Old Forum Arthur Saxon lifts?

[CharlieJay]

Every once in a while, I take a look at Arthur's books and question how he could do such a variety of lifts and get so good at them? This goes against everything I know about strength. He suggested practicing 10-12 lifts often. I usually stick to 5 at the very most! Do you think this kind of training is practical for the average man or was it mostly because he was a genetic freak? I wonder if most strong men of the time did THAT many lifts... Any Saxon/strongman enthusiasts have an opinion?

 

[CharlieJay]

Oh yeah, I also wanted to mention that he never mentions the Deadlift; Quite strange, eh?

 

[Pavel]

Charles, circus strongman type training was daily, low rep, and non-exhaustive.  That left gas in the tank to get good at a few things.

 

[Rickard]

Pavel,

Is this where the idea from GTG came from?

 

 

[CharlieJay]

Thanks for the answer, Pavel. I know that you share the same interest in the strongmen of old. It's still crazy that he could lift heavy bent presses and then move on to other demanding, heavy movements like snatches, jerks, ect. In my experience, a few deadlifts and bent presses are usually all I have gas for. After that, the "exhaustive" training comes in which I try to avoid.

I always admired Arthur Saxon for his Bent press ability, physique and his high numbers in other lifts as well but there is still some mystique about strongmen, especially Arthur. Just my opinion.

 

[MikeMoran]

Also it was his lifestyle. He had literally all day to GTG/practice various lifts.