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 …
Shovel Lift
The Shovel Lift is my new favorite exercise. I first heard of this one from Steve Justa in his book Rock, Iron, Steel. But besides trying it out one time I don’t think I used it anymore. But since I’ve switched my focus for the time being from bodyweight exercises …
Ottley Coulter
Ottley Coulter was born in 1890 as the smallest male in a large family of big men, but through persistent training and good diet he managed to reach the highest strength level of them all. He is one of the few circus performers who had at least some kind of higher education, …
Siegmund Breitbart
Siegmund Breitbart was born in 1883 in a Jewish family and he is best known for his strongman acts as a circus performer. He had a strong background as a blacksmith which was a perfect fit for many feats of strength, including breaking horseshoes in half, bending iron bars & …
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 …
Weightlifting Straps
When you reach a certain point of progress and start moving some serious weight, the first part of the body which will often give out is your hands. The muscle in the back and legs are much larger and even with strong hands, you’ll still benefit from using straps to …
Handstand Pushups to Overhead press
Is it possible to transfer over from the handstand pushups to the barbell press? It depends. The problem is that most people think about headstand pushups instead of handstand pushups, as they are only coming down to their head or a nose. This is actually a partial handstand pushup, which …
Charles Atlas
Charles Atlas was born in Italy in 1892 as Angelo Siciliano. He moved to the USA with his parents when he was 13 years old in search for a better life, which turned out to be the right decision later on. Angelo started training after visiting the Brooklyn Art Gallery …
Otto Arco
Otto Arco (real name Otto Nowosielsky) was a Polish strongman and wrestling champion. He was born in 1881 and 22 years later he won the Austrian wrestling title, despite the fact he was only 5’2. He was considered to be the best wrestler in the world, pound for pound. Otto …
Doug Hepburn
Doug Hepburn was a famous strongman and weightlifter from Canada, best known for winning numerous weightlifting medals in the 50’s and various feats of strength he used to perform during the same period. The public became aware of Doug’s presence in 1953 when he won a gold medal at World …
George Hackenschmidt
George Hackenschmidt was an accomplished strongman, a professional wrestler and a physique star, born in 1872. He started training weight lifting and gymnastics very early and successfully and by the time he turned 18, he was able to lift more than 200 pounds overhead single handed. Hack is thought to be the …
Bernarr Macfadden
Bernarr Macfadden (1868 – 1955) was a famous physical culturist and an advocate of natural food, natural treatment of diseases as well as physical fitness & outdoor exercise. Unlike conventional wisdom, Macfadden proposed a diet high in vegetables and fruit and low in meat and was a big fan of …
Benefits of Indian Clubs
Indian clubs are different from clubbells, heavy maces and similar stuff, so the purpose and benefits of working out with Indian clubs different as well. These clubs weigh only a pound or two and they are often used for weighted joint mobility workouts, but some say they are also very …
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 …
Don Powers and Catch Wrestling for Cops
I had the pleasure of meeting Don Powers at the most recent Super Human Training Workshop. At the time he was just about finished with his new book, Catch Wrestling for Cops. There I shot a quick interview with him as we discussed his background and what Catch Wrestling is. …