In Russia in the middle of the 19th century, in the tsar’s office there was a position of “Chief Observer of physical development population." Representatives of the Russian population who developed under such supervision still surprise with their very development.
For example, in weightlifting, those who “pulled” less than 100 kilograms had nothing to do in the Strong Club.
Sergei Eliseev (1876 – 1938). Lightweight weightlifter
Sergei Eliseev and Georg Hackenschmit
A world record holder, a hereditary hero of small stature, he accidentally became famous at a city festival in Ufa - he won a belt wrestling tournament against multiple champion. The next day, three rams were brought to Eliseev’s house as a generous act of recognition from the defeated ex-champion.
Trick. Took in right hand a weight weighing 62 kg, raised it up, then slowly lowered it to the side with a straight arm and held the hand with the weight in a horizontal position for several seconds. Three times in a row he pulled out two untied two-pound weights with one hand. In the two-arm press he lifted 145 kg and clean and jerked 160.2 kg.
Ivan Zaikin (1880 – 1949). Chaliapin of Russian muscles
World champion in wrestling, champion in weight lifting, circus performer, one of the first Russian aviators.
Foreign newspapers called him “the Chaliapin of Russian muscles.”
His athletic performances became a sensation. In 1908, Zaikin toured in Paris. After the athlete’s performance, the chains that Zaikin had broken, the iron beam bent on his shoulders, and the “bracelets” and “ties” he had tied from strip iron were displayed in front of the circus. Some of these exhibits were acquired by the Paris Cabinet of Curiosities and were displayed along with other curiosities.
Trick. Zaikin carried a 25-pound anchor on his shoulders, lifted a long barbell onto his shoulders, on which ten people sat, and began to rotate it (“living carousel”).
Georg Hackenschmidt (1878 – 1968). Russian lion
World champion in wrestling and world record holder in weightlifting. Since childhood, Gaak trained: he long jumped 4.9 meters, high jumped 1.4 meters, and ran 180 meters in 26 seconds. To strengthen his legs, he practiced climbing the spiral staircase to the spire of the Olivest Church with two-pound weights.
Gaak got into sports by accident: Doctor Kraevsky - “the father of Russian athletics” - convinced him that “he could easily become the strongest man in the world.” In 1897, Haack rushed to St. Petersburg, where he smashed the capital's heavyweights to smithereens. Training with Kraevsky, Gaak quickly takes all the first places in Russia (by the way, he ate everything he wanted, but drank only milk), and goes to Vienna. Next - Paris, London, Australia, Canada, America - and the title of the Russian Lion and the Strongest Man of the late 19th - early 20th centuries.
Trick. With one hand I pressed a barbell weighing 122 kg. He took 41 kg dumbbells in each hand and spread his straight arms horizontally to the sides. I pressed a barbell weighing 145 kg on a wrestling bridge. With his arms crossed on his back, Gaak lifted 86 kg from a deep squat. I squatted 50 times with a 50 kg barbell. Today the trick is called “gaak-exercise” or simply “gaak”.
Grigory Kashcheev (present - Kosinsky, 1863 - 1914). Giant downshifter
A hero from the village with a height advantage of 2.18 m. At the village fair, he defeated the visiting circus performer Besov, who immediately convinced him to go with him - “to show strength.”
“Grisha and I are coming to a remote, remote town. They never saw people like us there. Kashcheev (Kosinsky’s pseudonym) is shaggy, like a beast, and my last name is Besov. We have no human form. They decided that we were werewolves... Without saying a bad word, they lassoed us, took us out of the city and said: “If you don’t leave our city on good terms, then blame yourself!”, Besov recalled.
In 1906, Grigory Kashcheev first met world-class wrestlers and became friends with Zaikin, who helped him reach the big arena. Soon Kashcheev put all the famous strongmen on the shoulder blades, and in 1908, together with Poddubny and Zaikin, he went to Paris to the World Championship, from where they brought victory.
Trick. It would seem that now Kashcheev’s real wrestling career had begun, but, having refused the most lucrative offers, he abandoned everything and went to his village to plow the land.
“I had to see a lot of original people when I was the director of wrestling, but still I have to think that the most interesting in terms of character was the giant Grigory Kashcheev. In fact, it is hard to imagine that a gentleman, who had made a European name for himself within 3-4 years, would voluntarily leave the arena back to his village and take up the plow and harrow again. That same gentleman was of enormous strength. Almost a fathom tall, Kashcheev, if he were a foreigner, would have earned large capital, because he surpassed all foreign giants in strength" (Hercules Magazine, No. 2, 1915).
Pyotr Krylov (1871 – 1933). King of weights
A Muscovite, who changed his profession as a merchant navy navigator to an athlete, went all the way from fairs and “shows of living miracles” to large circuses and French wrestling championships. He (attention!) was a permanent winner of competitions for the best athletic figure, taking the example of the athlete Emil Foss as a child, who entered the arena in silk tights and leopard skin. He began his first training at home with irons, which he tied to a floor brush.
Trick. Krylov set several world records. In the “wrestling bridge” position, he squeezed 134 kg with both hands, and 114.6 kg with his left hand. Bench press in a “soldier’s stance”: with his left hand he lifted a two-pound weight 86 times in a row. The founder of spectacular stunts, which were then repeated by other athletes, and today by paratroopers: bending a rail on the shoulders, driving a car over the body, raising a platform with a horse and rider. While performing athletic performances, Krylov cheerfully commented on them. His remarks were always convincing. For example, when he smashed stones with his fist, he invariably addressed the audience with the following words:
“Gentlemen, if you think that there is falsehood in this number, then I can break this stone with my fist on the head of anyone from the public.”
From practice, Krylov could easily switch to theory and give a lecture on physical culture.
Alexander Zass (1888 – 1962). Russian Samson
Alexander Zass's father was just the man who could go up against a visiting strongman in the circus and win the fight. It is not surprising that Alexander ended up in the circus and took up everything at once: aerial gymnastics, horse riding, wrestling. In 1914, the World War broke out, and Alexander was drafted into the army in the 180th Vindavsky Cavalry Regiment. One day he was returning from reconnaissance and suddenly, already close to Russian positions, the enemy noticed him and opened fire. The bullet shot through the horse's leg. The Austrian soldiers, seeing that the horse and rider had fallen, did not pursue the cavalryman and turned back. And Alexander, making sure that the danger had passed, did not want to leave the wounded horse in no man's land. True, there was still half a kilometer left to the regiment's location, but this did not bother him. Alexander shouldered the horse and brought it to his camp. In the future, Alexander will include in his repertoire carrying on the shoulders of a horse. Having fallen into Austrian captivity, the strongman escapes on the third attempt, fortunately he knew how to bend bars and break chains. Once in Europe, he defeated all the strongmen of Europe and became the “Russian Samson”.
Trick. For several decades, his name, or rather his pseudonym - Samson, did not leave the circus posters of many countries. His repertoire of power moves was amazing: he carried a horse or a piano around the arena with a pianist and dancer located on the lid, and caught with his hands a 90-kilogram cannonball, which was fired from a circus cannon from a distance of 8 meters. “Russian Samson” lifted a metal beam with assistants sitting at its ends from the floor and held it in his teeth. Having threaded the shin of one leg into the loop of a rope fixed under the very dome, he held the platform with the piano and the pianist in his teeth. Lying with his bare back on a board studded with nails, Zaas held a stone weighing 500 kilograms on his chest, which those who wished (from the public) hit with sledgehammers. In the famous "Projectile Man" attraction, he caught with his hands an assistant flying out of the mouth of a circus cannon and describing a 12-meter trajectory above the arena. In Sheffield in 1938, he was run over by a truck loaded with coal in front of a crowd. Samson stood up and, smiling, bowed to the audience.
