George Hackenschmidt: Health Can Never Be Divorced From Strength

“For a man to be truly strong, in addition to correct physical training he must also possess something intangible and priceless that cannot be taught by even the greatest of teachers… the will to be strong.” -George Hackenschmidt

George Hackenschmidt is one of the most well-known names in physical culture. George was a strongman, professional wrestler, writer, and sports philosopher. He was born on August 1, 1878, he died 89 years later on February 19, 1968.

George is recognized as professional wrestling’s first world heavyweight champion and is well known for his impressive strength and excellent health. He was a devout student of physical culture throughout his entire life and was still capable of amazing displays of strength and fitness in the later years of his life.

George stood 5’9” and weighed a lean and massive 220lbs. He built his exceptional strength and impressive physique on nothing short of a Spartan lifestyle. He kept to a consistent schedule for both training, eating, and sleeping as “the mechanism of the body reacts unconsciously, and with an often-surprising punctuality, consequent upon certain repeated activity, by reason of its habit and adaptability.”

He recommended training all muscle groups twice a day 3-4 days per week, or preferably if time permits, 6 days per week. His training sessions were relatively brief by today’s standards. He believed 30 minutes was enough to build and preserve strength and endurance. Sitting and resting between exercises was not recommended as he preferred a minimal rest of walking briskly up and down the training room. Like Sig Klein, who was the focus of my previous two articles, Hack liked a wide variety of exercises to avoid too great a strain on individual muscle groups, and instead develop all muscles in a balanced manner.

He had an extremely simple, yet highly effective, method of exercise progression. He recommended beginning your exercises using a weight you could lift 10 times, but only performing 5 repetitions. Every week you are to add 1 repetition to each set until you complete 10 repetitions. At that point you may increase the weight by the next increment and begin again at 5 repetitions. Certain exercises, particularly for the neck, traps, and the famous toe squat variation he popularized (now referred to as the Hack Squat), he recommends the same progression for 10 to 20 repetitions.

Some of Hackenschmidt’s feats of strength include a 361lb clean, a 280lb press, a 330lb jerk, and a one arm press of 286lbs. He also is known for a pullover press from the wrestler’s bridge of 304lbs (an exceptional feat of neck strength!), and 364lb floor press. These lifts are even more amazing when you consider they were performed long before anabolic steroids infected the fitness industry.

While it is argued whether or not Hackenschmidt ate a considerable amount of meat or followed a more vegetarian diet of 3/4 plant-based food and 1/4 meat as outlined in his book, “The Way To Live”, he did become a strict vegetarian after his wrestling career, eating only whole plant based foods, for spiritual reasons. This may also be one of the factors that contributed to his longevity. At the turn of the century men usually lived to be around 46 years of age, and only 66 by mid-century where Hackenschmidt eclipsed that figure by 23 years.

In the next article we’ll take a deep dive into his training regimen.

I hope you enjoyed this article and until next time, stay strong and healthy!