Nowadays, super heroes from the world of Marvel are becoming popular, but we forget about great people, such as Alexander Zass was. This article was created by " In the country"To correct such a misunderstanding. Let's talk about the great Russian circus performer, who performed under the pseudonym Iron Samson.

The incident that took place in 1938 in the English town of Sheffield will more than clearly demonstrate the capabilities of the domestic hero. Just imagine, a man is lying on the pavement and he is being run over by a truck loaded to the decoupling. Naturally, people watching such a picture are in shock, and the person, as if nothing had happened, will rise and shake off the dust from himself. I just want to shout: “Glory to the Russian Samson!”.

Circus program of the Iron Samson

Alexander Zass devoted his whole life to the circus. He became famous as the most powerful man in the world. For decades, his pseudonym Iron Samson did not leave circus posters all over the world. It was the domestic circus performer who was the most desired artist or, as they call it, the “circus star”. And this is no coincidence, given his amazing repertoire. Here is a list of just some of its numbers:
1) He lifted the piano, on the lid of which the girl was sitting, and carried her around the circus arena;
2) Was able to catch the ball, which weighs about 9 kg, with his bare hands. Note that the core was fired at Alexander from a distance of 80 meters;
3) He held a metal structure in his teeth, on which 2 assistants sat;
4) Being under the dome of the circus (tied with one foot and oared upside down), he held the piano in his teeth;
5) He lay down with his bare back on a board studded with nails. Then, a group of assistants placed a stone on his chest that weighed half a ton. After that, those who wished from the hall were invited, who could well hit the stone with a sledgehammer;
6) With the help of fingers alone, he was able to break the links of the chain;
7) Was able to drive a nail into a three-inch board with the bare palm. Interestingly, then, with the help of his fingers, he took them out, clasping the hat with the index fingers of his left and right hands.

Athlete Feature

The athletic numbers performed by Alexander Zass have always had a great sensation. People were willing to pay for tickets to the circus, just to watch the Russian Samson again and again. But, his psychically disturbing numbers were not the only thing that attracted attention. Alexander looked like the most ordinary, average man. He weighed only 80 kg, and was no more than 170 cm tall. The volume of his biceps was only 41 cm. That is, he had absolutely no resemblance to the image of the circus, which have huge muscles and massive bodies.

Alexander Zass argued that big muscles are absolutely not an indicator that you are strong. He was sure that the main thing is the ability to feel your body and strong tendons, multiplied by untrained willpower, make any man a strong man.

Path to strength

The most frequent question that Alexander Zass heard was the question of how he managed to become so strong. To which the athlete honestly answered: “My strength is the result of exhausting work, an incredible strain of not only all physical, but also spiritual forces to the rest.”
A strict daily routine and constant training, which were replaced by performances - this is how you can characterize the life path of Iron Samson. There is an entertaining photograph showing 74-year-old Alexander, who is sitting at home, in the kitchen, and in front of him is a samovar with the inscription "5 minutes of rest." Interestingly, even at this advanced age, the Russian Samson continued to work, but not in the power genre, but as a trainer. Although, often, he diluted his numbers with a couple of power tricks. One of the most popular numbers of that time for Alexander was a performance in which, taking a yoke with two lions in his teeth, he walked around the circus arena.

Choice of life path

All men of the Zass family were distinguished by not hefty strength. Of course, Alexander, thanks to his training, surpassed his ancestors. Once, when Alexander was very young, he went with his father to the circus. Then little Sasha was delighted with only two numbers - a number with an animal trainer and a circus strongman. It was the event that happened that day that turned the boy's worldview upside down and pointed to his life path - to become a circus performer. Here's what happened.
After the performance of the circus athlete, he, as it was popular, called the audience out of the hall in order to repeat his "feat". To do this, he proposed to straighten the iron horseshoe. Of course, no one came forward. But then, father Alexander got up from his seat, approached the athlete and said: “Let me try!”. Then he unbent the horseshoe. Alexander, the audience, and the athlete himself were shocked! As it turned out, Father Alexander also liked to demonstrate his strength, but unlike the future Iron Samson, he did it in front of close people and guests.
After the event described above, Alexander Zass lived alone in a circus, we can say that he fell ill with it.