Frederick Müller (1867–1925). Evgeniy Sandov
Few people know that the weightlifting record holder and “wizard of the pose” Evgeniy Sandov is Frederik Müller. Not only a top athlete, but also a savvy businessman, Muler realized that a career in strength sports it will go faster if you take a Russian name. The newly minted Sandow differed from the frail Müller in his outstanding strength, achieved through training and physical education.
Trick. Weighing less than 80 kg, he set a world record with a one-arm bench press of 101.5 kg. He did a backflip, holding 1.5 pounds in each hand. Within four minutes he could do 200 push-ups.
Business trick. In 1930, under his Russian name, he published the book "Bodybuilding", giving the name to this sport in all English-speaking countries and also giving reason to believe that bodybuilding was invented by the Russians.
HANS STEYER(Bavaria, 1849 - 1906), standing on two chairs, raised 16 poods with his middle finger (threaded into a ring). His “live horizontal bar” was a hit with the audience: with straight arms, Steyer held a 70-pound (31.7 kg) barbell in front of him, on the bar of which he performed gymnastic exercises his son, who weighed 90 pounds.
Steyer was also famous for his eccentricity. His cane weighed 40 pounds (18 kg), the snuff box, which he held in the palm of his hand when treating friends, weighed 100 pounds (45 kg). Sometimes he put a cylinder weighing 75 pounds (34 kg) on his head and, arriving at a cafe, left it on the table, then asked the waiter to bring his cylinder (Remember: 1 Russian pound = 409 g; trade pound = 453 g; 1 pood = 16, 38 kg).
ANTON RIKHA
The Bohemian Anton Richa was famous for his ability to carry enormous weights. In 1891, he raised 52 pounds. (851 kg)
AT THE BEGINNING of the 17th century, the athlete was very popular in England. TOM TOFAN. Of medium height, proportionally built, he easily lifted stones weighing up to 24 pounds (393 kg) from the ground with his hands, tied an iron poker around his neck like a scarf, and in 1741, in a square crowded with spectators, he lifted three barrels of water weighing 50 pounds (819 kg). In 1893, a competition for the title of “world champion in weight lifting” was held in New York. The strongest athletes of that time came to the competition. Louis Cyr came from Canada, Evgeniy Sandov came from Europe. American James Walter Kennedy twice lifted an iron cannonball weighing 36 pounds 24.5 pounds (almost 601 kg), lifting it from the platform by 4 inches. None of the athletes could repeat this number. Record set turned out to be fatal for the 33-year-old athlete: he overstrained himself and after that was forced to perform only with a demonstration of his muscles. The athlete died at 34 years old.
SERGEY ELISEEV
The world record holder, Russian athlete Sergei Eliseev, took a weight of 61 kg in his right hand, lifted it up, then slowly lowered it to the side with a straight arm and held the hand with the weight in a horizontal position for several seconds. Three times in a row he pulled out two untied two-pound weights with one hand.
IVAN PODDUBNY
Ivan Maksimovich Poddubny ("champion of champions", 1871-1949) had great physical strength. It should be noted that he left the wrestling mat at the age of 50. Without specially training in athletic routines, he could, by bending his arms along his body, lift 120 kg with his biceps!
LURICH
The enormous success of the Estonian strongman, world champion Georg Lurich, was brought not only by his records, but also by the harmony and beauty of his physique. He posed more than once for sculptors such as Rodin and Adamson. The latter's sculpture "Champion" won first prize at the World's Fair in America in 1904. In the arena, Lurich demonstrated the following numbers: standing on a wrestling bridge, he held four men on himself. and at that time he was holding a 7-pound barbell in his hands. He held five people on one arm. held with his hands two camels pulling in opposite directions. He lifted a 105 kg barbell with his right hand and, holding it at the top, took a 34 kg weight from the floor with his left hand and lifted it up. (Sculpture "Champion").
IVAN MIKHAILOVICH ZAIKIN(1880 - 1949), famous Russian athlete, wrestler, one of the first Russian pilots. Zaikin's athletic numbers caused a sensation. Foreign newspapers wrote: “Zaikin is the Chaliapin of Russian muscles.” In 1908, Zaikin toured in Paris. After the athlete’s performance, in front of the circus, on a special platform, the chains torn by Zaikin, the iron beam bent on his shoulders, “bracelets” and “ties” that he had tied from strip iron were displayed. Some of these exhibits were acquired by the Paris Cabinet of Curiosities and were displayed along with other curiosities. Zaikin carried a 25-pound anchor on his shoulders, lifted a long barbell onto his shoulders, on which ten people sat, and began to rotate it (“living carousel”)
GRIGORY KASCHEYEV
This man had enormous strength. Almost a fathom tall (218 cm), Kashcheev, if he were a foreigner, would have earned a lot of money, because he surpassed all foreign giants in strength. In 1906, he met world-class wrestlers for the first time. He became friends with Zaikin, who helped him enter the big arena. Soon Kashcheev put all the famous strongmen on the shoulder blades, and in 1908, together with Poddubny and Zaikin, he went to Paris for the World Championship. Our heroes returned to their homeland in victory. It would seem that now Kashcheev’s real wrestling career had begun, but he still gave up everything and went to his village.
IVAN SHEMYAKIN(1877-1952)
In 1905, huge posters adorned the streets of Paris proclaiming that “The terrible Russian Cossack Shemyakin lifts six Japanese with one hand.” The posters were wrong about one thing: although Ivan was dressed in a Cossack costume, he did not belong to this brave tribe. In fact, this was his first foreign tour, and it was a triumph. For several evenings in a row, along with athletic performances, he demonstrated a power trick on a topical topic (after all, the Russo-Japanese War was at its height), with one hand he lifted six uniform athletes dressed in Japanese costumes. The applause of the French drowned out the sounds of the orchestra.
LOUIS CIRE
Louis Cyr ("American Miracle", 1863 - 1912). This strongest man American continent I was amazed by its size. With a height of 176 cm, he weighed 133 kg, chest volume 147 cm, biceps 55 cm. A curious case happened with 22-year-old Louis Cyr in Montreal, where he served as a policeman: one day he brought two hooligans to the station, holding them under his arms . After this incident, at the insistence of his friends, he began to develop strength and perform athletic routines in which for a long time he did not know competitors. He lifted 26 pounds (425.8 kg) to his knees with one hand, and lifted a platform with 14 adult men on his shoulders. He held a 143 lb (64.8 kg) load in front of him at arm's length for 5 seconds. He put a sheet of paper under a barrel of cement and offered to pull it out. Not a single athlete was able to complete this task, but Louis Cyr himself lifted this barrel every evening.
FRENCH ATHLETE APOLLO(Louis Uni) lifted five weights of 20 kg each with one hand. I lifted a barbell weighing 165 kg with a very thick bar (5 cm). Only 20 years after Apollo, this barbell (the axle from the trolley) was able to be lifted by the champion Olympic Games 1924 Charles Rigoulot, who, by the way, holds the world record in the snatch with his right hand of 116 kg. In the famous "cage release" trick, Apollo used his hands to push apart the thick bars and exit the cage.
