Oldtimer Strength Building Occupations

[The Old LefHook]

Think of the late ninetheenth century when most jobs required hard labor. This was the case right up through the first half of the twentieth century--the Golden Age of Oldtimers in boxing to us.

It only makes sense that P4P the average person--not just males--was stronger in this earlier era than now.

If each person would be so kind as to choose only one occupation from these former times that would contribute in any way to a person's stamina, strength or musclature, and then explore it with some detail or speculation. The occupation does not have to discuss a great boxing asset, just find strength or stamina related qualities.

I have to start with blacksmithing. Every settlement required them. It is no surprise to me that several legendary professional strongmen of old began as blacksmiths. Our boxing blacksmiths might need to be ambidextrous with their hammers.

Of course Henry Ford lowered the boom on blacksmithing, but the occupation squeezes into the earliest part of the golden age of boxing. Of one thing I am certain, blacksmithing built strength. It might be too localised and not well rounded strength building, but I would be willing to bet that the grips of old time blacksmiths would crush the mitts of most of today's professional athletes in strength sports like football or boxing. He may get his butt beat on the football field or in the boxing ring, but I say if it came to a grip-off, the blacksmith is going to win most of the time.

That is one example.

[The Old LefHook]

Another grip builder was milking cows. Hundreds of thousands of cows a day in the U.S. were milked by hand well into the 20th century. My dad had a boyhood friend I knew well, who could pulp young potatos with his grip like others could do with tomatoes. This guy had a muscle that is not even in the book, as far as I can tell, for I have never seen it on another human being and have been on the lookout for it since childhood. He could double either wrist and get a muscle to pop up under the skin that looked like half a golf ball.

For a while sailor Tom Sharkey was a candidate from a grainy photo I saw. But no--false alarm, sailor Tom did not have the milking muscle. This guy always claimed he got that muscle from milking dairy cows twice a day as a teenager

[billeau2]

Maxie Bauer worked as a farmer, often said he got his right...some consider the most devestating right ever, from throwing around hay bails as a kid. And his shoulders looked the part, i.e. they were gigantic.

[Anthony342]

Didn't Joe Frazier's left hook come from working on a farm, lifting hay bails and not being able to use an injured right arm as much for a while?

[SlySlickSmooth]

Didn't Joe Frazier's left hook come from working on a farm, lifting hay bails and not being able to use an injured right arm as much for a while?

I believe its he injured the left and that's why he always threw that crazy left hook the way he did because he couldn't make it too straight anymore.

[krazyn8tive]

And life expectancy has gone up since. <----fl0mothought process

[The Old LefHook]

Maxie Bauer worked as a farmer, often said he got his right...some consider the most devestating right ever, from throwing around hay bails as a kid. And his shoulders looked the part, i.e. they were gigantic.

Now we are getting into the aerobic jobs, the best kind of muscle jobs for an aspiring boxer. I know about those hay bales. Summers in high school I bucked hay. Hard on the hands, even with gloves, but works every muscle in the body.

[BattlingNelson]

I found these interesting pics on the internet along with instructions. It shows boxers training regimens and how they prepared for battle at the last turn of a century.


Woodchopping. An all-time classic. The boxer in the pic is unknown, but this exercise was especially useful for the back and spine.


Treecarrying. The pic shows HW champ Jack Johnson carrying a piece of oak-tree. This was considered phenomenal training especially when carried up-hill. It was highly recommended to change shoulders every now and then.


This is LW champion Ad Wolgast and not some furniture mover. The lifting of heavy objects, the more complicated the better, was considered excellent. The more musclegroups used the better.


Here Battling Nelson works in the woods as well. He's systematically working out on the lumber on this yard.

Continued.....

^^^^This might be some stuff you are looking for Leffie.

[BattlingNelson]

^^^^This might be some stuff you are looking for Leffie.

Mountaineering was popular then as it is now. The fighter is unknown. (Could it be Greb?)


This is one of the very best all-time-greats Benny Leonard farming the countryside.


And finally HW legend Jack Dempsey works on the waterpump. Today this exersize might be called "unilateral ground based upper body core training".

............

[Fury4daWIN]

Mining seems to be pretty useful for overall functional strength. Lots of swinging, pushing and carrying movements. Maskaev worked as a miner and he had some real old school strength. Not sure if he'd use the same sorts of tools though.