The first training of the future Iron Samson

In the backyard of his house, little Alexander, with the participation of adults, equipped a whole springboard for training. Two horizontal bars were installed there, on which trapezes were installed. Then, gradually, he began to pull sports equipment there: kettlebells, dumbbells. Built a bar. Over time, his backyard turned into a real gym, where Alexander spent all his free time in hard training. Even then, in the circus with his father, he carefully memorized the numbers of circus artists, and now his goal was to repeat what he saw there. Alexander, without outside help, mastered such difficult tricks as somersaults on a horse, learned to pull himself up on one arm, but all this seemed to the young man not enough, he understood that there was not enough system.

Systemic training began for Alexander when his father gave him the book “Strength and How to Become Strong”, the author of which was the boy’s idol, athlete Eugene Sandov. In this book, the author shared incredible details of his biography, such as a fight with a lion. But this was not what Alexander was interested in, he needed a training system. He found them in the pages of this book. The book included 18 dumbbell exercises that the future Iron Samson added to his list of workouts. Over time, this turned out to be not enough for the young man, he felt that this was not enough, that dumbbells alone were not able to develop in him the strength that he dreams of.

Then he found new mentors in the person of Pyotr Krylov and Dmitriev-Morro, who were famous as noble athletes. It was they who developed a set of exercises for the young man, expanding those that were in the arsenal of a teenager. Dmitriev-Morro made a particularly great contribution to the development of Alexander, who informed the young man about all the intricacies of playing sports with the help of a barbell.
In addition to the fact that Alexander had developed not a hefty strength by the age of 18, he often attended circus performances in order to once again look at circus strongmen. Over time, Alexander's sports props were supplemented with horseshoes, nails, metal rods and other elements that circus athletes worked with. It was when he began to work with this prop that the future Iron Samson realized that it was he who allowed him to develop strength even more than a barbell or kettlebell did.

case in war

First World War swooped down, just when Alexander was of military age. He served in the 180th Vindava Cavalry Regiment. The incident, which is described below, struck everyone without exception, and even those who knew about Alexander's abilities.
Once, returning from reconnaissance Zass, he was ambushed by the Austrians. The event occurred when he was approaching the Russian positions. The Austrian shooter hit the leg of the horse and, apparently realizing that he was near the Russian positions, left Zass. The future circus athlete lay down, waited out the danger, and then got up. Then, Alexander, seeing a wounded horse, realized that he could not leave her! There were about 600 meters left to the regiment, but this did not stop the future Samson. He simply put the horse on his shoulders and carried it all the way to the regiment. Over time, when the war is over, this episode will pop up in his memory and become one of the brightest numbers that he will perform in the circus arena.

About how Alexander got into the circus

The war for Alexander Zass left a number of terrible memories for life. Once, he had to beg the doctors not to amputate his leg, which, due to a severe wound, began to fester badly. Alexander was in captivity and escaped from it three times, two of which ended in tears for the future circus artist, because he was caught and severely punished.
But the third time was successful. Moreover, the third escape of Alexander served as the beginning of his circus career. When he managed to get out of captivity, he was able to independently reach the Hungarian town of Kaposvár, in which, just at that time, the most famous Schmidt circus in Europe was on tour. Then Zass went for broke. He approached the owner of the circus and told that he was a prisoner who escaped and said that he had remarkable strength. Right then, the circus owner gave him a test by giving him a thick metal rod and an iron chain.
Alexander did not eat for several days, but, nevertheless, having gathered all his spiritual strength, he broke the chain with his bare hands and bent the rod! After that, Alexander became a member of the circus troupe, and the news of the strongest athlete spread throughout Kaposvar.
Unfortunately, he will be captured again. One day, the Austrian commandant, who will attend the performance, will be interested in Alexander's biography. Then he will know that that Russian prisoner. After that, the future Samson will be severely beaten and thrown into prison. But here again his strength will come to the rescue! He will break the chains of the handcuffs and straighten the bars of the bars.
This time he was able to get to Budapest. In the Hungarian capital, he meets the good-natured wrestler Chai Janos, who will help Alexander find a job in the circus. It is Tea that will influence the fact that Zass will become a member of the Italian circus troupe.
The Italian impresario, with whom the wrestler introduces Alexander, will conclude with the future Iron Samson.

