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Physical Training in Ancient Turkey
The gymnastic exercises of the students of Mekteb-i Sultani, taken in Istanbul, Turkey, circa 1879. Note the use of large globe dumbbells, ring weights, kettlebells and the high bar for gymnastics.
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Young Louis Cyr
A look at a young Louis Cyr taking a huge Globe Dumbbell for a ride. This rare engraving is from a Quebec newspaper from the late 1800s.
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Gustave Empain
Gustave Empain the Belgian weightlifter, finished third at the 1903 World Weightlifting Championships, behind Francois Lancoud and Heinrich Schneidereit. Empain's greatest feat, however, was a Muscle...
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Extreme Neck Strength III
Here's another one for the "don't try this at home" file" Strongman Saxon Brown lets a motorcycle and rider drive across his throat! This was in 1934 when Saxon was trying to drum up a little interest...
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Jack Hayes
Jack Hayes, of the famed Camberwell Weight-Lifting Club, was one of W.A. Pullum's top students. Hayes was the 8-stone Amateur Champion of Great Britain from 1914 through 1920, and again in 1925.
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Pierre Bonnes, 1903
Pierre Bonnes was a great French strongman and weightlifter who was at his best in the late 1800s and early 1900s. In 1898, he set the "official" world record in the One Arm Snatch with a lift of 85.5...
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Three Wrestlers
A Trio of early wrestlers, from left to right: Paul Pons, Raoul "Le Boucher" (The Butcher) Musson and Ivan Shemyakin. This rare shot was most likely taken at "Le tournoi annue de lutta de la Ceinture...
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Kurt Saxon
Among the members of the Saxon Trio it was Arthur who got most of the spotlight but the other members were quite strong in their own right. Kurt Saxon for example, could bent-press over 300 pounds at a...
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Elmo Santiago
Elmo Santiago on the cover of the December, 1959 issue of Strength and Health -- He won the AAU Junior Mr. America contest that year. The popular (and quite prolific) New York bodybuilder also won the...
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The Human Anvil 2
One of the few known images of Prof. Frank Dufrane, The Human Anvil. This one was taken by the famed Swords Bros. Photographers in York, PA likely in the mid-1890's. We've covered Prof. Dufrane before,...
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Paby Salas
The Cricifix Lift is a great Oldtime lift and a tremendous test of shoulder strength. Here Paby Salas of Monterrey, Mexico performs what he claims was a world record at the time: 55-1/4 pounds in the...
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Selig "Ajax" Whitman
Selig Whitman is another perfect example of an individual who is small of stature but extra large in strength. Whitman stood five feet 8 1/2 inches tall and weighed but 162 pounds... His most famous...
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Elwood Holbrook
A look at strength star Ellwood Holbrook right around the time when he placed second in the light-heavyweight class at the 1944 Sr. Nationals with a 720 lb. total. Just a few years before, Holbrook...
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Joe Ragusa
Strongman Joe Ragusa does a... actually I don't know what you call this one.. a neck lift? ... either way it looks pretty extreme. The bar is loaded to 655 pounds and it sure doesn't look very...
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George F. Jowett on Anvil Lifting
"...Talking about feats with an anvil reminds me of a particular feat that I performed impromptu which takes a great amount of confidence as well as strength. It happened at one of the times that I...
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Universal Bodybuilding Course - POWER
Another great vintage ad for the Universal Bodybuilding Course ~ The most fantastic muscle-building system known to man! The Universal Bodybuilding Course is available HEREon Kindle or also in The Iron...
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The Expander Overhead Downward Pull
John Grimek demonstrates the overhead downward pull with a set of York chest expanders. This movement is STILL one of the very best back developers and can't be done with a barbell or dumbbell. If you...
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Hercules Curls
Steve Reeves getting in a little arm work during the filming of one of his Hercules movies. Italian beauty, Sylva Koscina, looks on in amusement. She was Reeeves' co-star in both Hercules (1958) and...
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Signor Cronos
Here's the Italian strongman Signor Cronos performing a harness lift of an automobile, circa 1925. Other than clearly not skipping leg day, unfortunately we don't know anything else about him.
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1938 World Weightlifting Championships - Heavyweight Winners
A rare shot of the lineup of heavyweight winners at the 1938 World Weightlifting Championships held in Vienna (Which was then a part of Germany.) From left to right Josef Manger of Germany (410 kg....
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