System here.
Arthur Saxon Bent Press
Since studying Arthur Saxon I’ve been doing a number of the exercises he outlines in The Development of Physical Power and Text Book of Weight Lifting. One of them is the bent press done Arthur Saxon style. Considering he put up more weight then anyone else in the bent press …