World fame

This contract led to the world fame of Alexander Zass. Having signed the contract, he goes on a European tour. It was in England, after Samson's performance, that the great athletes of that time started talking about him. No matter how they tried to repeat what Alexander did, they did not succeed, and the English public was wildly delighted with the performances of Iron Samson. Mr. Pullum, the world's most famous sports journalist, claimed that Zass is the only person in the world who has learned to use both physical and mental abilities equally well. He also claimed that if he had not seen Alexander in the “case”, he would never have believed that it was possible to do what this athlete does on the circus stage, given the physical parameters of Alexander.

Completion of life

After Pullum's announcement, newspapers around the world scramble to interview Iron Samson. In the years that the circus troupe visited, with the participation of Alexander, there was a wild boom. From that time until the end of his days, Alexander Zass was a circus performer.
In total, the Russian Samson spent more than 60 years in the circus arena. Despite his grueling workouts, the domestic athlete lived to an old age in good health.

Besides the fact that Alexander Zass was a great athlete, he left behind a number of inventions. The most important of which are a wrist dynamometer and a cannon that allows a person to shoot. It was Alexander who came up with the idea of ​​​​creating the attraction "Man projectile". One of the numbers that Iron Samson performed was the number in which he caught an assistant fired from a cannon he invented. Pay attention, the girl flew 12 meters!
In 1962 Alexander Zass left us. The place of his burial is the town of Hockley, which is located near London.

Alexander Zass was born on February 23, 1888 on an unnamed farm in the Vilna province, which is part of the North-Western region Russian Empire. Shura was the third child in the family. In total, Ivan Petrovich and Ekaterina Emelyanovna Zassov had five children: three boys and two girls.

Soon after the birth of Alexander, Zassy left the Vilna region and moved to the vicinity of Tula, and when the boy was four years old, the family moved to Saransk. The reason for the change of place was the receipt by the father of the position of a clerk. Despite the fact that the landlord estates, which were managed by Ivan Petrovich, were located between Saransk and Penza, Zassy lived mainly in the city itself. It is curious that both the city house itself and the bank accounts were registered not with the head of the family, but with the mother, who was a very purposeful and strong-willed woman. It is known that she even ran for and passed in the elections to the Saransk City Duma. Ivan Petrovich, skillfully managing the household, attracted all his children to work. Later, Alexander Ivanovich recalled: “My childhood was spent in the fields, because our family was essentially a peasant family. There was plenty of food and drink, and yet we had to work hard for everything we had.”

Alexander's childhood years, by his own admission, were not particularly interesting and consisted mainly of hard work. When he grew up, his father began to send him on long trips on horseback with large sums of money, which he had to deposit in the bank on the account of the owner of the estates. In the future, his father wanted to give Alexander a technical education and dreamed of seeing his son as a locomotive driver.

Zass himself did not have the slightest desire to drive locomotives. Traveling to different cities and villages, he had the opportunity to see quite a lot of itinerant troupes and tent circuses, for which Russia was famous in those days. The life of a circus performer seemed to him the most beautiful in the world. However, Alexander could not afford even a hint of such thoughts - his father was very strict and could ruthlessly flog him for disobedience.

Once Ivan Petrovich took his son with him to the fair to sell horses. In the evening, after a successful deal, they went to the performance of a traveling circus located nearby. The sight he saw struck the boy to the depths of his soul: To the music, screams and laughter, people soared in the air, horses danced, jugglers balanced various objects. But he especially liked the strong man, who easily lifts heavy weights, breaks chains and wraps iron bars around his neck. Many spectators, including Alexander's father, following the host's invitation, got up from their seats and tried to repeat these tricks without much success. Returning to the inn, father and son had supper and went to bed. But sleep did not go to Alexander, slipping out of the room, he rushed to the circus tent and, having paid the required amount from pocket money, went in to watch the performance again.

