Hail to the Dinosaurs!
My buddy Bill Hinbern sometimes does articles and email messages titled “Didjya Know” – and they’re always fun. So, with a tip of the hat to Bill Hinbern, and a suggestion that you head over to the Superstrengthbooks website and check out what he has to offer, let’s try a little “Didjya Know?”
Didjya know:
1. That John Davis military pressed 170 pounds the first time he ever touched a barbell?
2. That Reg Park hated to train in a gym with mirrors on the wall, and would actually cover the mirrors with towels or sheets when he trained?
3. That weight training actually makes you SMARTER? (Several teams of scientists just published some research studies on this one. Of course, those of us who are smart enough to lift weights already KNEW it – right?)
4. That the Russian strongman, Alexander Zass, who toured Europe as “The Amazing Sampson,” was a spy for the British government? His strongman act provided the perfect cover for a secret agent.
5. That Chinese villagers trained with homemade barbells fashioned of stone disks. Photos appear in George Jowett’s classic book, The Key to Might and Muscle.
6. That Herman Goerner picked up four kettlebells, two in each hand, for a total weight of 441 pounds – and then sprinted around the training hall in Leipzig -- a distance of 78 feet? Performed on August 5, 1934.
7. That the famous old-time bare-knuckle boxer, John L. Sullivan, was a close friend of the French-Canadian strongman, Louis Cyr?
8. That Bob Hoffman wrote “How to be Strong, healthy and Happy” in exactly ten days? (Or did he – it’s 494 pages, and that’s awfully fast typing!)
9. That the other day a 650-pound grand piano appeared overnight on a sandbar in Biscayne Bay (in Miami) – and the authorities are wondering how it got there? (You can google for photos of the piano.) (Note: we have some readers in Miami, so I have a good guess about who lugged the piano out there.)
10. That the great Jack LaLanne, champion of endurance feats, was a sickly youth with severe asthma? Physical training and a proper diet made him a superman!
That’s all for now – let me know if you enjoyed these, and if so, we’ll do more of them from time to time!
As always, thanks for reading, and have a great day. If you train today, make it a good one!
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. My new book, Chalk and Sweat, gives detailed training programs for beginners, intermediates, advanced trainees, and trainees who want to build maximum muscle mass and strength by specializing on heavy leg and back training. You can grab your copy right here:
http://www.brookskubik.com/chalk_and_sweat.html
