Published by the mid-century Bodybuilder Alan Stephens, the following article from Your Physique magazine details some time honoured means of bulking up in the easiest and most efficient way possible. Though much of Stephens' advice will seem like old hat to those a few years in the Iron Game, his writings were geared toward the beginner … Continue reading Alan Stephan – Bulking is Easy (1950 article)
The Westside Barbell club run by Louie Simmons, is one of the current institutions of the iron game. Known for producing champion powerlifters and even effective machines such as the Reverse Hyper Extension, there is little doubting the club's importance for lifters, whether or not they adhere to powerlifting itself. In today's short post, we're … Continue reading Forgotten Exercises: The JM Press
As I'm sure you have noticed, I love the history of Quebec strongmen, in particular Louis Cyr. As discussed, Cyr represented more than strength; he stood as a symbol of French Canadian opportunity in the face of an history of oppression. Little wonder Cyr's funeral in 1912 is still alluded to in Quebec press. The … Continue reading The Fall of a Giant – The Crowning of a Newcomer
Earlier in the week I was fortunate enough to spend time with a friend of mine who has recently qualified as a physiotherapist. Discussing the relative merits of different exercises and training protocols, my friend lamented his profession's reliance on cookie cutter protocols for rehabbing patients. In their view, many physiotherapists tended to prescribe 10 … Continue reading 3 Sets x 10 Reps: The History, Logic and Reasoning
The quest for greater size has long plagued both the 'hard gainer' and the muscle bound hunk. At times it can seem that the need to ingest greater calories is almost as taxing as our workouts. A predicament that John McCallum, the focus of today's article, was keen to address. As you'll read below, McCallum devised … Continue reading John McCallum ‘Get Big Drink’
One of bodybuilding's most perplexing problems is deciding on how many repetitions. In recent years there has been a tendency to standardise the number to around ten, as this is felt to provide the best combination for muscular bulk, strength and stamina. Not too many years ago the guiding rule was low reps for bulk, … Continue reading Ivan Dunbar, How Many Reps Makes the Champion? (1964 Health & Strength Article)
1946, Montreal, the International Federation of Bodybuilding is founded by the Weider brothers before a contest held at the Monument National. This federation will be the Weiders' first step towards gaining supremacy in the bodybuilding world - this however, did not go unopposed. Conflict Releasing the first issue of Santé et Développement Physique in 1946, fitness … Continue reading A French-Canadian Bodybuilding Federation
