George F. Jowett was born in Bradford, Yorkshire, England in 1891 and emigrated at an early age to the North American continent.
Many iron game followers knew him as one of the world’s most adept wrestlers and weightlifters of his time. He worked as a blacksmith and within a few years he had formed the America Athletic Appliance Conmpany (the largest manufacturing Company).
Later he founded the famous Jowett Institute and built up one of the world’s greatest Muscle by Mailorder successful that they were adopted by several Universities and by the armed services for many countries.
It’s rumoured that even the World’s Strongest Man Jon Pall Sigmarsson used the following workout course to develop his body during teenage years.
George F. Jowett Courses
George’s trainingphilosophy were developed around 1920. No machine, supplements or ‘training secrets’. Just hard work with your whole body. It’s like calisthenics but more in oldschool way. I did not include all workouts/training thoughts because it would be too much. Have fun!
Biceps Resistance Developer
Stand erect with feet together. Glasp your left hand in the right, in front of your body with the palm of your right hand facing forward, and your arms held straight down by your sides. Fromt this position, turn your right hand on the wrist, upward in a cupping motion.
Now begin to bend to your arm at the elbow and raise your right hand toward your right shoulder. Thorughout this motion, press down with all the power of your left arm to resist the upward trend of your right arm. This will bring your right arm biceps into play very forcibly, to overcome your left hand pressure. When your right hand is curled to your shoulder, allow your arm to return to the original position. But in doing so, resist the downward action, this time by pulling up with your left hand.
Perform this exercise, reversing the hands so as to develop both arms equally.
Half a dozen repetitions will give you some idea of the effect this exercise has upon your biceps.
Bend-Over Arm Curl – Biceps Developer
The following exercise is of a little different nature and one that will require your whole attention. Otherwise, it will be of no value. Bend well over from your waist, placing your left hand upon your left knee. GRasp a 5 lb dumbbell in your right hand, and from this bent over position, curl the dumbbell to your shoulder. The particular feature of this exercise is to keep the elbow of your curling arm, raised as high as possible.
In order to do this, you will be obliged to exert quite a lot of biceps power to overcome the forcing down caused by the curling from the position of the exercise.
Triceps Developer
Take two chairs and space them apart side by side about twelve inches. Stand between them. Next place the palms of one hand upon the seat of each chair toward the edge nearest to your body. The position of the hands is most important. They must be placed so your fingers are pointing backwards, your wrists facing front. Now straighten your arm, walk forward until you feel you can go no further in safety. Straighten out your body by lifting up your hips. From this position, by bending your elbows, allow yourself to be lowered between the chairs as far as you can go. The effort will come when you straighten your arms. This must go straight, and you must not heave your body in order to help the movement.’
Chest: The greatest of all chest developer
Your whole chest gets a workout. Secure a low stool, or box, not over eighteen inches in height. Lie with the broad of your back upon it. Do not allow the stool to be too far down your back; in fact, the higher up towards your shoulders, the bettter.
Thurst your legs out straight. Keep your body straight. Hold the bells at arm’s length over your face. Now lower the bells down sideways, level with the line of your shoulders, until the bells touch the floor. As you do so, breathe in.
Return to the original position, and breathe out. Keep your arms perfectly straight all of the time. Do not pause at any time during the exercise from the beginning to end.
Not for one moment must you allow your body or legs to sag. If you do, you might as well quit. Start with 5lb in each hand, and six movements. Work up to eighteen by adding one repetition every third practice night. Practice the exercise slowly and concentrate strongly.
Cross Arm Chest Builder
Stand erect with arms at full stretch in front, holing in each hand a 5lb dumbbell. Do not bend backward. Tense your thigh muscles strongly to keep your knees locked.
Breathe in deeply, and cross your arms straight over your chest as far as possible. If you watch yourself in a mirror, you will see the top arm causes a greater contraction of the corresponding pectoral, which means that muscle is getting more action then the other. My advice is to alternate. If the right arm crosses on top first, the next time allow your left arm to cross over the right arm.
Practice this exercise at least nine times. Add one repetition every third practice night.
Builder of latissimus dorsi, serratus magnus, pectorals, deltoids
Take the erect position, heels together, arms hanging by your side. Hold the same weight dumbbells as used in the last exercise. Slowly raise your arms straight forward with the palms facing down, until they reach your overhead position. Your arms describe a half circle.
Do not lean backwards. Do not swing the dumbbells to secure momentum. The motion must be slowly executed to arm’s length overhead, and back to the original position.
You will find six movements sufficient. One repetition added every third practice night may be too much. Let your progress decide this for you.
This exercise was a favorite of the great german strongman Hans Steyrer. He could play with a 70lb bar, and on it, hang by the hocks, a 100lb boy. When the bar with its human object came level with his shoulders (which is the most difficult point in the exercise) he would pause, hold the position without any apparent effort, then slowly lower.
