How the “Great German Giants of Strength” trained – and ATE
- "He ate more in a MEAL than I could eat in a month!"

Dear Reader,

Today’s post should come as another  eye opener to those of y’all that believe in following the “experts” when it comes to matters of strength, training – and indeed DIET and fitness.

Back in the late 1800’s, a boy was born to parents of relatively humble means – in Leipzig, Germany.

He was part of a trio of young lads – three brothers – the three brother that would go on to be known as the “Saxon” brothers – and perform legendary, even unbelievable feats of strength that are pretty much unparalleled even years later.

And Arthur Saxon, the “lad” I’m referring to – is pretty much STILL known as the strongest (and perhaps fittest too, if you take a look at him!) man that EVER lived. Perhaps Eugene Sandow, another giant in the strength training world could give him competition – but thats about it.

Now, at this point you might be asking me – what does this have to do with me i.e. the “average Joe” that isn’t interested in Herculean feats of strength.

Well, hear me out, my friend – it does.

The Saxon brothers, Arthur, Herman and Kurt would routinely train around 4 – 6 hours a day, and would put on shows – of strength – during the week – which I’m yet to see matched in the modern day era.

For instance, the three brothers once supported a car with their feet – – with six men in it – – as it was driven across a “bridge of sorts”!

Or, if we’re talking Arthur Saxon – – a 370 lb bent press with one hand (picture on Instagram) – – or a 200lb one arm snatch – – or 440 lb “two arms anyhow” lift – – it wasn’t for nothing that he’s known as the strongest man that ever lived!

Now, you’d imagine such a man to be a giant – similar to what you see in the WWE or similar to the boobybuilders at the gym, right?

Nothing doing – Saxon stood in a mere 200 lbs himself – 5’10” – soaking wet, if I might say so!

And while the picture on Instagram speaks volumes, what I haven’t mentioned is how these guys ate.

For breakfast they ate 24 eggs and 3 pounds of smoked bacon; porridge with cream, honey, marmalade and tea with plenty of sugar. At three o’clock they had dinner: ten pounds of meat was consumed with vegetables (but not much potatoes); sweet fruits, raw or cooked, sweet cakes, salads, sweet puddings, cocoa and whipped cream and very sweet tea. Supper, after the show, they had cold meat, smoked fish, much butter, cheese and beer. Following this they had a chat and at one o’clock went to bed.

The Saxons did have a “health drink” which I presume they concocted themselves. The ingredients were dark lager beer (or Dublin stout) mixed with Holland gin, the yolk of an egg and plenty of sugar. “It is a very good but strong drink” was the Saxon opinion, “but, if you are not used to it you will get dizzy very quickly.” It seems to me that one would have to be a very strong man in the first place, in order to drink it.

And in case you don’t believe it – a quick Google around will reveal that these facts are TRUE, my friend. I got them from the URL here – https://legendarystrength.com/old-time-strongman-diet/ – but this diet was originally mentioned in “Muscle and Power” magazine (Joe Wieder).

When I sent the article to my wife, curious to see what she said – her response was “Sorry, I’m allergic to reading!”

Ok … So, I mentioned it to her on a call, and she made the following remark – “He ate more in a day than I eat in a month, and yet he didn’t have a lick of fat on him!”

Now, bear in mind, other than their training and the shows they regularly put on, the Saxon brothers LOVED to walk. In fact, they’d routinely walk to and from their shows – – and their love for walking and swimming was in fact cultivated in childhood (along with climbing trees, which laid the base for their prodigious grip strength later on).

Now, we come to “what can we take away from this email as the average Joe”.

Well, this – my friend – three things actually.

One, that the experts aren’t necessarily right when it comes to diet. I’ve stated my own preference of NOT calorie counting and NOT eating what they tout as the most important meal of the day – -and getting RESULTS – – and have backed it up with other examples of folks that did the same thing – – and now you have someone doing what would be considered nigh unhealthy by any standards today – – and … well, the results speak for themselves.

Two, strength does NOT mean “size”. And size does NOT mean strength. I realize that may throw some of you into a “tailspin”, but thats just the way it IS, my friend. ‘Tis the size of the fight in the dog, as they say, not the size of the dog itself.

Third, building a base for anything is crucial – – FITNESS included!

And fourth (I know, I said three, hehe) – – this just shows you the importance of regular brisk WALKING. If the great German giants of strength considered it an integral part of their routine – I’m sure you can too, my friend!

And that’s that for today. No, I’m not telling you to go out and consume a 11lb goose (and quarts of beer) as Kurt Saxon reportedly did a lot of times – but bear in mind – workout is always KING, my friend. And diet is QUEEN.

Together they make a kingdom … almost always!

Best,

Rahul Mookerjee

P.S – For the layperson, another key fact to bear in mind – again – is that building a base for solid fitness gains down the road is nigh CRUCIAL. How did I get up to the point where I can pound out 100 handstand pushups in a workout – amongst other things – and not really “feel” it the next day? The key is I built a proper base – and so can you – by following the principles listed out right HERE – – https://0excusesfitness.com/0excusesfitnessystem/

 

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