Great Grandpa's Barbell

by Atomic Athletic on Thursday, August 11, 2011 at 5:46pm

I was a 98 Pound Weakling.

It's true.  I weighed 98 pounds when I started high school.  Everyone kept telling me that I would grow.  They were right.  It just happened to be in thickness, density and strength, but not height.  I can thank my Great Grandpa Jackson for helping me to grow into a strength athlete.

You see, my Dad did at least one thing that every Dad should do.  When I asked him how to get bigger and stronger, he told me to use the old barbell set in the basement.  It had a long dumbbell bar, these things that looked like shovel handles, and a 5 foot bar, with globe heads and plates that nested on the inside and they were also shot loadable.

It was a genuine Milo Tri-Plex Bar Bell set, 1919 vintage.  Of course, I only knew of it as the thing that would make me big and strong.

Here is the barbell workout I did twice a week.

Clean & Press

Deadlift

Squat (Which was not a competition squat, but actually a Jefferson Lift)

Floor Press

Curl

I also used those shovel handle things, which I now know were kettlebell handles, just like the ones Vic Boff used in his Coney Island Strongman Show.  That same third day I did several dumbbell exercises.

Thanks Grandpa.  My Dad is currently restoring that barbell set (the wooden kettlebell handles rotted off in a flood, many years ago and the shot loading plugs are missing).  The idea is that my son will have that 90+ year old barbell set to lift on and then he can pass it down to his kids.

Think about Great Grandpa Jacksons barbell set when you make a decision on the weights you will lift with.  That is an investment in the future.

Live Strong,

Roger LaPointe