Back developer to correct curvature
Arrange a bar about two inches higher than you are able to reach overhead, unless you rise on your toes. By grasping this and merely hanging, the muscles on both sides will lift and pull – not all over – but particularly in the location of the curvature, because there the muscles are unnaturally stretched on one side and too much contracted on the other side. The action will help straighten the displaced vertbrare and help muscles in that region to contract and relax and regain the natural condition.
The next exercise, which really is only a progression on the first, is to stretch until your toes are on the floor and then try to force the heels down. Where the curvature is more pronounced on one side of the back, the object should be to grasp the bar with one hand and stretch until both heels are on the floor. If the pronounced curvature is to the left side, hang with the right arm. Use the left arm if the curve is so the right side.
Back developer No.2
Raise to single arm’s length a dumbbell. While holding the dumbbell at arm’s length, bend over sidewise. You will find the bending over is the easiest part, the straightening of your body, is what gets you. So do not be too ambitious at the start. Stand with your feet about eighteen inches apart. Keep your arms as straight as possible, and bend from the waist sideways. If you bend a little forwards, it will help, as your pelvis or hip bone is apt to limit your bend if you try to make a perfect side bend.
Then bend to opposite side of the erect arm, and perform with the left arm as well as the right. At first you may find it a little difficult to control your balance which will make the exercise a little harder. So the lighter the dumbbell is the better.
Grip and forearms
Finger Developer
Use a book of fairly good weight. The book is placed upon your fingers only, not even touching your hand. The hand is not resting on the table. A straining movement has no value. It is properly executed movements that count. If you allow the back or the palm of your hand to rest on the table, the major value of the exercise will be lost.
Notice how far the book is placed on the fingers. Your thumb has no part in the exercise. Raise the volume as high as possible with the index finger as shown, Exercise 1 (b). When you have thus raised the book to your limit, lower back to the original position and employ the next finger. And so on, until every finger on both hands has exercised with the exception of the thumb.
Raise the book with each finger several times. As you pass on to your little finger, you may find it difficult to juggle the book.
The far side of the book may touch the table. It is perfectly all right as long as you feel the resistance.
When you have satisfactorily concluded the individual exercises, as just explained try raising the book with the fingers one after the other, quickly, in the manner used to play piano. This will create speed in your digits as well as strength.
Finger exercises if all kinds have a very stimulating and gratifying influence upon developing the difficult muscles of the forearm which, at the same time, will naturally tend to increase the thickness of your wrist.
This is purely a grip lifting exercise. Notice how the athlete is gripping the chines. The only grip that can be secured is that given by the first joint of the fingers. Keep your back straight and lift the barrel off the floor as high as you can. This done, replace the barrel on the floor, and straighten out your fingers. Repeat several times.
Legs
Calves
If you notice carefully the position in the accompanying illustration you will see a combination of the toe raise, and a lift. Actually it is not a lift. The apparent lifting position is purely a check to the power of your legs in raising up your body weight.
Stand close up to a very heavy table. Place your hands under the edge in a lifting grip, and bend your body slightly forward from your waist. Use just enough exertion to give you a strong up-pull on the table. This done, begin to raise yourself up on the toes slowly and forcibly. If the strength exerted in the toe-raise is sufficient to lift your body weight, and the weight of the table, all well and good. But you positively must not allow the strength of your body or your arm to help in the least the lifting up of the table, all well and good. But you positively must not allow the strength of your body or your arm to help in the least the lifting up of the table. Maybe you will not be able to lift the table, but that does not matter. The effort supplied by the uplift on the table, will exert your calf muscles to an extraordinary degree. As you rise, do so squarely on the ball of your foot.
The greater part of the pressure should be borne on the inside of the foot by your great toe. Raise yourself as high on the toes as you can without bending your knees. You will find this exercises an interesting progression upon the ordinary toe-raise.
Thigh Developer
Assume your sitting position on floor. Cross your arms, placing your right hand against the inside of your left knee. Hold your knees fairly close together, and draw your heels up towards the seat.
With all your power, push with each hand against the inside of your thigh, and as you do so, resist the pressure of your hands by squeezing in with your knees.
The object is to spread your knees apart all you can, with your hands, resisting with your thigh force. When the knees have been spread apart all they will go, slip the hands across your knee so the fingers are pulling in on your knees.
Forcibly try to pull your knees together with your hands, and with your thigh, resist the effort. Bring your knees together. This done, repeat the first part of the exercise.
First you push your knees apart, and second, you pull them together. But in each movement, you resist with your legs.
Source:
Farwell To George Jowett by Robert Kennedy
How to Became Muscular He Man