EVGENY SANDOV
Eugene Sandow (Frederick Miller, 1867-1925) was extremely popular among the British. He was called the “magician of poses” and “the strongest man.” Weighing no more than 80 kg, he set a world record by squeezing 101.5 kg with one hand. He did a backflip, holding 1.5 pounds in each hand. Within four minutes he could do 200 push-ups. In 1911, King George V of England awarded Sandow the title of Professor of Physical Development.
A golden statuette depicting Sandow was awarded to the winner
athletic competition in 1901 Now, as you know, it is awarded to the winner of Mr. Olympia. In 1930, one of his many books entitled “Bodybuilding” was published, giving the sport its name in all English-speaking countries.
ALEXANDER IVANOVICH ZASS This happened in 1938 in the English city of Sheffield. As the crowd watched, a truck loaded with coal ran over a man sprawled on the cobblestones. Will people scream in horror when the front and then rear wheels moved across the body. But the next second there was a cry of delight from the crowd: “Hurray for Samson!”, “Glory to the Russian Samson!” And the man to whom this storm of jubilation was concerned, stood up from under the wheels, as if nothing had happened, smiling, and bowed to the audience. His real name is Alexander Ivanovich Zass. The numbers of the Russian athlete are amazing. At own weight he carried no more than 80 kg on the shoulders of a horse weighing up to 400 kg. He lifted with his teeth an iron beam weighing 135 kg, at the ends of which two assistants sat, a total of 265 kg. For fun, he could lift a taxi and drive the car like a wheelbarrow, break horseshoes and break chains. He lifted 20 people on the platform. In the famous "Projectile Man" attraction, he caught his assistant in his hands, who, like an artillery shell, flew out of the muzzle of a circus cannon and described a 12-meter trajectory above the arena. A. Zass lifted such a platform with the help of straps put on his shoulders (W. Churchill on the far right). (Read the book about Samson on our website).
GEORG HACKENSCHMIDT(“Russian Lion”) - (also read about him and about his training), world champion in wrestling and world record holder in weightlifting, pressed a barbell weighing 122 kg with one hand. He took 41 kg dumbbells in each hand and spread his straight arms horizontally to the sides. I pressed a barbell weighing 145 kg on a wrestling bridge. With his arms crossed on his back, Gaak lifted -86 kg from a deep squat. And with a 50-kilogram barbell - 50 times. These days this exercise is known as the "gaak exercise" or simply "gaak exercise." Already 82 years old, Hackenschmidt jumped over a rope stretched across the backs of two chairs, pushing off the floor with both legs at the same time.
YAKUB CHEKHOVSKAYA
In 1913, at a weightlifting competition in Petrograd, in the former Mikhailovsky Arena, athlete Yakub Chekhovskaya demonstrated a sensational strength trick - he carried six soldiers of the Guards regiment in a circle on one arm, for which he was awarded an honorary “golden belt”. This record number has not yet been repeated by any athlete in the world. Chekhovsky himself constantly demonstrated it in his performances. The athlete’s other numbers are no less amazing. While making the “bridge”, Yakub Chekhovskaya supported ten people. A platform was installed on his chest, on which a brass band of 30 musicians was located. On the shoulders of the athlete, 40 people bent an I-beam metal beam. 3 trucks carrying the public drove through his chest.
PETER KRYLOV("King of Weights").
One of the strongest athletes of the beginning of our century was Pyotr Fedotovich Krylov. His love for the circus forced him to change his profession as a merchant navy navigator to that of an athlete. The path of the young strongman was not easy. At first, he performed in booths, traveled to fairs in provincial cities, where several times a day he not only demonstrated athletic performances, but also belt wrestled with amateurs from the public. Soon Krylov's name becomes famous, and he begins to perform in large circuses, where his performances are a huge success. Along with demonstrating power tricks, Krylov competed in French wrestling championships and won prizes, and in competitions for the best athletic figure he invariably received first prizes.
Pyotr Krylov set several world records. In the “wrestling bridge” position, he squeezed 134 kg with both hands, and 114.6 kg with his left hand. Pressing a two-pound weight in a soldier's stance with his left hand - 86 times in a row. He created a number of athletic tricks that became widespread: bending a rail on the shoulders, driving a car over the body of an athlete. Was a passionate propagandist physical culture. Gave lectures on athletic sports.
NIKOLAI VAKHTUROV Nizhny Novgorod hero.
“Nikolai Vakhturov! - and from the “parade”, smiling affectionately, the colossal figure of the Nizhny Novgorod hero steps out ponderously. A spontaneous fighter. In the scope of his nature and in his temperament, the epic Vaska Buslaev, brought to us in the 20th century. This is the “idea of onslaught” embodied in a muscular body. "A reckless Russian wrestler who breaks everyone who falls into his arms. Even a very restrained stallholder bursts into applause, which turns into a real storm in the gallery," the magazine "Hercules" wrote about him (1913). This is how Nikolai Vakhturov, a world champion and student of Ivan Poddubny, entered the history of Russian sports.
WILLIAMS MOORE-Znamensky(Alexander Znamensky, 1877-1928), Moscow. A professional circus athlete, he performed record strength feats: he did a somersault with two-pound weights in each hand, carried a piano with a tapper on his back, held a platform with an orchestra on his chest, bench-pressed 132 kg from a wrestling bridge, squeezed two two-pound weights with his right hand, placing them one on top of the other. Contained a paid arena. He had an attractive appearance and a powerful figure: height 170 cm, weight 88 kg. chest 118 cm, waist 82 cm, neck 46, biceps 43, calves 40, thigh 61 cm.
VLADISLAV PYTLASINSKY(1863-1933), St. Petersburg, Warsaw. A student of Kraevsky, he himself became a professional coach - in 1898 he opened a paid athletic school in St. Petersburg, and in 1911 in Odessa. He successfully competed in international championships of wrestlers and athletes. He achieved results that were high for those times: he squeezed 98 kg with his right hand, pushed 115 kg with both hands, pulled out two two-pound weights with one hand without tying them up, and squatted with a weight of 175 kg. His measurements in 1903: height 184 cm, weight 105 kg, biceps 44 cm, neck 46, chest 128, thigh 69, calves 44 cm.
Fans of athleticism will be interested in getting acquainted with the training famous strongmen use the most useful recommendations in their physical activity.
