Charles Rigoulot

In Strongman Mastery by Admin6 Comments

Charles Rigoulot was a strongman from France born in 1903 who started training with weights as a child. Aside from setting numerous weightlifting world records and winning the gold medal in the light-heavyweight class during 1924 Summer Olympics, Charles was also a race car driver, an actor and a professional …

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Bill St. John

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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 …

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Georg Lurich

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Georg Lurich was a famous strongman and wrestler from Estonia, born in 1876. His countryman Georg Hackenschmidt and Aleksander Aberg were trained in wrestling and weightlifting by Lurich. Lurich started training regularly after he moved to Russia in 1895 where Dr. Wladyslaw Krajewski coached him in wrestling and weightlifting. The …

Donald Dinnie

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Donald Dinnie was a famous strongman and athlete from Scotland born in 1837. During his 50 years long career, Dinnie took part in more than 11,000 competitions. His career started during 1853 when he won a wrestling competition along with £1 in prize money. Seven years later, Dinnie successfully carried …

The Great Sandwina

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To spice things up, today we’ll learn more about Kate Brumbach, better known as The Great Sandwina. She was a strongwoman born into a circus family in 1884 in Austria. Her parents were well-trained circus performers with their own qualities, both in terms of strength and muscle proportions. Sandwina started …

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Rack Pull Exercise

In Strongman Mastery by admin5 Comments

Here is another one of my favorite exercises. The rack pull exercise is the name for a partial deadlift usually just the last couple inches. I suppose what I’m doing here may be about a quarter deadlift. In this video which comes from this previous Saturday’s workout I hit a …

Doug Hepburn

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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 …

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Monte Saldo

In Strongman Mastery by Admin2 Comments

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 …

Eugen Sandow

In Strongman Mastery by Admin4 Comments

Eugen Sandow, the man who started it all and the father of modern bodybuilding. His real name was Friedrich Wilhelm Müller, but he took his stage name for two reasons – 1) it was a custom to do so as a stage performer and 2) he left Prussia to avoid …

Sig Klein on Handstand Presses

In Bodyweight Mastery by admin2 Comments

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 …