• Home
• About
• High Octane Fat Loss System
• Ultimate Workout

• Audio
• News
• Old-School Workouts
• Sports Specific Workouts
• Video
• Workouts

Subscribe

Old-Time Strength: Mark Berry

(This is part of a series looking at old time strongmen and bodybuilders and the training methods and programs they followed. Note: The set, reps and weight used will be left out so you can tailor the program to fit your needs and strength levels.)

Mark H. Berry was one of the Iron Game’s unsung heroes who was teaching no-nonsense, productive training back in the 1930s. As an author and “coach” he influenced hundreds of top lifters including a young John Grimek. Berry’s routines were relatively simple and more importantly, they worked, which is what makes them timeless.

Berry wore many hats, he was publisher of Strength magazine, coach of the USA weightlifting team in the 1932 and 1936 Olympic games and he created the very famous Squats and Milk routine championed by Perry Reader in his Iron Man magazine. He also won the National Weightlifting championships in 1925.

Berry was the first to emphasize that less is more for proper training. At the time, many strength advocates advised to lift three or four days per week. Berry felt that three was the absolute maximum and if you were training hard, intense and heavy, two days was the best.

In addition to Reader, J.C. Hise, William Boone, Randall Strossen, John McCallum and Brooks Kubik were supporters of the squats and mile routine for gaining, the foundation of which, is the 20-rep breathing squat.

Berry also wrote two of the best books of his era on strength training: “Physical Training Simplified” and the “Mark Berry Barbell Courses,” which featured John Grimek.

In fact, Berry was the man who introduced the legendary Grimek to heavy leg work and put over 30 pounds of muscle on him in a year.

Here is a routine from the “Mark Berry Barbell Courses” book in 1936:

Rows
Overhead Press
Squats (20-rep breathing)
Bench Press
Deadlifts

(Berry advocated 10 reps for upper body and 20 for the lower body. I have replaced the press behind the neck with rows because of safety reasons)

Notes: Train consistently 2-3 days per week and add weight to the bar whenever possible and get lots of rest, eat good food and drink plenty of water.

Understand that to be successful in any weight training program – hard work is a must! Half-hearted effort does nothing for you. If you’re new to weight training or grossly out of shape, consult a physician first. End of disclaimer.

Old-Time Strength: Charles Atlas

(This is part of a series looking at old time strongmen and bodybuilders and the training methods and programs they followed. Note: The set, reps and weight used will be left out so you can tailor the program to fit your needs and strength levels.)

Charles Atlas was born Angelo Siciliano in 1892 in Acri, Calabria, Southern Italy.

In 1905 his parents, like many peasant farmers, went in search of liberty and freedom from poverty, following, as were millions more, the American dream.

He started work in America as a leather worker, and adopted an Americanized name, Charles.

Bernarr Macfadden, a self made millionaire, health guru and publisher had a magazine called ‘Physical Culture’ and in 1920 he ran a photo competition that was won by one Angelo ‘Charles’ Siciliano.

Young Angelo had taken up bodybuilding after frequenting the Brooklyn Art Gallery and seeing statues of the Greek Gods of mythology. At first he used dumbbells and barbells made from stones tied on to wooden sticks, but later after observing animals exercising at the Zoo started developing Dynamic Tension.

By this time he was wanting to make a better living out of his obvious physical attributes, so the Charles Atlas course, ‘Dynamic Tension’ was fine tuned and checked over by Doctor Tilney to make sure he couldn’t be fined for practicing medicine without a licence.

He also, about this time, became associated with Charles Roman, with whom he had a life time business and friendship association. It was Roman and Tilney who were responsible for the early adverts e.g. Sand in the Face and the 97lb weakling, which by his own admission he never was.

Atlas had two children Herc and Diana and lived, until his wife died, in a converted Coastguard Station in Long Island. He missed his wife very much, so looking for company he moved to Florida, the retirement state of the US, where he eventually died in 1972.

Atlas was the first physical culturist who advocated the use of bodyweight exercises over weights. Sorry fans of Matt Furey, Atlas was first.

Charles Atlas did more for physical culture than any other man in history and at the time of his death he had had 3,000,000 pupils and inspired many more.

Here is an example of an Atlas routine:

Deep Knee Bend (Squat)
Leg Raises
Crunches
Pushups
Dips
Chins
Pullups

(Atlas would also run or walk everyday)

Notes: Train consistently, get lots of rest, eat good food and drink plenty of water.

Understand that to be successful in any weight training program – hard work is a must! Half-hearted effort does nothing for you. If you’re new to weight training or grossly out of shape, consult a physician first. End of disclaimer.

