In previous articles I have talked about some of the things that I feel the Crossfit revolution has brought to the table in the strength sports world. A marked rise in the availability of equipment, at a variety of prices. More opportunities for access to the best minds and coaches in the world. Most important is the rekindling of fascination with the classic strength sports like Olympic Weightlifting. There is a new wave of intense interest in Weightlifting crossing the United States. Much attention is being paid to how the US is currently performing on the world stage. Much is being said about the inability of America to win World Championships and Olympic Gold. Recently I had the opportunity to talk to 2012 US Olympic team member …show more content…
It seems hard to Imagine at this point in time that prior to 1960 the United States was a power in weightlifting. The legendary Paul Anderson bested Humberto Selvetti in Melbourne Australia to bring the US a gold in the men's heavyweight division. After a decision by the Olympic Committee that Anderson had violated his amateur status he was held out from competing in the 1960 Olympic Games. Soviet Yury Vlasov won Gold, breaking Anderson’s records set in 1956. Not to be outdone Anderson lifted Vlasov’s contest weight for a triple, removing any doubt that he could easily have won the Rome Games. But, that is not all. The US men claimed 13 Weightlifting Gold Medals between 1948 and 1960, across all weight classes . And, between 1936 and 1964 they racked up 32 total Olympic medals. The Americans dominated the Heavyweight division between ‘48 and ‘56, with John Davis repeating as Gold Winner in ‘48 and ‘52. Those years Norbert Schemansky and James Bradford, respectively, took home the Silver Medal as well. Tommy Kono, another legend of the sport, medaled in three different weight classes in successive Olympics, with Lightweight Gold in ‘52, Light Heavy Gold in ‘56, and Middleweight Silver in …show more content…
Before that several one-off contests had been held between schools. The game spread from the schools and became popular with private athletic clubs. By 1892 we have the first recorded instances of a player making a considerable amount of money by the standard of the time, and the birth of professional football players. William “Pudge” Heffelfinger was paid $500 to play a single game between the Allegheny Athletic Association and the Pittsburgh Athletic Club. In 1920 the first professional football league was formed, and under the direction of Jim Thorpe would solidify into the National Football League in 1921. By 1950 120 colleges and universities had teams that comprised the Associated Press Poll. The modern limit for a college roster is 77 players with more for practice squads, generally totalling around 120 total players. But, even if we take a more conservative estimate of 1950s rosters and say 70-75, all eligible to play we still get close to 8,500 athletes playing football at the college level. Unlike today where the Olympic lifts are staples of the football players training, the inclusion of weight training of any kind in football did not begin until 1969 with pioneers like Boyd Epley at the University of Nebraska and Richard Sorin at the University of South Carolina. Mangold
Teams like Notre Dame, coached by Knute Rockne, and Harold “Red” Grange were particularly popular. The author of “Sports In The 1920s”, the author states, “the best college teams could compete in bowl games, such as the famous Rose Bowl, held in California”(Sumner). The first bowl games that, held in the 1920s, are still extraordinarily popular today. College Basketball also drastically increased in popularity during the 1920s. Unlike today, state-of-the-art college gymnasiums were about the size of high school gymnasiums today, and could only hold around 2000 people at maximum capacity. Teams associated with universities such as the University of North Carolina, Duke, North Carolina State, Wake Forest, and Davidson brought together the largest aggregation of fans. Fans from all over the country traveled to watch the tremendous rivalries between these teams, even though they were not as popular as other sports at the time. During this time, most sports were still not very popular. The popularity of sports like tennis, professional basketball, professional football, horse racing, and boxing frowned in comparison to the other sports during this time. Boxing became increasingly popular, but was not allowed in many places. Jack Dempsey was a very popular boxer during this time, but did not box in in places because of the sports association with gambling. Illegal gambling was becoming a problem within sports, and was the reason
Isn’t everyone’s goal in life to be able to achieve something amazing? Better yet what about setting great goals as an individual? Wouldn’t you like to better yourself as a person? As Arnold Schwarzenegger once said “you can’t climb the ladder of success with your hands in your pockets”, this simply meaning that a person must be “hungry” and have a great drive to be able to achieve greatness. The feeling of greatness and satisfaction that a person will get from being a healthy, fit individual is unexplainable. Being satisfied with your own body is a very important factor to life itself. People that are healthy are known to live healthy lifestyles as well as to be great in age. There is no negative sides to being healthy, people that are healthy are happy. I plan to take an individual and better them by training them and making them a healthier person. The steps I will go through in order to make this happen are steps such as training the person, making a nutritional plan for them, and being there to support them along the journey. I will be training the person using some fundamentals that have worked for majority of world-class athletes. I plan to use simple bodybuilding tactics as my muscle builder, such as old school techniques that Arnold Schwarzenegger used in the golden ages of the sport itself. As my research has shown, my client and I are both pleased with the “golden era” physiques and we plan to make a healthy/fit body molded like the bodies of that “era”. In this project my client and I have decided to base the “nutritional plan” as a high protein/Low carb diet, which I will release in this paper. Through out this project, it should be well know that this is not an easy sport! And the discipline to stick with it is extre...
In the beginning of inter-collegiate competition and even now the governing body the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) wanted athletes to maintain their amateurism. Being an amateur means, to remain unpaid why competing and performing a c. Athletes were to come from the student body and off-campus recruitment of athletes was prohibited. The problem with the many rules and regulations of the NCAA early on was that they expected schools to police themselves and uphold a certain amount of morality, but without checks and balances corruption was sure to take place and did so. From the late 1920’s and into the 1940’s big-time athletes would be “sponsored” by alumni in order to get them to play for that schools team. The alumni would usually just pay the tuition for the athlete and usually it was seen as a loan but rarely got paid back.
