"Probably you have noticed that every professional weight-lifter in America eagerly and earnestly proclaims himself to be 'the strongest man in the world.' They seem to have the idea that nobody will pay to see them perform unless they make this claim. Sometimes they qualify it by modestly stating that they are the strongest men in the world of their weight. Practically every one of these professionals claims to hold all the world's records. They know that the general public is not accurately informed as to the records and they take advantage of the fact by making all sorts of ridiculous statements regarding their own lifts; and in this respect, we are sorry to say, they are helped out by the newspaper reporters and sporting writers, who, with childlike innocence, accept and print in their papers, as gospel, the absurd claims of some of these lifters. For example, a few months ago there appeared in one of the vaudeville theatres in Philadelphia a big Belgian, who, during the course of h;s act, held at arms length to the side, a large kettle-bell, which was labeled 125 pounds. This is the feat known to the schoolboy as "muscling out" a weight. Probably you have tried it and have found that, it is as much as the average man will do to "muscle out" 25 pounds. When this performer, of whom we speak, claimed that he was holding 125 pounds the audience burst into wild applause, whereas, the man ought to have been hissed off the stage for making such a foolish claim. There is no man in the world today, who will hold 125 pounds out sideways in the manner shown in the accompanying illustration; which shows thein making this lift." - Alan Calvert This is a 6" by 9" restored and re-formatted edition of Alan Calvert's original 1911 classic: THE TRUTH ABOUT WEIGHT LIFTING. The text remains exactly as written in the original 1911 edition with many photographs and illustrations. This interesting book focuses on what feats of strength were real and what were just stage pranks. Stage trickery and exaggerated claims of strength were rampant in the early 1900's. Calvert attempts to expose the tricksters and credit the honest true strongmen. The classic book is a must have in your physical culture collection. Visit our website and see our many books at PhysicalCultureBooks.com
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