10 Little Known Facts About Oldtime Strongmen

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Let's start the day with 10 little known facts

about old time strongmen. I'm thinking of the
European strongmen during the period from
1890 to 1920 or so.

1. Many of them worked as butchers.

That gave them ready access to plenty of high

quality protein -- and make no mistake about
it, the old time strongmen were voracious
meat eaters.

2. Many of them grew up on farms.

This meant that they did plenty of hard, heavy

work when they were children and young men.
It also meant that they grew up with plenty of
sunlight, fresh air and healthy, fresh food.

3. Many of them worked as blacksmiths when

they were young.

Which is a great way to develop plenty of hand

and grip strength.
4. Many of them were wrestlers.

In the old days, most of the famous weightlifters

also competed in wrestling competitions. In fact,
promoters would host weightlifting contests and
wrestling contests at the same time, since the
same men would compete in both.

Of course, wrestling required a terrific combination

of strength, power and muscular endurance -- so
the oldtimers obviously had all of these attributes
in abundance.

5. They ate enormous amounts of food.

Most of these men were true heavyweights, with

tremendous appetites. They didn't count their calories or limit their food
intake. Of course, they
also trained ferociously hard -- and burned off
plenty of calories in their workouts and in
their competitions and exhibitions.

6. They specialized in grip strength.

I've covered this in Dinosaur Training and in

Strength, Muscle and Power. The oldtimers had
ferocious hand and grip power. When you look
at their photos, notice their forearm development.
It's almost freakish in many cases.
See Dinosaur Training and Strength, Muscle and
Power for specifics on how the old-timers trained
their forearms and grip.

7. They specialized in overhead lifting.

They did most of their training while standing on

their feet -- and much of it involved lifting heavy
stuff over their heads.

8. They lifted heavy, awkward objects.

Heavy sandbags and barrels were favorites. These

impressed an audience of working men as much or
more than lifting barbells and dumbbells.

9. They used dumbbells -- HEAVY dumbbells!

The oldtimers were masters of heavy dumbbell

lifting. Sig Klein called the two dumbbell clean
and press "the secret exercise" of the oldtime
strongmen.

See Dinosaur Dumbbell Training for specific

exercises and workouts -- and for a detailed
review of how much the old-timers could handle
in their dumbbell exercises.

10. They were 100% natural.

As in, nothing artificial added. Just hard work,
heavy iron, and plenty of good food.
And one bonus fact:

11. Some of the oldtimers died relatively young,

and others lived very long lives. The ones who
lived long lives tended to keep up with their
training even after they ended their professional
careers.

In other words, one of the keys to lifelong

strength and health is to KEEP ON TRAINING!