If we trace the life path of Alexander Zass, we can say that it was based on constant, purposeful work combined with a strict regime. In one of the photographs, where “Samson” is captured sitting at a table near a samovar, there is his note: “5 minutes of rest.” But he was then 74 years old, and he continued to work, training animals. As a teenager, Alexander tried out many systems of physical development. He started, like many at that time, with Sandow’s system of physical development, then, on the recommendations of Dmitriev-Morro and Peter Krylov, he began to include exercises with barbells in his training. He juggled with weights, squeezed, pulled out and threw them upside down, squeezed two-pound weights on his little fingers. With a barbell, I performed a bench press in a soldier's stance, squeezed the barbell from behind my head, twisted it with one hand, and squeezed the barbell while standing on a wrestling bridge. But still, Alexander was more attracted to the power tricks that he saw in the circus. And here it is sports equipment began to transform, beginning to look more like the props of a circus athlete: metal rods of different thicknesses and lengths, chains, horseshoes, forged nails with heads of larger diameter than usual, all kinds of devices for “dental numbers”, etc. It should be said that all sports equipment In addition to weights, Zass had a homemade one and he constantly updated and improved it. So, with the help of a blacksmith he knew, a ball barbell was made, the kind that Alexander had seen in circus athletes. The balls were hollow and could be filled with sand. This is how the weight of the bar changed. The barbell did not rotate, which made it difficult to perform some exercises, such as barbell cleans. Bulldogs were also homemade (dumbbells weighing more than 16 kg were called that). Alexander had a whole set of them: 16, 24, 40 kg. He paid great attention to developing finger strength. In addition to the usual exercises of winding a cord with weight on a stick, he constantly carried with him a thick “Arabian” ball, which he squeezed with his fingers. I trained the extreme phalanges of my fingers with self-resistance exercises and twisting chain links with my fingers. Subsequently, breaking chains with his fingers was constantly included in his repertoire. While working in the circus, he continued to study the methods of training all the strongmen he met. He studied their data, sought to understand why different exercises have different effects on muscle growth and results. As a result, I determined a combination for my training dynamic exercises, with isometric exercises that he believed helped him develop the strength and endurance needed to be a professional strongman. “Samson” paid great attention breathing exercises, which contribute to the development of muscles involved in the breathing process, increasing mobility chest. Samson's chest excursion (the difference between the chest circumference between inhalation and exhalation) was 23 centimeters. Colossal chest excursion, strong intercostal muscles and latissimus muscles backs allowed “Samson” to break the chains,
knitted around his chest.
(From Vakhturov’s article in the magazine “Hercules” No. 12, 1915)
“I get up at 8 o’clock. I've been walking for an hour. I come home and drink four glasses of sweet tea. I rest, lying in bed, for about half an hour. Then I train for an hour with four-kilogram dumbbells according to I.V. Lebedev’s system. I run in place with deep breathing for 15 minutes. I wipe my body with a wet towel and go for a walk for an hour and a half. When I get home, I pull the band for about twenty minutes and do about 50 push-ups on chairs in a row, and then I jump over chairs for five minutes. At-
I take an air bath, sitting on a chair, and wipe my entire body with cologne. I have lunch, mostly just greens (I don’t eat boiled meat at all). I walk for about an hour. I sleep for an hour and a half. When I wake up, I read the newspapers. I drink four glasses of tea. I go to the circus, where I wrestle. The next day, when I get up, I immediately start training in wrestling for an hour and a half. I pull the enemy up with a reverse belt 20 - 25 times. Then I run and go for a walk. That’s my whole “system”, into which, by the will of fate, my whole life fit in.”
The life method of champion athlete Jan Krause
(Hercules magazine No. 13, 1915)
“The main secret of my success in weightlifting is that I once and for all set myself the goal of leading a harsh, strictly defined lifestyle, from which I never deviate. I also never deviate from the method of training and distribution of the day that I have adopted. This is how my day goes. I get up at eight o'clock in the morning. I drink two glasses of sweet tea and eat a bun with butter and two eggs. I'm going to work. I return home and have lunch: very little meat, a lot of greens, fruit and usually buckwheat porridge. I have a good appetite, just not enough
I’m eating, but I get up from the table with the feeling that I could have another snack... I’m resting. I drink milk with black bread. I'm going for a walk - at least 4 - 6 miles. When I come home, I train twice a week from 8 o’clock to 11 o’clock in the evening, and on weights I devote an hour and a half to free movements. From kettlebell exercises I mainly train on pushing movements (I don’t like push-ups) and try to do all the movements once a week. I don’t train with dumbbells at all and consider them completely unnecessary for a record-breaking weightlifter. I go to bed at 12 o’clock at night, and so on, day after day.”
“His name in Paris and Madrid is a guarantee of full fees. Strong infinitely and precisely cast from steel. If he only defends himself, there is no force that could break him. When I was still a student at the I. V. Lebedev School of Athletics, even the strongest professionals did not know what to do with the “spool”. Now the iron Spul is the thunderstorm of all championships...” (Album “Wrestlers”, publication of the magazine “Hercules”, Petrograd, 1917) “In my opinion, everyone should develop a separate training system for themselves, in accordance with their habits and characteristics body. Here's my training day: I get up at twelve o'clock. I take an air bath for 10 minutes. I do push-ups, lying on the floor or on chairs, 100 times (staggered, of course). I do ten minutes of eight-pound dumbbells. After letting my body cool down, I take a cold shower. I rub my body red with a shaggy towel. I'm getting dressed. I drink two bottles of hot milk with cream and sugar. I eat a hearty breakfast of eggs, vegetables, flour and fruits, and I chew very slowly. I walk for about two hours. I'm coming briskly, sometimes I switch from walking to running. When I get home, I do a 5 minute workout with 8 pound dumbbells. I pull the rubber for 5 minutes. I train in wrestling for 30 - 40 minutes. After 5-
After a minute's rest, I do 100 jumps in place. I run for 10 minutes. I'm taking a shower. I rub cologne all over my body. I go for a walk for 15-20 minutes. I have lunch: vegetables, flour, very little meat, fruit. I walk for half an hour. I play billiards. Then I wrestle in the circus. After the fight, I wash my body with water and rub it with alcohol. I have dinner: greens, eggs. I drink two bottles of milk with cream and sugar. I walk for half an hour and go to bed no later than two o’clock in the morning, so that I have at least 10 hours of sleep.” (From the sixth issue of the magazine “Hercules” for 1915)
("Weightlifting", 1916)
“My teacher, Dr. V.F. Kraevsky, to the assurances of many opponents of the development of heavy weights that “you can overstrain yourself,” responded like this: “If you can lift a weight, then you will not overstrain yourself; and if you can’t lift it, then you won’t strain yourself either, because you won’t lift it.” This was quite witty, but not entirely true, since by lifting heavy weights without knowledge of the basic laws of weightlifting, you can overstrain yourself and ruin your health. Meanwhile, the basic laws of weightlifting (kettlebell lifting) are very simple. Here they are:
1. Do not lift the weights impulsively (especially do not tear them off the ground abruptly) and you will not overstrain yourself;
2. Do not hold your breath while lifting the weight (or approaching it);
3. Do not unnecessarily strain other muscles except those that perform the necessary “work”: for example, when squeezing and pushing with both hands, you do not need to tightly grip the barbell; with any movement with weights, tension is required only for lifting, but the weight must be lowered very easily without any muscle tension;
4. “Work” constantly smoothly, without sudden movements, even when pushing, all tempos of movement should be smooth;
