Galen Gough was a strongman born in 1899 in Kentucky, at his grandparents’ home. Even as a child, Galen was bigger and taller than his coevals and most people believed that genes are to blame, since Galen’s father was quite large man as well. Early days Not many of us …
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. …
Isometrics or Full Range Lifts
Is it better to train using full range lifts or isometrics? First of all, you can use isometrics in two main different ways. You can get incredibly strong and activate your entire body with just isometrics training, like Steve Justa for example. There is a great book called “Functional Isometric …
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 …
Sig Klein
Unlike most boys in his time at the age of 15, Sig Klein wasn’t inspired by a strongman act in a circus, but after reading Physical Culture & Strength magazines back in the 1900’s. Some say he was also inspired to start training by his father, who was a strong …
505lb. Deadlift
I entered the gym, later than normal, as I had got caught up in a bunch of work earlier. I was feeling pretty good and wondering what exercises I would do today. Then it popped into my mind… “You can deadlift 505 today.” Deadlifting more than 500 lbs. has been …
Thick Bar Training
Thick Bar Training. If you’re here I’m guessing that you are familiar with thick bars and perhaps even use them. All the old-time lifters used them, often to build a super strong grip. Using their strong hands with a thick bar they could then lift a weight that the average …
Convict Conditioning Routine
I received this question the other day after my post on Convict Conditioning, and since it was well thought out I’m going to give an in depth answer. Hey Logan, You obviously have far more experience than me and I don’t even compare to you in terms of strength/conditioning. You’ve …
Progressive Conditioning
An important part of a complete training program is to do some sort of conditioning work. Of course, this can come in many shapes and sizes. Sprints, kettlebell swings and snatches, skipping rope, and high rep bodyweight exercises are a few of my favorites. And just like in any other …
Various Training Tools
There are bodyweight guys. There are kettlebell guys. There are clubbell guys. There are barbell guys. Some of its marketing but I think the biggest reason behind this sticking to one system is exactly what happened me. I use to go to a commercial gym like most people seeking to …
Doug Hepburn Handstand
This is one of my favorite pictures of all time with Doug Hepburn balancing a 205 lb. barbell plus a 145 lb. man doing a handstand on top.. Just recently I came across the same picture from another view. A perfect blend of strength and balancing. Not any strong person …
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 …
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