Charles Atlas developed his training methods by observing animals at the zoo. This was after he tried weights but made no progress.
For those of you who are into the combative arts, this might be of interest to you. We study the way of fighting of the animals of nature, we incorporate what is applicable to the human body and we use it to defend ourselves.
But, if we also take an Atlas lesson and use these moves to build incredible strength, we can not only be much healthier, we can also be better at our arts. Personally, I think this was part of the teachings of the old masters, but has been forgotten due to the so-called advances in weight training. Interestingly, Atlas also taught fighting arts in his courses such as Karate, Boxing, and Lucha Libre. hmmm
Many of the “olden” strongmen gained extravagant strength with little or no use of weights. They knew what the Bulgarians have discovered through high-tech experiments. That only moving your body through space releases the proper hormones that result in increased strength and fitness.
Here are some feats of strength that Charles Atlas was able to pull off,
o I could do more than 30 pull-ups.
o Saved a rowboat full of people who had lost their oars and were stranded in a storm. He swam a mile toward them, tied a rope around his waist, and towed the boat to shore.
o You could do 70 deep knee bends (Hindu squats) with a 125-pound person on your back.
o Pulled a 144,000 pound train 120 feet!
o I could pull 5 cars for a mile.
o Won a “Most Perfectly Developed Man” contest at Madison Square Garden in 1922.
Stay strong
Jim Brassard Ph.d./Ma.D.Sc.
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