5. Do not be nervous either during the “work” or when starting it, that is, do not be afraid of the weight, assure yourself that you must lift the weight, that you cannot help but lift it. If you internalize these rules, then you won’t experience the slightest harm from weightlifting, but you will get undoubtedly great benefits: increased strength, muscle development and awareness of your own strength. Each person can become two or three times stronger, and heavy weights are one of the most powerful ways to make a person stronger. When lifting weights, you need to make a distinction between record lifting and training lifting. In pursuit of records you need to be very careful. It is best for beginners to put aside all thoughts of records for a year or two. Strengthen and temper your body by training in several sports - a wide variety, and only after that begin record-breaking training. If the record doesn't work, don't be upset and don't give up on training: in essence, nothing in the world will change because you didn't lift 10 pounds more, and the benefits of training still you will have a big one. Regarding the lifestyle: “the human body does not tolerate constraint, but any excess is harmful.” As for food, I strongly advise against eating meat: it introduces putrefactive decomposition products into your body and forms uric acid, which poisons the body. The basic rule for eating is to chew as slowly as possible. I don’t recommend drinking alcohol or smoking at all. Sleep - 7-8 hours. Dress without wrapping yourself up or wearing warm underwear. Fresh air and water (showers or washes) are necessary for every person who wants to be strong and healthy. Here is a training scheme for an amateur weightlifter, assuming he is free all day. Get up at 8 o'clock in the morning. Air bath 5 - 10 minutes. Freestyle movements - 5 minutes. Light dumbbells - 10 minutes. Rubber stretching - 10 minutes. Freestyle movements - 5 minutes. Running (at least in place) - 3 - 5 minutes. Air bath (until the heart calms down), shower (dousing or rubbing the whole body). Go to bed, cover yourself with a warm blanket to sweat. Get up and wipe yourself with water at room temperature with cologne or alcohol. Eat 2 - 3 soft-boiled eggs and drink 1 - 2 glasses of hot milk with sugar. Chew slowly, drink the milk in small sips, holding it in your mouth. Get dressed and go for a walk. Walk quickly, but with a clear, even step. Sometimes start running. The walk lasts 1 - 2 hours. When you come home, if you have rings or parallel bars, do gymnastics on them, and if not, then do push-ups on chairs. Every 1 - 2 days, increase the number of repetitions. Training with rubber bands - 10 minutes. Jumping - 5 minutes. Air bath - 3 minutes. Whole body rubdown. Breakfast. Two hours after breakfast, train with heavy weights, and devote one day to
squeezing and pushing, the other - pushing out, pulling out, the third - one squeezing. Be sure to add to these movements every day: bench presses for reps, squats on toes with a barbell on your shoulders behind your head, and biceps pull-ups. Then, holding the barbell with an underhand grip, bend and straighten your arms at the wrist joints. Weight training is done with very light weights; example: an athlete can bench press 72 kg with both hands - he should start the workout with 32 kg and end with a weight of 56 kg. Kettlebell training continues for one hour. Dumbbells - 15 minutes. Running - 5 - 10 minutes. Whole body rubdown. Walk. Take up other sports: swimming, football, rowing, cycling, and in winter - skating or skiing. Lunch - a lot of fruit, raw boiled. 2 hours after lunch - training in wrestling with a partner: first strength, then - techniques. Lasts 1 hour, with breaks. Then gymnastics on machines (simulators) or freestyle movements - 5 - 10 minutes. Rubbing the body with cologne. Walk. When you come home, drink hot milk with sugar, but do not have dinner. At 12 o'clock - go to bed. At the same time, train with heavy weights three times a week: every other day. The best kettlebell training is with separate weights. If you have the opportunity to take boxing lessons, then take up boxing on your free days. One day a week - complete rest from any training, except for other sports at fresh air: football, etc. Needless to say, among athletes there are very few lucky ones who would have the opportunity and leisure to devote their entire day to training. But free time, less or larger size, every person has it in the morning, during the day, and in the evening. Create a short training plan for yourself, following the example above, so that it is no less versatile. In two years you will be a strong and well-rounded athlete and then you can start special training.”
(Hercules magazine No. 14, 1915)
“Georg Hackenschmidt owes his strength, his muscles, his records and his entire career solely to training... Among Russian athletes, there is not one who devoted all his leisure time to training as diligently as the “Russian Lion.” Hackenschmidt's initial “work”, before his arrival in Petrograd in 1897, was not rational. True, he raced a bicycle, was a good gymnast, could already twist 240 pounds (96 kg) with one arm, and, performing in small Baltic circuses under the name “Lenz,” amazed the public with the development of his muscles. But real workout for him it began from the day when Dr. V.F. Kraevsky took care of him. At almost three months, Hackenschmidt expanded in his chest by almost 10 centimeters and began to give the impression of Hercules of Farnese. Doctor Kraevsky achieved this with enhanced nutrition: a remarkably strong broth was cooked for Hackenschmidt, and a plate of broth was boiled from 6 - 7 pounds of meat. Kraevsky fed Gakkenshmidt exactly for slaughter, at the same time forcing him to train with weights - average weight - for 2 - 3 hours, twice daily: in the morning and in the afternoon. At the same time, training on the rings was mandatory. Body hygiene was very important - after training there was a cold bath and a walk. Gakkenshmidt did very little dumbbell training at that time. But much attention was paid to separate weight exercises (with bulldogs and weights) and squats with a barbell over the shoulders. This is how Hackenschmidt’s kettlebell training went on at that time; with wrestling, things were worse then - there was no one to train seriously with, I had to limit myself to friendly training in Kraevsky’s circle and in the Athletic Society, running and jumping. The time for real wrestling training came for Hackenschmidt from his American tour, when he began training with Dr. Roller, the best representative of freestyle wrestling. Every day, every morning, Gackenschmidt and Roller, dressed warmly, ran for about an hour without rest, until they sweated. This was followed by wrestling training, followed by a massage. After the massage, free movements according to the Dane Muller system and a bath.”
World champion, athlete and wrestler Stanislav Zbyshko-Tsyganevich about his training
“I sleep for ten hours. I get up at 5 am. I take an air bath for 5 - 10 minutes. Then I train for half an hour with 5-pound dumbbells, do freestyle movements, and do some exercises with bands. I take a shower and eat something light. In general, I don’t eat any meat; I even feel some kind of disgust for it. My food is fruits, greens, flour and a lot of cakes. I don't drink wine or beer. I love milk and very sweet tea (6 pieces per glass). I go for a walk, and from time to time I switch to a slow run. Arriving home, I begin to train in wrestling, usually with 3-4 wrestlers in a row, and especially practice lifting them from the ground with a reverse belt several times. Wrestling training takes about an hour. Then massage and shower. Breakfast. Walk again and then run (I run for 1.5 hours with breaks). After running, I start walking, and try to breathe deeply and strongly. Then - lunch. After lunch I read something and do some correspondence. About two hours after lunch, training again. I work out with dumbbells, rubber bands that I stretch from behind my back, play handball and jump rope. In Europe, jumping rope is a child's game, but practical Americans have long realized that jumping rope is an excellent workout for breathing, against obesity, etc. All American wrestlers and boxers always use jumping rope in their training. After training, another massage, then a bath. I have dinner and go for a walk at a slow, quiet pace. Then a good, sound sleep. I do weightlifting once a week, and I push a barbell of 104 kg 25 times in a row, lifting it the same number of times at the same pace on the chest. On those days when I have a particularly difficult struggle, my training is limited to just jumping rope. These days I try not to get nervous and not think about anything, but mostly read novels by my favorite writer Henryk Sienkiewicz. As if alive, the images he created of our Polish heroes and that heroic young man whose name I took and whom I set as my prototype, Zbyszko from “Sword Bearers,” appear before me. When I go to fight in the evening, these inspired images seem to inspire me - I experience an inexpressible lift of spirit. After the struggle, I wash first with warm water with soap and a brush, then with cold water and wipe myself with some alcohol so as not to get boils. I have dinner and take a walk. This is the mode of life I adhere to. I am often asked which contractions were the most difficult. In French wrestling - with Poddubny, in Free American wrestling - with the Indian Gamma.”
Anthropometric data: height - 175 cm, weight - 120 kg, chest circumference when inhaling - 130 cm, biceps - 52 cm, forearm - 38 cm, thigh - 78 cm, lower leg - 46 cm.
Recommendations from Honored Artist of the RSFSR, professional athlete Valentin Dikul for those involved in athletics.