Check out the famous Charles Atlas ad below:

Tuesday Video: 994-Pound Hummer Deadlift

Here’s a nice little video of Zydrunas Savickas breaking Benedikt Magnusson’s deadlift record by lifting Hummer tires weight 994 pounds.

Actually, there’s a lot of confusion about world records and such. Strength legend Bill Kazmeier deadlifted 1,055 pounds back in 1982, but that seems to have been forgotten.

Oh well, whatever. It’s still an awesome lift.

Old-Time Strength: Tony Sansone

(This is part of a series looking at old time strongmen and bodybuilders and the training methods and programs they followed. Note: The set, reps and weight used will be left out so you can tailor the program to fit your needs and strength levels.)

Tony Sansone (1905-87) was born in New York City on September 19, 1905. As a youngster he had to overcome sickness and physical frailty. Fortunately, at the age of 13, he became interested in athletics. Later he was inspired by a series of photos of physique star Tommy Farber in Physical Culture magazine.

At 17 he won a Charles Atlas contest for physical progress and development. Given his obsession for physical perfection, Sansone soon became internationally renowned for his fabulous body. It was then his likeness that began to complement the pages of Physical Culture and other publications throughout the world.

Sansone had no secret training routines. Progressive dumbbell and barbell routines were his main exercise method, supplemented by hand-balancing, gymnastics, sprinting, swimming, and handball. Tony never specialized in strength feats, but in his prime he was one of the best in the world on the parallel bars.

Much of Tony Sansone’s enduring fame in bodybuilding history was the result of his success as a model.

Sansone began modeling when he was still a teenager. During the Depression, Sansone profited by selling pictures of himself through mail-order ads. He became a much sought-after model who posed for paintings, photographs, and sculpture.

When he retired from the gym business, Sansone went into volunteer work, helping underprivileged children to become better health-minded citizens.

Here is a typical Sansone workout from his book, “Progressive Home Physical Training,” published in 1936:

Leg Raises or Situps
Overhead Press
Bent Press
Dips
Squats
Pullovers
One-Leg Squats (Pistols)
Shrugs
Dips
Chins
Rows
Curls

Notes: Train consistently 2-3 days per week and add weight to the bar whenever possible and get lots of rest, eat good food and drink plenty of water.

Understand that to be successful in any weight training program – hard work is a must! Half-hearted effort does nothing for you. If you’re new to weight training or grossly out of shape, consult a physician first. End of disclaimer.

Old-Time Strength: W.A. Pullum

(This is part of a series looking at old time strongmen and bodybuilders and the training methods and programs they followed. Note: The set, reps and weight used will be left out so you can tailor the program to fit your needs and strength levels.)

Bill Pullum was born on April 8, 1887. In 1904 he became interested in physical culture as a result of coming to lodge with the Slade brothers, professional strongman competition winners, who worked closely with the Saxons in England. At the time Pullum suffered from pulmonary tuberculosis. Previously he had twice undergone surgery for bone tuberculosis.

Through physical culture methods he cured himself of this disease. In 1905 he began lifting weights, his goal being to prove that science could be brought into the lifting of heavy weights. He succeeded to an extent that his own performances completely revolutionized the sport in England. For years Pullum remained at the top. His cl! ! aim of being the 9-stone (126-pound) champion of the world went unchallenged for 15 years. He retired in 1929 at the age of 42.

Pullum never weighed more than 122 pounds during his reign. In March of 1914 he officially equaled his bodyweight of 120-1/2 pounds in the crucifix lift, the only man ever to accomplish this extraordinary feat.

In four years he won 15 British amateur championships and open competitions, 53 gold medals, and broke 192 world and British weightlifting records–every one an official performance. When he turned professional, no fewer than four of his records ran right through from the 126-pound class to the heavyweight division. In those days records made by a smaller man stood in heavier classes if they exceeded the record for the heavier class. Some of those records still stand.

In England Bill Pullum is widely renowned as a coach and trainer. He has trained scores of champions and record holders. At one time he and his pupils held 222 records out of a possible 252.

Pullum passed away in 1960.

Here is an example of a Pullum workout, this from his book “Weight Lifting” in 1922:

Curls
Snatch
One-Hand Snatch
Overhead Press
One-Hand Press
Cleans
One-Hand Clean
Leg Raises
Deadlift
Pullovers

Notes: Train consistently 2-3 days per week and add weight to the bar whenever possible and get lots of rest, eat good food and drink plenty of water.

Understand that to be successful in any weight training program – hard work is a must! Half-hearted effort does nothing for you. If you’re new to weight training or grossly out of shape, consult a physician first. End of disclaimer.

« Previous Page — Next Page »