Which hand position you should use for tearing a deck of cards? The hand position will primarily depend on which style you use to tear a deck of cards. The one where you place the deck of cards vertically, like in the picture below, used to be the most popular …
Max Sick
Max Sick was a strongman and gymnast from Austria born in 1882, most famous for developing the Maxalding system with Monte Saldo. But he did much more than that. Early Life Born to Swiss parents, Maxick developed rickets and dropsy along with lung problems at a very young age. This …
PR Report 11-9-13
Making good progress on a number of fronts. I’ve been doing front squats in most of my workouts. In the past week I did all of the following. 135 x 20 185 x 8 235 x 3 In addition, my one arm chin-up work is getting stronger. I did a …
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 …
Half Squats/Half Good Morning
As discussed in previous articles I’ve been working on weighted squats a bunch lately. In the past I found that my lower back would often get sore or tired, or be the cause of failing at a certain weight. This was odd, since my lower back was much stronger than …
Viking Logan Wins Arm Wrestling Match
I want to share with you a special Halloween story. And it does have to do with strength. This year I was a Viking, along with my girlfriend dressed as a Valkyrie. Downtown Santa Cruz, where I live, is always a pretty crazy place. Lots of great costumes there. There …
George Barker Windship
George Barker Windship was a physical culturist born in 1834 in Massachusetts who invented many exercises machines and the first adjustable dumbbell. Like his father and grandfather, George entered Harvard and that’s where he started working out. George was only sixteen when he started training in a gymnasium and with …
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 …
Bob Peoples on the Deadlift
Another post in Strongman Profile series has just been put up on Breaking Muscle. Strongman Profile: Bob Peoples Schools Us on the Deadlift Bob Peoples deadlifted 725lbs at 181lbs bodyweight and at the age of forty. This was back in the 1949, on his farm, with limited training equipment, and before …
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 …
PR Report 10-19-13
As I mentioned last week I did belief change work around heavy squats. Since doing that, squats have been in every one of my workouts and I’m making great progress. Of interesting note, in doing research on Bob Peoples for an upcoming article, he stated that he like to deadlift …
Edmond Desbonnet
Edmond Desbonnet was a French physical culturist, photographer and academic born in 1867. Due to his poor health, he was forced to perform gymnastic exercises from the age of seven. Five years later, Edmond discovered photo of a strongman which he soon started collecting on a regular basis. Professor Desbonnet …
Strongman Film with Stanless Steel
Strongman was named one of the best documentaries of 2011 by Roger Ebert, and selected as a New York Times Critics’ Pick, STRONGMAN documents the life of strength performer Stanless Steel over the course of ten years. Official synopsis: Stanless Steel—“The Strongest Man in the World at Bending Steel and …
What It Takes To Be A Strongman
The following is a guest article from Jarell Lindsey. As an athlete, you can have many goals. A soccer star may wish to be the best defensive mid, so focus on some speed, some blocking accuracy, and a strong leg to send the ball back up the field. A competitive …