1. Systematic medical supervision is required.
2. You can move on to developing special strength qualities only after a year of athletic gymnastics.
3. Before exercising with weights, a thorough warm-up is necessary to warm up the muscles. 4. Every week you need to change a number of exercises and the order in which they are performed in order to avoid the muscles “getting used to” the loads of repeated movements.
5. Even trained athletes should exercise cleanly. power complex no more than 30 - 40 days.
6. When exercising with heavy weights, pay special attention to your joints and avoid overloading them.
7. Perform all exercises in 5 sets of 6 times. For muscles abdominals- 3 sets of 30 - 40 times. The recommended load should serve as a guide, you should always take your individual
dual capabilities and physical fitness.
8. Do not in any way strive to “eat up” the weight, which is what heavy weightlifters once strived for. weight categories and circus strongmen. My strength is the result of modern training methods.
Daily routine
“I get up at 8 a.m. and do easy charging. I'm having breakfast. I spend two hours writing letters from patients. Then I train for 4 hours with full effort and always with heavier equipment than those used during the performance. Resting. I give another two hours to the sick. And finally, I begin to prepare for the performance in the arena. Special diet I don't use it. I eat a little. But the diet is based on protein foods, fruits, and vegetables. In winter, I definitely add multivitamins.” Personal records of V. Dikul: bench press - 240 kg, squats - 340 kg, deadlift- more than 500 kg. Without special training in triathlon he had a result of 547 kg (two press - 182 kg, two snatch - 157.5 kg, two clean and jerk - 207.5 kg). Anthropometric data: height - 175 cm, weight - 108 kg, biceps - 50 cm. To lovers of athleticism, V. Dikul #3 105# addresses the following words: “Be faithful to the end to athleticism, do not rush from side to side, love your wonderful sport that will give you good health, physical beauty, will expand your spiritual world."
Recommendations for beginning athletes from the book “Athleticism” by G. Tenno and Yu. Sorokin
In 1968, the publishing house “Young Guard” published the book “Athleticism”, which immediately became a bestseller among fans of strength. International category judge in weightlifting Georgy Pavlovich Tenno, using his rich knowledge of the history of world athletics, developed sets of exercises with weights and gave methodological recommendations, which have not lost their relevance to this day.
Having become familiar with the complexes physical exercise and recommendations famous athletes, you can choose one or another of them for training, taking into account your capabilities and the goal that you set for yourself. Systematic, purposeful exercise will certainly bring tangible results in increasing strength, developing an athletic figure, endurance and general well-being. The effect of exercise will be greater if you diversify your workouts. In addition to weight training, include running, swimming, and outdoor games in your activities. In conclusion, we can cite the words of the famous Georg Hackenschmidt: “All people of outstanding strength achieved their physical perfection only with the help of significant willpower: they wanted to become strong and became strong. Everyone needs to have faith that they can become strong.”
In Russia in the middle of the 19th century, in the tsar’s office there was a position of “Chief Observer of the Physical Development of the Population.” Representatives of the Russian population who developed under such supervision still surprise with their very development. For example, in weightlifting, those who “pulled” less than 100 kilograms had nothing to do in the Strong Club.
1. Sergei Eliseev (1876 - 1938). Lightweight weightlifter
A world record holder, a hereditary hero of small stature, he became famous by chance at a city festival in Ufa - he won a belt wrestling tournament against a multiple champion. The next day, three rams were brought to Eliseev’s house as a generous act of recognition from the defeated ex-champion.
Trick. He took a weight of 62 kg in his right hand, lifted it up, then slowly lowered it to the side with a straight arm and held the hand with the weight in a horizontal position for several seconds. Three times in a row he pulled out two untied two-pound weights with one hand. In the two-arm press he lifted 145 kg and clean and jerked 160.2 kg.
2. Ivan Zaikin (1880 - 1949). Chaliapin of Russian muscles
World champion in wrestling, champion in weight lifting, circus performer, one of the first Russian aviators. Foreign newspapers called him “Chaliapin of Russian muscles.” His athletic performances caused a sensation. In 1908, Zaikin toured in Paris. After the athlete’s performance, the chains that Zaikin had broken, the iron beam bent on his shoulders, and the “bracelets” and “ties” he had tied from strip iron were displayed in front of the circus. Some of these exhibits were acquired by the Paris Cabinet of Curiosities and were displayed along with other curiosities.
Trick. Zaikin carried a 25-pound anchor on his shoulders, lifted a long barbell onto his shoulders, on which ten people sat, and began to rotate it (“a living carousel”).
3.Georg Hackenschmidt (1878 - 1968). Russian lion
World champion in wrestling and world record holder in weightlifting. Since childhood, Gaak trained: he long jumped 4 m 90 cm, high jumped 1 m 40 cm, and ran 180 m in 26 seconds. To strengthen his legs, he practiced climbing the spiral staircase to the spire of the Olivest Church with two-pound weights. Gaack got into sports by accident: Doctor Kraevsky, “the father of Russian athletics,” convinced him that “he could easily become the strongest man in the world.” In 1897, Haack rushed to St. Petersburg, where he smashed the capital's heavyweights to smithereens. Training with Kraevsky, Gaak quickly takes all the first places in Russia (by the way, he ate everything he wanted, but drank only milk), and goes to Vienna. Next - Paris, London, Australia, Canada, America - and the title of the Russian Lion and the Strongest Man of the late 19th - early 20th centuries.
Trick. With one hand I pressed a barbell weighing 122 kg. He took 41 kg dumbbells in each hand and spread his straight arms horizontally to the sides. I pressed a barbell weighing 145 kg on a wrestling bridge. With his arms crossed on his back, Gaak lifted 86 kg from a deep squat. I squatted 50 times with a 50 kg barbell. Today the trick is called “gaak-exercise” or simply “gaak”.
4. Grigory Kashcheev (present - Kosinsky, 1863 - 1914). Giant downshifter
A hero from the village with a height advantage of 2.18 m. At the village fair, he defeated the visiting circus performer Besov, who immediately convinced him to go with him - “to show strength.”
“Grisha and I are coming to a remote, remote town. They didn’t see people like us there... Kashcheev (Kosinsky’s pseudonym) is shaggy, like an animal, and my last name is Besov... We don’t have a human appearance. They decided that we were werewolves... Without saying a bad word, they lassoed us, took us out of the city and said: “If you don’t leave our city on good terms, then blame yourself.”
In 1906, Grigory Kashcheev first met world-class wrestlers and became friends with Zaikin, who helped him enter the big arena. Soon Kashcheev put all the famous strongmen on the shoulder blades, and in 1908, together with Poddubny and Zaikin, he went to Paris for the World Championship, from where they brought victory.
Trick. It would seem that now Kashcheev’s real wrestling career had begun, but, having refused the most profitable engagements, he abandoned everything and went to his village to plow the land.
“I had to see a lot of original people when I was the director of wrestling, but still I have to think that the most interesting in terms of character was the giant Grigory Kashcheev. In fact, it’s hard to imagine that a gentleman, who had made a European name for himself within 3-4 years, would voluntarily leave the arena back to his village and take up the plow and harrow again. That same gentleman was of enormous strength. Almost a fathom tall, Kashcheev, if he were a foreigner, would have earned large capital, because he surpassed all foreign giants in strength.” (Hercules Magazine, No. 2, 1915).
