Were Isometrics A Major Key To The Great Gama's Undefeated Wrestling Record?

When it comes to Physical Culture and the study of classic or ancient fitness, the Great Gama's story is a great one. In this day and age, many in the fitness or even in MMA world have no idea who Gama was or even what he represented when it came to the significance of wrestling and its ideals based in Middle Eastern Culture. To give you an idea of who this guy was, in his career that spanned decades, he never lost a single fight/match ever and his wins were in the thousands. To this day, he's the only wrestler in history to have accomplished this. Two key ingredients to his success was his overwhelming conditioning and the use of Isometrics.

When you look at the history of this extraordinary athlete of the late 19th, early 20th century, you'll find that he's got a powerful bond with the method of Isometrics. He's credited the method for developing strength that is just absolutely phenomenal. It was even written in a book about another Physical Culture legend, Joseph Greenstein (AKA The Mighty Atom) who had met Gama on his journey with a Russian Strongman. As a boy at the time, Atom had witnessed the power and athletic ability of the mighty wrestler and asked the man himself how he could throw and outwrestle large opponents with ease. 

Now when you look at the reality of Gama's conditioning, the numbers he displayed for reps are grossly exaggerated, however; despite what he did, you can't knock what he was capable of and understand the magnitude of what he put himself through in order to be the most successful wrestler of his time if not the entire time wrestling has been around. The man use to tie a belt around a tree first thing in the morning and tried to throw it for quite a period of time. It was never possible mind you but when you push, pull, grip and squat in various positions for a few seconds to several minutes at a time, you're developing strength that is an added bonus if not critical to the actual movements themselves. 

The fact is, regardless of what you're training, the biggest factors are intensity and progressive resistance. Studies have shown that intense training can increase strength and muscle growth but also to add resistance and challenge the body's ability to adapt. It's hard but there are ways to be smart about it. Overall, Isometrics can give you abilities in your athletic endeavors that can give you advantages like Gama had and develop incredible strength, speed and agility. 

As we get older, it's still good to be athletic and have great energy, but the true purpose is to keep your body strong to prevent bone loss, muscle loss, osteoporosis and decreased strength in the tendons and ligaments. A key component to Isometrics is the benefit of developing the body's ability to prevent injuries as much as possible. So, were Isometrics the key to Gama's victories, who really knows for sure but I believe and many that know about him believe that with Isometrics, the strength you can possess takes on a whole new meaning to the word Superhuman.