Andy writes in a lengthy email on the topics of muscle control and isometrics with a few different questions. Read it below and then my response to follow… I’ve enjoyed reading your books and recently purchased the Muscle Control Course. I’m trying to figure out how muscle control can be …
Muscle Control and Qi
Maxick talks about an interesting concept in relation to muscle control… “I discovered that by using the Will to control the muscles, not only did I gain development and strength, but that I was storing energy. By giving nothing out, I was slowly conserving energy…so the more energy conserved, the …
My Unabashed Opinion on Muscle Control
Lately, a number of people have been asking me about muscle control. So, I figured it was time to give my unabashed opinion on it. Muscle control is great…and, at the same time, it’s not quite all it’s cropped up to be. Back around the early 1900’s, there were a …
How to Combine Isometric Training with more…
A great question came in recently. And it’s a common question about how to combine different forms of training, if it can be done well at all. Robert asks: First of all: congratulations on your fantastic website!! I’m lovin’ it! Well, I train seriously since two years now, one year …
Maxick the Superman by Edward Aston
The following is an article written by Edward Aston, regarding the muscle control expert Maxick. In 1909 Maxick descended on London like a meteor in a flash of physical glory, and dazzled us with his most remarkable muscular achievements. He was so very different from what we had been used …
Develop Strong Grip With a Help of Edward Aston
Another article from the Strongman Profile series at Breaking Muscle has just been published. Strongman Profile: Edward Aston Teaches the Basics of Grip Strength Edward Aston is not one of the better-known old-time strongmen, but he deserves to be. Aston beat out Maxick for the World’s Middle-Weight-Lifting Championship in 1910. …
All About Muscle Control
Muscles can do one of two things, either contract or relax, with varying degrees of both. Muscle control is the art of controlling your muscles. More specifically it involves controlling muscles in isolation, in combinations and sequences. As a specific practice it was largely “created” by Maxick (born Max Sick, …
Tromp Van Diggelen
Tromp Van Diggelen was a strongman, author and teacher born in 1885 who endured a sickly childhood like many old-time strongmen. He actually almost died three times as a child, from pleurisy, pneumonia and bronchitis. However, his mother was determined to have a healthy kid and she decided to set …
Maxick on Muscle Control
Strongman Profile series on Breaking Muscle wouldn’t be complete without Maxick, the master of muscle control. Strongman Profile: Maxick Teaches Us the Lost Art of Muscle Control Muscle control is for the most part a lost art that is no longer widely applied today. Yet a hundred years ago there …
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 …
Maxick's Muscle Control
This video is a short overview of Muscle Control by Maxick. Muscle control is largely a lost art, especially to the level Maxick was said to have mastered it. If you want to learn how to get started this book which you can find on Amazon is a great place …
Muscle Control by Maxick
Muscle Control by Maxick is one of the most classic books of the oldtime strongmen. There are many other great books on the art of muscle control, but none are as popular as this one. It’s probably because the book is quite simple and the exercises are easy to follow. …
Book Review: Maxalding by Monte Saldo
Monte Saldo was less well known then his major partner, Maxick, in the system they created called Maxalding. That is also the name of the book which this review is about. Maxick became more well known from his books and weight lifting exploits, though Monte was no slouch in that …
Abdominal Vacuum Exercise
If you did one, and only one, muscle control exercise, this is the one it should be. It’s commonly known as the abdominal vacuum, because that’s just what you’re doing. You’re creating a vacuum of pressure inside. This vacuum is great for the lungs as you expel a greater amount …
Sig Klein on Handstand Presses
Klein trained in a very precise, scientific fashion. He reminded Jim of an Old World Of all his exercises, Klein’s Handstand press-ups were the most remarkable. Jim had never seen anything like it. Klein performed the exercise on an old piano bench. He began placing his hands in the center …