5. Pyotr Krylov (1871 - 1933). King of weights
A Muscovite, who changed his profession as a merchant navy navigator to the profession of an athlete, went all the way from fairs and “booths of living miracles” to large circuses and French wrestling championships. He's attention! - was a permanent winner of competitions for the best athletic figure, taking the example of the athlete Emil Foss as a child, who entered the arena in silk tights and leopard skin. He began his first training at home with irons, which he tied to a floor brush.
Trick. Krylov set several world records. In the “wrestling bridge” position, he squeezed 134 kg with both hands, and 114.6 kg with his left hand. Bench press in a “soldier’s stance”: with his left hand he lifted a two-pound weight 86 times in a row. The founder of spectacular stunts, which were then repeated by other athletes, and today by paratroopers: bending a rail on the shoulders, driving a car over the body, raising a platform with a horse and rider. Showing athletic performances, Krylov cheerfully commented on them. And his remarks were always convincing... For example, when he broke stones with his fist, he invariably addressed the audience with the following words: “Gentlemen, if you think that there is falsehood in this number, then I can break this stone with my fist on the head of anyone from the public who wants it.” " From practice I could easily switch to theory... and give a lecture on physical culture.
6. Alexander Zass (1888 - 1962). Russian Samson
Alexander Zass's father was just the man who could go up against a visiting strongman in the circus and win the fight. It is not surprising that Alexander ended up in the circus and took up everything at once: aerial gymnastics, horse riding, wrestling. In 1914, World War II broke out and Alexander was drafted into the army in the 180th Vindava Cavalry Regiment. One day he was returning from reconnaissance and suddenly, already close to Russian positions, the enemy noticed him and opened fire. The bullet shot through the horse's leg. The Austrian soldiers, seeing that the horse and rider had fallen, did not pursue the cavalryman and turned back. And Alexander, making sure that the danger had passed, did not want to leave the wounded horse in no man's land. True, there was still half a kilometer left to the regiment's location, but this did not bother him. Alexander shouldered the horse and brought it to his camp. In the future, Alexander will include in his repertoire carrying on the shoulders of a horse. Having fallen into Austrian captivity, the strongman escapes on the third attempt, since unbending bars and breaking chains is his profession. Once in Europe, he defeated all the strongmen of Europe and became the Russian Samson.
Trick. For several decades, his name, or rather his pseudonym, Samson, did not leave the circus posters of many countries. The repertoire of his power routines was amazing: he carried a horse or a piano around the arena with a pianist and dancer located on the lid; caught with his hands a 90-kilogram cannonball, which was fired from a circus cannon from a distance of 8 meters; he tore a metal beam with assistants sitting at its ends from the floor and held it in his teeth; having threaded the shin of one leg into the loop of a rope fixed just under the dome, he held the platform with the piano and pianist in his teeth; lying with his bare back on a board studded with nails, he held a stone weighing 500 kilograms on his chest, which was hit by those from the public with sledgehammers; in the famous attraction Man-Projectile, he caught with his hands an assistant flying out of the muzzle of a circus cannon and describing a 12-meter trajectory above the arena. In Sheffield in 1938, he was run over by a truck loaded with coal in front of a crowd. Samson stood up and, smiling, bowed to the audience.
7. Ivan Maksimovich Poddubny (1871 — 1949).
CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS
An entire era in the history of domestic and world sports is associated with the name of Ivan Maksimovich Poddubny (1871 - 1949). In 1903, Poddubny became an outstanding specialist in French wrestling. Possessing enormous strength, in 1905 in Paris he won the title of world champion among professional wrestlers. Over the years he has confirmed this title. For 33 years in a row, Poddubny did not lose the world wrestling champion belt to anyone.
Introducing Poddubny to the public, the referees solemnly proclaimed: “The champion of world champions, Ivan Maksimovich Poddubny, has arrived to participate in the championship.” A Russian hero in a black wrestling tights entered the arena to thunderous applause.
Ivan Poddubny - and that says it all!
He spent 45 years of his life on the wrestling mat and was defeated only once. This happened in 1924 in Moscow, in the second state circus. Ivan Ivanovich Chufistov, a native of the village of Kazachye, Shatsky district, Ryazan region, met Ivan Poddubny on the carpet. This titanic duel lasted for an hour and fifty minutes, as a result of which Ivan Poddubny found himself bruised on both shoulder blades. There is evidence that Poddubny left the circus that evening in a depressed state, and the next morning he came to Chufistov’s apartment and kissed him three times.
Ivan Poddubny left the circus arena at the age of 70 at the insistence of doctors.
8. Frederick Müller (1867-1925). Evgeniy Sandov
Few people know that weightlifting record holder and “pose wizard” Evgeniy Sandov is actually Frederic Müller. Not only a strong athlete, but also a savvy businessman, Muler realized that a career in strength sports would go faster if he took a Russian name. The newly minted Sandow differed from the frail Müller in his outstanding strength, achieved through training and physical education.
Trick. Weighing no more than 80 kg, he set a world record by squeezing 101.5 kg with one hand. He did a backflip, holding 1.5 pounds in each hand. Within four minutes he could do 200 push-ups.
Business trick. In 1930 under his Russian name, he published the book “Bodybuilding”, giving the name to this sport in all English-speaking countries and also giving reason to believe that bodybuilding was invented by the Russians.
In Russia in the middle of the 19th century, in the tsar’s office there was a position of “Chief Observer of the Physical Development of the Population.” Representatives of the Russian population who developed under such supervision still surprise with their very development. For example, in weightlifting, those who “pulled” less than 100 kilograms had nothing to do in the Strong Club.
1. Sergei Eliseev (1876 - 1938). Lightweight weightlifter
A world record holder, a hereditary hero of small stature, he became famous by chance at a city festival in Ufa - he won a belt wrestling tournament against a multiple champion. The next day, three rams were brought to Eliseev’s house as a generous act of recognition from the defeated ex-champion.
Trick. He took a weight of 62 kg in his right hand, lifted it up, then slowly lowered it to the side with a straight arm and held the hand with the weight in a horizontal position for several seconds. Three times in a row he pulled out two untied two-pound weights with one hand. In the two-arm press he lifted 145 kg and clean and jerked 160.2 kg.
2. Ivan Zaikin (1880 - 1949). Chaliapin of Russian muscles
World champion in wrestling, champion in weight lifting, circus performer, one of the first Russian aviators. Foreign newspapers called him “Chaliapin of Russian muscles.” His athletic performances caused a sensation. In 1908, Zaikin toured in Paris. After the athlete’s performance, the chains that Zaikin had broken, the iron beam bent on his shoulders, and the “bracelets” and “ties” he had tied from strip iron were displayed in front of the circus. Some of these exhibits were acquired by the Paris Cabinet of Curiosities and were displayed along with other curiosities.
Trick. Zaikin carried a 25-pound anchor on his shoulders, lifted a long barbell onto his shoulders, on which ten people sat, and began to rotate it (“a living carousel”).
3.Georg Hackenschmidt (1878 - 1968). Russian lion
World champion in wrestling and world record holder in weightlifting. Since childhood, Gaak trained: he long jumped 4 m 90 cm, high jumped 1 m 40 cm, and ran 180 m in 26 seconds. To strengthen his legs, he practiced climbing the spiral staircase to the spire of the Olivest Church with two-pound weights. Gaack got into sports by accident: Doctor Kraevsky, “the father of Russian athletics,” convinced him that “he could easily become the strongest man in the world.” In 1897, Haack rushed to St. Petersburg, where he smashed the capital's heavyweights to smithereens. Training with Kraevsky, Gaak quickly takes all the first places in Russia (by the way, he ate everything he wanted, but drank only milk), and goes to Vienna. Next - Paris, London, Australia, Canada, America - and the title of the Russian Lion and the Strongest Man of the late 19th - early 20th centuries.