Tiffany Patterson argues “College football players are already receiving scholarships to pay for their tuition and it is unfair to other students who are juggling between jobs and school.”(Patterson) Although college football players work hard at playing football, it is unfair to other students who are not receiving scholarships and having football players paid will be even more unfair. According to Lauren Horne, the lead author of Bleacherreport, says “College football players cost universities and colleges lots of money and paying them will put the universities in even more financial debt. Universities and colleges spend about $42 million on football players who, except for an elite hundred, will never play in the NFL.”(Horne) Colleges are already have finance issues and if they pay all the players, their trouble will get worse. Rick Burton, the professor of sports management at Syracuse University explains “Student athletes who go to college are already receiving a fair amount of pay by receiving an education”(Burton) The athletes are being compensated for their time on the football field by the professors giving them an
People often go through their life working-out and going to the gym to get “buff.” For ninety-five percent of Americans that do work out, few can say that they have pushed themselves as hard as possible, but I have the distinct, and often painful, pleasure of knowing that there is another way to work out. This option is unlike any other that I have ever personally been through; and is a way that I would not wish on any average American. 4:55 a.m. Seventeen degrees Fahrenheit, a mild breeze of ten miles per-hour-- for the fifth day in a row and second consecutive month, it is time for me to wake up, make the face-numbing, core-hardening walk through the snow to the Mildred and Louis Lasch Football Building.
Chris Grabenstein’s book, Mr. Lemoncello’s Library Olympics was spectacular. I definitely enjoyed reading this 266 page adventure. I relished this book because it was based on competition- and if you don’t know me I live for competition. I definitely connected with the main character- Kyle Keeley because he will do anything to beat his opponent(s), which includes him running through a thorny rose bush, destroying a few petunias, hurdling some shrubs, and “accidentally breaking a basement window,” just to beat his brothers in a single board game. I haven’t done anything to that extreme, but if there is a “win” on the line, there’s no doubt I might wreck a few things blocking my path. Throughout the book Mr. Lemoncello’s Library Olympics there were many marvelous parts, but there was one that I liked best. My favorite part was when Kyle and Mr. Peckleman had huge stakes on a deal they made. If Kyle got Mr. Peckleman’s riddle wrong, then Woodrow “Woody” Peckleman would burn some of the most popular books from Mr. Lemoncello’s world-known library, burn 32 “go-to-college-free” cards which would crush his new fellow “Library Olympian” friend’s spirits, and as it says in the book: “Mr. Lemoncello” (the gazillionaire) “is going to leave town and his awesomely incredible library will get turned into Mrs. Borington’s Snoozeville Book Depository.” If Kyle Keeley answered the riddle correctly then Woody would not
The feeling is all too familiar, from the front row to the last seats in the bleachers; a
Jeffers, N. (n.d.). Training youths for a sound future in athletics. Intensity Magazine. Retrieved March 17, 2004, from http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/inmag51.htm
Sixty years ago college sports were in no comparison as popular as they are today. Universities were not contracted with te...
With a growing interest in weight training younger children are beginning to lift weights. Which brings about questions about when children should be allowed to start lifting and what degree of difficulty should they be allowed to attempt. This topic has sparked a debate about whether or not a person under the age of eighteen should be allowed to competitively lift weights in the Olympics. Many believe that the risk of injuring children is not worth the opportunity for them to succeed in the Olympics. The risk is not as enormous as it is made out to be. Anyone who has a fully mature body and is over the age of thirteen should be allowed to participate in Olympic weightlifting. If done correctly lifting weights is a great way to stay active and healthy for a person of any age.
Modern Day Olympics are a huge tradition that sweeps the screens of televisions across the world. Competitors take the arena with uniforms that dawn their countries colors and designs that are meant to resemble their designated flag. For months the news is centered around the games; the preparation, the athletes, and of course the competition. Countries aren 't obsessed, they are inspired and full of pride seeing athletes from their country compete and show their incredible skill. This tradition dates back to ancient Greece where the games began. Tony Perrottet writes about the traditions of the ancient game in his book The Naked Olympics.
In the early years of collegiate athletics the only sport that enforced a governing body for rules and eligibility was rowing. Years later along with a handful other sports, football had created its own governing body in 1876 named the IFA. The purpose of the Intercollegiate Football Association was to create eligibility and game guidelines for institutions partaking in football. On account of regulation and eligibility not being enforced well, there was a lot of illegal recruitment a...
I compete in many Powerlifting competitions and after 3 years, I'm considered one of the most successful powerlifters in Hawaii. However, success in powerlifting did not come easy, it took dedication, drive, and a skilled coach. Without these key elements, I personally wouldn't have been as successful as I am today. Powerlifting is a one man sport, but without guidance from a coach, a potentially great power lifter could never become one.
The concept of football started back in the late 1800’s from what we know as rugby. In the years to come football changed more and more to how we know it today. The first official football game was played in 1869 when Rutgers and Princeton took on each other. Walter Camp, who was the Coach for Yale at that time, was the first person to develop some of the first rules and regulations to the sport. Camp came up with many of the concepts that we know today such as the system of downs, the use of eleven players down from fifteen, and the size of the field. Other rules that were implemented by Camp were the concept of the line of scrimmage, safety, and the forward pass (Bellis, 2014).
The Mr. Olympia stage in bodybuilding is the crest of achievement one may hope to reach if they are passionate enough to get there. This world title earning competition was created by a man, Joe Weider, to bring the most accomplished bodybuilders from all over the planet to see who has the most developed physique and promote to health and fitness globally to all people. In displaying his bodybuilders at the Mr. Olympia, the very people who take diet and exercise to the highest level of seriousness, Weider has been able to inspire men, women and children to work hard in crafting their physiques and leading healthy lifestyles.