The Original Body Builders: How Greek Halteres and Celtic Gabal Stone Lifts Built the World's First Strongmen

The Original Body Builders: How Greek Halteres and Celtic Gabal Stone Lifts Built the World's First Strongmen

Fad workouts have been with us for decades, but they go back much further than we realize. Long before CrossFit, Zumba, P90X, Tae Box, Jazzercise or Jack LaLanne, we had 19th century strongmen. These mustachioed showmen were the first global fitness influencers. They hauled trunks of weights onto steamships, toured the world, then sold exercise equipment through the mail. The most famous was Eugene Sandow, who broke chains, and created with his own body a "manned cavalry bridge" where he would lie down while men, horses, and a carriage were driven over his body. He even fought a lion in front of an auditorium and won, although the lion was almost definitely sedated.

Today’s guest is Connor Heffernan, author of “When Fitness Went Global: The Rise of Physical Culture in the Nineteenth Century.” In this episode, we discuss:

  • Ancient Egyptians were basically doing CrossFit thousands of years ago. They trained with swinging sandbags that look exactly like modern kettlebell flows.
  • One of the first exercise practices to experience globalization was Indian club-swinging. Indian club-swinging, originating from the heavy training clubs used by Indian wrestlers and soldiers for centuries, was observed and adopted by British military officers stationed in India during the early 1800s.
  • Early diet culture was a carnival of quack science. Victorian fitness magazines were filled with miracle tonics, starvation cures and pseudoscientific meal plans. Many of our “new” diet trends are rebranded versions of schemes first marketed with sepia portraits and dubious testimonials.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Avsnitt(1073)

The Last Time Humanity Believed in Unstoppable Progress: Paris in the Belle Époque (1871-1914)

The Last Time Humanity Believed in Unstoppable Progress: Paris in the Belle Époque (1871-1914)

Many of the specific features we associate with Paris today – impressive sites like the Eiffel Tower and Sacré Coeur, French cinemas, and even the distinguished Art Nouveau Metro entrances – were born...

4 Juni 202446min

The Silk Road Travel Adventures of a 16th Century Mughal Princess and Her Massive Royal Retinue

The Silk Road Travel Adventures of a 16th Century Mughal Princess and Her Massive Royal Retinue

To most Westerners, the Mughal Empire is a forgotten stepchild of world history. Even though it produced the Taj Mahal and controlled nearly all modern-day India, the Mughal Dynasty’s accomplishments ...

30 Maj 202441min

The Months Leading up to the Civil War That Inflamed North-South Tensions from Animosity to Murderous Hatred

The Months Leading up to the Civil War That Inflamed North-South Tensions from Animosity to Murderous Hatred

On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln became the fluky victor in a tight race for president. The country was bitterly at odds; Southern radicals were moving ever closer to dividing the Union, with one ...

28 Maj 202436min

LSD’s Origins in Nazi Germany Brain-Washing Experiments, the CIA’s MKUltra Program, and the Dawn of the Psychedelic Age

LSD’s Origins in Nazi Germany Brain-Washing Experiments, the CIA’s MKUltra Program, and the Dawn of the Psychedelic Age

LSD has been banned in the United States for decades and became a Schedule 1 Controlled Substance in 1970, but it has experienced a resurgence among Silicon Valley entrepreneurs to overcome mental roa...

23 Maj 202443min

How Duke Ellington and Other Jazzmen Became America’s First Globally Famous Musicians

How Duke Ellington and Other Jazzmen Became America’s First Globally Famous Musicians

The first globally famous American musicians weren’t part of the 50s rock wave that included Elvis Pressly or Chuck Berry. They were three 3 jazzmen who orchestrated the chords that throb at the soul ...

21 Maj 202442min

Why America Could Have a Presidential Succession Crisis

Why America Could Have a Presidential Succession Crisis

America has an unmatched record when it comes to the peaceful transfer of power. According to legal scholar Roy E. Brownell II, however, our country is not that far off from a presidential succession ...

17 Maj 202420min

Dunkirk from the German Perspective

Dunkirk from the German Perspective

The British evacuation from the beaches of the small French port town of Dunkirk is one of the iconic moments of military history. The battle has captured the popular imagination through LIFE magazine...

16 Maj 202439min

The Global Manhunt For The Confederate Ship That Sunk Union Supply Vessels, From the Caribbean to the South Pacific

The Global Manhunt For The Confederate Ship That Sunk Union Supply Vessels, From the Caribbean to the South Pacific

Naval warfare is an overlooked factor of the Civil War, but it was a vitally important part of overall strategy for North and South, especially from the perspective of the Union, which used naval bloc...

14 Maj 202439min

Populärt inom Samhälle & Kultur

podme-dokumentar
gynning-berg
en-mork-historia
p3-dokumentar
aftonbladet-krim
svenska-fall
mardromsgasten
creepypodden-med-jack-werner
skaringer-nessvold
killradet
rattsfallen
hor-har
flashback-forever
spar
aterforeningen-en-podcast-med-thorsten-och-richard-flinck-av-sigge-eklund
vad-blir-det-for-mord
rss-mer-an-bara-morsa
rysarpodden
larm-vi-minns
rss-sanning-konsekvens