Trick. With one hand I pressed a barbell weighing 122 kg. He took 41 kg dumbbells in each hand and spread his straight arms horizontally to the sides. I pressed a barbell weighing 145 kg on a wrestling bridge. With his arms crossed on his back, Gaak lifted 86 kg from a deep squat. I squatted 50 times with a 50 kg barbell. Today the trick is called “gaak-exercise” or simply “gaak”.
4. Grigory Kashcheev (present - Kosinsky, 1863 - 1914). Giant downshifter
A hero from the village with a height advantage of 2.18 m. At the village fair, he defeated the visiting circus performer Besov, who immediately convinced him to go with him - “to show strength.”
“Grisha and I are coming to a remote, remote town. They didn’t see people like us there... Kashcheev (Kosinsky’s pseudonym) is shaggy, like an animal, and my last name is Besov... We don’t have a human appearance. They decided that we were werewolves... Without saying a bad word, they lassoed us, took us out of the city and said: “If you don’t leave our city on good terms, then blame yourself.”
In 1906, Grigory Kashcheev first met world-class wrestlers and became friends with Zaikin, who helped him enter the big arena. Soon Kashcheev put all the famous strongmen on the shoulder blades, and in 1908, together with Poddubny and Zaikin, he went to Paris for the World Championship, from where they brought victory.
Trick. It would seem that now Kashcheev’s real wrestling career had begun, but, having refused the most profitable engagements, he abandoned everything and went to his village to plow the land.
“I had to see a lot of original people when I was the director of wrestling, but still I have to think that the most interesting in terms of character was the giant Grigory Kashcheev. In fact, it’s hard to imagine that a gentleman, who had made a European name for himself within 3-4 years, would voluntarily leave the arena back to his village and take up the plow and harrow again. That same gentleman was of enormous strength. Almost a fathom tall, Kashcheev, if he were a foreigner, would have earned large capital, because he surpassed all foreign giants in strength.” (Hercules Magazine, No. 2, 1915).
5. Pyotr Krylov (1871 - 1933). King of weights
A Muscovite, who changed his profession as a merchant navy navigator to the profession of an athlete, went all the way from fairs and “booths of living miracles” to large circuses and French wrestling championships. He's attention! - was a permanent winner of competitions for the best athletic figure, taking the example of the athlete Emil Foss as a child, who entered the arena in silk tights and leopard skin. He began his first training at home with irons, which he tied to a floor brush.
Trick. Krylov set several world records. In the “wrestling bridge” position, he squeezed 134 kg with both hands, and 114.6 kg with his left hand. Bench press in a “soldier’s stance”: with his left hand he lifted a two-pound weight 86 times in a row. The founder of spectacular stunts, which were then repeated by other athletes, and today by paratroopers: bending a rail on the shoulders, driving a car over the body, raising a platform with a horse and rider. Showing athletic performances, Krylov cheerfully commented on them. And his remarks were always convincing... For example, when he broke stones with his fist, he invariably addressed the audience with the following words: “Gentlemen, if you think that there is falsehood in this number, then I can break this stone with my fist on the head of anyone from the public who wants it.” " From practice I could easily switch to theory... and give a lecture on physical culture.
6. Alexander Zass (1888 - 1962). Russian Samson
Alexander Zass's father was just the man who could go up against a visiting strongman in the circus and win the fight. It is not surprising that Alexander ended up in the circus and took up everything at once: aerial gymnastics, horse riding, wrestling. In 1914, World War II broke out and Alexander was drafted into the army in the 180th Vindava Cavalry Regiment. One day he was returning from reconnaissance and suddenly, already close to Russian positions, the enemy noticed him and opened fire. The bullet shot through the horse's leg. The Austrian soldiers, seeing that the horse and rider had fallen, did not pursue the cavalryman and turned back. And Alexander, making sure that the danger had passed, did not want to leave the wounded horse in no man's land. True, there was still half a kilometer left to the regiment's location, but this did not bother him. Alexander shouldered the horse and brought it to his camp. In the future, Alexander will include in his repertoire carrying on the shoulders of a horse. Having fallen into Austrian captivity, the strongman escapes on the third attempt, since unbending bars and breaking chains is his profession. Once in Europe, he defeated all the strongmen of Europe and became the Russian Samson.
Trick. For several decades, his name, or rather his pseudonym, Samson, did not leave the circus posters of many countries. The repertoire of his power routines was amazing: he carried a horse or a piano around the arena with a pianist and dancer located on the lid; caught with his hands a 90-kilogram cannonball, which was fired from a circus cannon from a distance of 8 meters; he tore a metal beam with assistants sitting at its ends from the floor and held it in his teeth; having threaded the shin of one leg into the loop of a rope fixed just under the dome, he held the platform with the piano and pianist in his teeth; lying with his bare back on a board studded with nails, he held a stone weighing 500 kilograms on his chest, which was hit by those from the public with sledgehammers; in the famous attraction Man-Projectile, he caught with his hands an assistant flying out of the muzzle of a circus cannon and describing a 12-meter trajectory above the arena. In Sheffield in 1938, he was run over by a truck loaded with coal in front of a crowd. Samson stood up and, smiling, bowed to the audience.
7. Ivan Maksimovich Poddubny (1871 — 1949).
CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS
An entire era in the history of domestic and world sports is associated with the name of Ivan Maksimovich Poddubny (1871 - 1949). In 1903, Poddubny became an outstanding specialist in French wrestling. Possessing enormous strength, in 1905 in Paris he won the title of world champion among professional wrestlers. Over the years he has confirmed this title. For 33 years in a row, Poddubny did not lose the world wrestling champion belt to anyone.
Introducing Poddubny to the public, the referees solemnly proclaimed: “The champion of world champions, Ivan Maksimovich Poddubny, has arrived to participate in the championship.” A Russian hero in a black wrestling tights entered the arena to thunderous applause.
Ivan Poddubny - and that says it all!
He spent 45 years of his life on the wrestling mat and was defeated only once. This happened in 1924 in Moscow, in the second state circus. Ivan Ivanovich Chufistov, a native of the village of Kazachye, Shatsky district, Ryazan region, met Ivan Poddubny on the carpet. This titanic duel lasted for an hour and fifty minutes, as a result of which Ivan Poddubny found himself bruised on both shoulder blades. There is evidence that Poddubny left the circus that evening in a depressed state, and the next morning he came to Chufistov’s apartment and kissed him three times.
Ivan Poddubny left the circus arena at the age of 70 at the insistence of doctors.
8. Frederick Müller (1867-1925). Evgeniy Sandov
Few people know that weightlifting record holder and “pose wizard” Evgeniy Sandov is actually Frederic Müller. Not only a strong athlete, but also a savvy businessman, Muler realized that a career in strength sports would go faster if he took a Russian name. The newly minted Sandow differed from the frail Müller in his outstanding strength, achieved through training and physical education.
Trick. Weighing no more than 80 kg, he set a world record by squeezing 101.5 kg with one hand. He did a backflip, holding 1.5 pounds in each hand. Within four minutes he could do 200 push-ups.
Business trick. In 1930 under his Russian name, he published the book “Bodybuilding”, giving the name to this sport in all English-speaking countries and also giving reason to believe that bodybuilding was invented by the Russians.
