Strength Training: A Tradition for Millennia
By Matt Hedman President of The Perfect Workout
Strength training is far from being a new practice. People knew strength training was important…over 2,000 years ago! Ancient Greek physician Hippocrates is referred to as the “Father of Medicine” for his many contributions to the medical field. Among his contributions was noticing the need for exercise. He said “that which is used develops, and that which is not used wastes away,” referring to observed changes in muscle with age. Realizing people need healthy food and exercise to maintain health, he started prescribing diet and activity to sick patients.
While we at The Perfect Workout are passionate advocates of strength training, there were many before us who advocated. People have known…for millennia…that strength training is important. This article provides a brief history of how strength training developed into what you and I are now participating in at The Perfect Workout.
The first noted participant of strength training was Milo of Croton, an Ancient Greek wrestler who lived approximately 2,600 years ago. Milo, in a way, was the first Arnold Schwarzenegger or Jack LaLanne. The story goes that he trained by carrying a newborn calf on his shoulders. As the the calf grew into a full-sized cow, his training “resistance” increased, helping him become progressively stronger. He used his strength to win six Olympic titles, succeed in 32 total wrestling competitions, and perform public feats of power and balance.
Modern strength training started coming into form during the late 19th century when the barbell was developed. However, it was the following century that brought modernization and tremendous progress.
In the 1920s, A.V. Hill, an English physiologist, published several studies noting discoveries in how muscles function, including the mechanisms that cause muscles to contract and fatigue. These discoveries would be added to by researchers over the next few decades.
During the 1940s, Dr. Thomas DeLorme, a researcher and army lieutenant, made a few critical discoveries. DeLorme used strength training to functionally recover from rheumatic fever. Recognizing the value of exercise, he started promoting it for hospital rehabilitation programs. His sales pitch was this: strength is a key factor — maybe THE key factor — for recovery from injury or surgery. Not that you or I are surprised, but…he was right. He published several research papers noting the rapid recoveries for those in hospitals who strength trained.
Dr. DeLorme also may have been the first to document the value of resistance. He tested various degrees of resistance. His finding: challenging weights lead to better results. DeLorme also came to the conclusion Milo learned thousands of years earlier: weights need to progressively increase as the trainee becomes stronger.
Bob Hoffman, a noted bodybuilder, opened York Barbell in 1932, which was one of the first companies to sell training equipment. Hoffman was also an influential force in promoting strength training. At the time, some claimed strength exercises made people inflexible, slow, and was performed by “quacks” who had low levels of intelligence (seriously, these were all perceptions at the time). We know now that these claims are the exact opposite of the truth. Thankfully, Hoffman and several other famous bodybuilders soundly disproved these myths during a presentation at Springfield College in 1940.
Researchers started noting the value of strength training for women in 1969 at Oregon State University. Jack LaLanne also become a prominent force for women to lift weights, using his show as the medium for sending the message.
The Nautilus machines we use at The Perfect Workout began when an inventor and son of a doctor, Arthur Jones, learned of a flaw in training with free weights. One of Jones’ innovations came from observing how muscle strength varies through any given range of motion. To optimally train muscles, he knew resistance needed to fluctuate as well. To solve this, he created the first Nautilus machines in the late 1960s. These machines served as the inspiration for machines found in gyms worldwide today.
Contrary to the opinions of a few individuals in the early 1900s, strength training is far from a fad. People have known for a long time that strength training is a valuable practice for achieving a great physique, excellent health, and the ability to perform all important daily activities.
When you refer a new client, we give you a FREE BONUS TRAINING SESSION as a token of our appreciation. So please, tell your friends about The Perfect Workout and help us revolutionize the way people workout.
The Perfect Workout Highland Park 1510 Old Deerfield Rd #215, Highland Park, IL 60035 (847) 686-2448
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