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A Plague of Strength Is the Best Type of Plague

This episode will provide you with jaw-dropping stories of how people train and the social, political, and economic pressures that drove physical culture at different stages of humanity.

Written by Last updated on Nov 22, 2021

A Plague of Strength Is the Best Type of Plague

In this episode, I’m delighted to be joined by Jamie Lewis to discuss the history of strength training.

A Plague of Strength Is the Best Type of Plague

In this episode, I’m delighted to be joined by Jamie Lewis to discuss the history of strength training.

Incredibly the origins go back a couple of thousand years, and much of what people were doing back then still holds now. So there undoubtedly are many lessons to be learned by doing your history homework.

Jamie describes himself as a cultural history nerd wrapped in tattoo-covered muscle.

He has a passion for history and holds a BA in History and East Asian Studies from the University of Arizona, an MBA from the Vienna University of Economics, and an iMBA from The University of South Carolina.

This passion for history, combined with his love of lifting (in 2012, he set an all-time, all-federation WR powerlifting total of 1,620 for a 181 pounder, making him the go-to guy when it comes to investigating training history.

During this fascinating interview, Jamie displays a near-encyclopedic knowledge of everything training-related from around 1,600 BC to the modern day.

So often, we can learn so much by looking back. This episode will undoubtedly provide you with jaw-dropping stories of how people used to train, the social, political, and economic pressures that drove physical culture at different stages of humanity, and why, with all the advantages we currently enjoy, it’s a crime so many humans are in such bad health.

I had a ton of fun on this interview and have no doubt Jamie’s infectious personality will grab your attention and inspire you to demand more of yourself.

If you’d like to know more about Jamie, look on his website or Instagram

@plagueofstrength.

If you have any questions or comments about the show, please email me at

tom@breakingmuscle.com or drop me a DM on Instagram @tommaccormick.

You can also find this podcast sitting on top of all my other Six Pack of Knowledge podcasts (curated discussions with the greatest hypertrophy experts on the planet).

Or look for Breaking Muscle’s channel and podcasts on the following services: iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, Stitcher, PlayerFM, PodBean.

About Tom MacCormick

Tom MacCormick is a former skinny kid who was told he was too small to make it as a rugby player. Since then, he has added over 40 pounds to his frame and helped hundreds of clients to build muscle and drop fat.

Tom has earned a BSc in Sports Science and Coaching, an MSc in Strength and Conditioning, and has undertaken countless professional courses, seminars, and workshops. He has carried out over 10,000 hours of personal training sessions. Tom has made, and learned from, every mistake there is to make when it comes to transforming his physique.

More recently, Tom founded Flat Whites Free Weights to provide a hub for his online clients and to share his thoughts on training, nutrition, and the ultimate pre-workout supplement, coffee.

Tom is married to Sally and they have two beautiful kids.

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