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Ancient Weight Training
Below is an excellent article that was recently sent to me. Within the entry, you will find an interesting discussion regarding the history of dumbell (or dumbbell) training.
The article was written by Gord Venables in 1942.
The Ancient Trained With Dumbells
Within the article, you’ll find interesting discussions on ancient training from several unique cultures. As expected, much of what was done several hundred years ago has been confused by many in today’s era to be new and modern.
For example, there is reference to the training of those from the French Renaissance in the late 1400′s and early 1500′s.
As quoted within:
He practices (referring to the training of the youth of the time) wrestling, running, broad and high jumping, swimming, rowing and sailing a boat, climbing ropes, masts, trees and walls, throwing stones, hurling spears, shooting with bow and with firearms, hanging and traveling sideways on a pole fixed in two trees, and putting up leaded dumbells.
Similar ideas regarding the integration of dumbbells and sport training can be seen within the Thomas Inch entry below:
Also noted within the ancient dumbbell article was reference to what many today call the Farmer’s Walk (an exercise that many believe to be new).
In the 1700’s interest in physical training with weights in various forms rapidly forged ahead. A common form of exercise for men was to walk with weights held either overhead or at sides, gauging their gains in strength by the exact time when the limbs began to pain them due to fatigue.
Another interesting line from the article suggests something I’ve often said within this blog:
We moderns frequently look down upon these people of two and three hundred years ago, but the many books they have left for us show that they knew physical training, methods of progressive weight training, and their favorable effects better than most of our physical educators and medical men today.
Lastly, as a long time proponent of dumbbell training, I enjoyed reading the following references below:
All the great strong men were habitual users of dumbells…
And…
Most of Louis Cyr’s (generally believed to be the strongest man who ever lived) training was with dumbells.
And lastly…
There were literally hundreds of other famous strong men of the same and a later period who trained almost exclusively with dumbells…
Those interested in more information regarding past strongman Louis Cyr can download George Jowett’s book (The Strongest Man That Ever Lived) at the link below:
Louis Cyr Info Page (Sandowplus.co.uk)
I also highly recommend reading through the blog referenced at the top of this entry:
Between Sandowplus and the site above, you’ll have a treasure chest worth of old time strength related literature.
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So true, the anceints really did know there stuff!
The same thing is happening now in the grappling world. Todays grapplers demonstrate techniques which they think is knew and give them funky names. However, if one was to pick up old Judo books from 60 or 70+ years ago or look at even old greek vases showing ancient pankration wrestlers, one will see very similar if not the same techniques demonstrated.
Unfortunately rather than just practicing lifts you enjoy, these days you have to adhere to a rep scheme and a guru.
Good post.
Simply reading through 15c fight manuals shows that the experts of that day knew their stuff as well as the experts of our day.
The fighting moves, training techniques etc. are everything but new.
For example at the time where no expanders existed,
the people trained with bows. When they got stronger they attached more bows and did different sorts pulling moves to get stronger.
There is nothing new under the sun. Shaka Zulu had his warriors train by running through the countryside carrying rocks of various sizes.
It’s funny but most of us that are truly into physical culture, are pretty well read and realize that this type of training has been around since man first picked up a rock. It’s easier to repackage it and claim it to be something newly discovered for marketing purposes, but we all know better. If it was effective then, it’s just as effective now. Good post.
Maybe I should create a fitness fad and call it Caveman Crunch, or something.
Look at the size and strength of the guys competing in Scottish Highland games, going back a thousands odd years. says it all really!