People ask why I teach these "Old Fashion" training methods, especially when there is so called "modern" resistance training.
The truth is, given the current state, there is no future for STRENGTH training, and we are currently in the Dark Ages.
"Body Building" seems to have become the norm around the 50's. Since that time there have been very few strong people.
As mentioned in my last email, Siegmund Breitbart was know in the 20's as the 'Superman of the Ages."
Feats of strength performed by Breitbart in this period
included:
- Having stones broken by sledgehammers on his chest.
- Bending iron bars into floral patterns.
- Rip chains apart
- Tearing horseshoes in half.
- Lying on his back and supporting humongous weights, such as an automobile filled with passengers or a parade of elephants.
Perhaps his greatest legacy was secured when a nine-year-old boy in Cleveland witnessed his 'Superman of the Ages' strongman show.
This awestruck young boy was one Jerry Siegel, who later went on to appropriate Breitbart's stage name and godlike strength for the most iconic superhero of all time......Superman
FUN FACT:
As originally conceived and presented in his early stories, Superman's powers were relatively limited, consisting of superhuman strength that allowed him to lift a car over his head, run at amazing speeds and leap one-eighth of a mile, as well as an incredibly dense body structure that could be pierced by nothing less than an exploding artillery shell.
He could be knocked unconscious and nearly killed by powerful electric fields or bombs. Siegel and Shuster compared his strength and leaping abilities to an ant and a grasshopper.(Source Wikipedia)
As you can see, Superman's powers grew of the years......
He started out with great strength like Breitbart, and then was added animal-like abilities.
HMMM.....ALL Martial Artist out there, any bells going
off right now???
His training methods seem to stop being practiced by the 50's or so.
The fact of the matter is that if you are interested in getting stronger.....you have to go back to these old school methods, like moving your body through space and at certain angles and such.......
JUST LIKE IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM!!!!
Look around in most magazines and infomercials; you will see that the trend is going in the direction of bodyweight cals. They simply work the best and gives everyone results fast.
Take the basic push up for example; it's been around for ages, WHY? Because it works. This exercise works every muscle in the body.
I put my students through this simple test all the time to prove my point.......
Just get in a push up position and try to hold it for 30 seconds.
You should start to feel every muscle in your body straining to hold that position. Killer Tip: The muscle straining the most is your weakest link.
Keep increasing by 15 seconds till you hit 5 Minutes......Then put on the red cape and slap an "S" on your chest.