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Lee "Strongman" Jones
Lee "Strongman" Jones does his thing back in the mid-1950's. We don't know anything about the man other than he obviously has a pretty strong set of choppers.
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Ab Training: Shaolin Style
How do Shaolin Monks train their abs? Here's one way: this fellow is hanging upside down with his legs over a tree branch. He fills a small cup with water from the jar below him, sits up, and dumps it...
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Rope Climbing for Grip Strength
Sig Klein was always outspoken as far as the importance of grip strength... One of Sig's favorite exercises was to hang by one hand from a thick climbing rope. It's still a good one.
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Grimek on Iron Man
John Grimek appeared on the cover of Iron Man magazine ten times. The January, 1954 issue shown above was the final occasion. Grimek was 44 years of age at the time and clearly hadn't missed many...
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Staff Sgt. Moss
Staff Sgt. Alfred Moss was an early bodybuilder, circa 1900. Believe it or not, Moss' tattoos often disqualified him from several contests despite his obvious muscularity. Sergeant Moss was considered...
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The Mike Marvel DYNAFLEX Course!
Straight from the back of nearly every single comic book ever printed from the early 50's to the mid 70's comes the World Famous Mike Marvel DYNAFLEX Course! No telling how many youngsters saved up...
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Larry Scott and Betty Weider
Larry Scott and Betty Weider on the cover of the French magazine "Atout Muscles" (Muscle Strength). This was the January, 1970 issue and I believe the premier issue -- only a handful of issues were...
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Batta
Charles Estienne, or or, as he was more commonly known "Batta" was an oldtime strongman famous for his incredible grip strength. Standing at 5'10" and a bodyweight of around 190 popunds, Batta was the...
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The Great Gama in Training
A look at The Great Gama in training in his akhara in Patiala, Northern India, circa 1928. It was said that Gama performed 3000 dands (pushups) each day. So much for the theory that "bodyweight-only"...
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Slim's New Hammer
Several years ago, I found a huge old hammer. It needed a little work but overall was in decent shape. I had plans to refurbish it but never got around to it and since it was just gathering dust at my...
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Nelson of Rutgers
Alfred Arthur "A.A." Nelson, of Perth Amboy, New Jersey was the collegiate club-swinging champion in 1910 and 1911 representing his alma mater (what was then called) Rutgers College. Rutgers had a long...
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Klein's Bell
A look at the September, 1932 issue of "Klein's Bell" featuring John Garan on the cover. Garan was called by Klein a "Muscular Marvel" and it would be hard to disagree with what is shown here. Garan's...
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Dave Mayor
Dave Mayor, or Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was a member of the U.S. Weightlifting team at the 1936 Berlin Olympics where he finished in 12th place with a 352.5 kg (775.5 lbs) total (Press: 100 kg,...
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Joe Zimmerman
Joe Zimmerman and his brother Dick were Bob Hoffman's neighbors in York, Pennsylvania and they hung around the York Barbell Company office doing crazy feats of strength. Here's Joe performing a...
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Wellesley College Gymnasium, 1905
A look at the Wellesley College Gymnasium, circa 1905. This awesome facility was outfitted by A.G. Spalding & Bros. and consisted of 6 Counterbalanced Booms 42 Stall Bars and Benches, 35 Italian...
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Clarence Ross
Clarence Ross on the cover of the July, 1948 issue of 'Muscle Power' magazine. Clarence has just won the Mr. USA title (beating Steve Reeves!) Clarence was listed as the Associate editor of this...
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Ted Williams Barbell and Dumbbells Exercise Course
If you bought a 110 pound Ted Williams Weight Set from a Sears department store, this is the instructional booklet that you received along with it. Unsurprisingly, the exercises and programs are as...
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Ditka's Neck Training
It is important for football players to increase their neck strength in order to be better prepared to play the game. This was a fact not lot on "Da Bears" as shown by this rare training camp shot....
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Ewald Redam - The Golden Man from Dresden
Check out one of the few known images of Ewald Redam, known as "The Golden Man from Dresden" whose physique was ahead of its time. The above image was taken, around 1920... his leg development was...
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Romulus
The stage name of the Italian Strongman Cosimo Molino was "Romulus," of course, he had a partner "Remus," their names a call back to the mythical founders of Rome. Romulus stood 5'3" and weighed only...
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