Should you be doing full range lifts exclusively? Or are partials useful? Rick sent in this response to a recent email on pullups… “I ,too , have had much experience with pullups. I found adding weight and getting super strong was the single best way to increase reps. Also, contrary …
Aesthetics, Performance or Health?
I received the following comment in response to an earlier post about bodybuilding vs. powerlifting…as if those were the only two strength or fitness practices available. “I used to improperly lift weights in my teens and early 20’s, just going for aesthetics. I’ve spent the last couple years unwinding the …
Chuck Sipes
Unlike most old time bodybuilders, Chuck Sipes who was born in 1932 in Illinois was deeply involved in feats of strength as well. While he was still a teenager, Chuck’s family moved to California where he wanted to join a school’s football team. Unfortunately, he was too skinny to be …
Bill St. John
Bill St. John was a famous old-time bodybuilder and strongman who took part in a number of contests and placed second in the Mr. USA contest in 1971. Among things which make Bill interesting is his focus on neck training. One of the exercises he liked to do quite frequently …
Joe Weider
Co-founder of the International Federation of Bodybuilders, Joe Weider, was a bodybuilder born in 1919 most famous for publishing numerous fitness magazines, like “Shape”, “Muscle & Fitness” and “Flex”. When he was only 14 years old, Weider started “Your Physique” magazine and constructed a set of barbells with things he …
Full Body Kettlebell Workout
When it comes to functional movement, which one is better: isolation of a certain group of muscles or the whole body moving in a synergistic fashion? It is relatively obvious that when you train the body to synergistically move as one solid and functional unit you would be creating a foundation for it to move as functionally and optimally …
Steve Reeves
Steve Reeves was born in 1926 and he is best known as a bodybuilder and actor. At his peak, Steve had an incredibly symmetrical physique as he stood at 6’1″, weighed 216 pounds with 18½” arms, 52″ chest, and a 29″ waist. Steve started training at the age of 16 …
Don Dorans
Don Dorans was born in 1912 and he was one of the most, if not the most respected bodybuilders in modern British history. He earned the “Mr. Britan” title in 1943, “Mr. Europe” in his class in 1950 and “Mr. Universe” during the same year. Dorans was recognized as The …
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 …
Monte Saldo
Monte Saldo was a bodybuilder, stage performer and an author born in 1879 in London. Saldo showed interests in bodybuilding and strength training as a teenager. With a help of his uncle, who was a well-known and respected police inspector, Saldo became an apprentice to Eugene Sandow in 1897, at …
I’m Going to Start Taking Steroids
Not really. But after last night I’d be lying if I said I didn’t consider it. You see, last night I finally watched the documentary Bigger, Stronger, Faster which is all about steroids. I’d heard about it for sometime but I didn’t get around to watching it until now. If …
Weightlifting and Hand Balancing
Does lifting weights help to hand balance? The answer is yes and no. Let me qualify all the following by saying there are many different ways to lift weights. Whether you are doing power lifting, Olympic lifting, bodybuilding, or just good old fashioned strength training with barbells and dumbbells. How …