He returned home only in the morning of the next day. The father, having learned about the absence of his son, took the shepherd's whip in his hands and flogged him. Alexander spent the rest of the day and all night in a separate room without food or sleep, tormented by a fever. In the early morning he was given some bread and told to go to work immediately. Already in the evening, the father told his son that he was sending him to a distant southern village as a shepherd for a year. There, a twelve-year-old teenager had to help shepherds graze a huge herd - almost 400 cows, 200 camels and over 300 horses. From morning to night, he was in the saddle under the burning sun and made sure that the animals did not fight, did not disperse and did not climb into other people's possessions.

All the time spent away from home, Alexander did not stop thinking about the circus and its wonderful life. He learned to shoot well - more than once or twice the shepherds had to fight off the wolves. Communication with animals also gave a lot to the future circus actor. He tried to teach horses the same tricks that he had noticed in riders in the circus, he improved in riding and vaulting. Soon the boy began to feel as confident on the horse's back as on the ground. However, what especially surprised the shepherds and what Alexander himself considered his main victory was his friendship with guard dogs. He managed to find mutual language with six huge, ferocious and ruthless wolfhounds, who later accompanied him everywhere.

After returning to Saransk, Zass began to collect magazines and various instructions "on improving the figure and developing strength." Reading them, he tried to understand the intricacies of sports and circus terminology, learned athletic exercises, learned about famous wrestlers, gymnasts and strong men. Alexander's favorite hero was the outstanding athlete of the nineteenth century, Eugene Sandow.

Zass's early day now began with gymnastics and a run. He spent his free minutes in the backyard of the house, devoting them to performing various exercises. He did not have dumbbells and weights, and the guy tied stones of various weights to wooden sticks. In addition, he dragged cobblestones, trying to hold them only with his fingers, did jogging with a calf or foal on his shoulders. Zass also trained with thick tree branches - he tried to bend them without emphasis with one hand. Later, he made two horizontal bars for flights from one crossbar to another.

As a reward for hard work, the first successes came - Alexander felt how his body was getting stronger and filled with strength. He learned how to “twist the sun” on the crossbar, pull himself up on one arm, catch 8-kilogram stones thrown from a flip board. There were also injuries. Once he failed to hold a stone projectile and fell with a broken collarbone. After leaving for a month with his arm in a sling, he started all over again.

Many years later, having already become famous, the circus athlete, based on his childhood experiences, will create a whole system of training, the basic principles of which will be recognized all over the world. These are the so-called isometric exercises. Their characteristic- muscle tension without contractions, without movements in the joints. Alexander Zass argued that it is not enough to manage only traditional ways muscle development, namely muscle contraction under load. Externally, futile attempts to tighten the tendons and muscles, for example, when bending a steel rod, are very useful for developing strength. Time has fully confirmed his point of view.

Having become older, Zass turned for help to famous athletes of that era - Pyotr Krylov, Dmitriev, Anokhin. All of them reviewed the young man's letters and sent him their guidelines. Training according to their systems of exercises, Alexander Ivanovich further developed his abilities. None of his peers could do what he did. With a weight of 66 kilograms, the young man confidently twisted 80 kilograms with his right hand, juggled 30-kilogram weights. Rumors about his extraordinary strength quickly spread throughout the surrounding villages and villages. They began to call him to various parties and festivities, where people were not averse to measuring strength with him. However, with all his outstanding abilities, Alexander Ivanovich grew up as a surprisingly calm and not pugnacious person, in the summer he took care of his father's affairs, and in the winter he attended school.

The turning point in his life came in the summer of 1908. Despite Alexander's timid protests, Zass Sr. sent a twenty-year-old guy to Orenburg to the local locomotive depot to study as a fireman, or, if you're lucky, as an assistant driver. And in early October, Orenburg newspapers announced the arrival in the city of "the first-class Andrzhievsky circus with its huge troupe." Alexander, of course, came to see the performance. A couple of days later, having gained courage, Zass appeared before the director, to whom he told about how such a life attracted him. Dmitry Andriyuk, and that is how Andrzhievsky was actually called, he himself was an excellent trainer and wrestler, performed with athletic numbers. To Alexander's great surprise, he said: “Do you want to work in a circus? Well, okay, you can join us as a handyman. You will help where needed. But life is hard here, no doubt about it. You will work for many hours, and it may happen that you have to starve. Think well." However, Alexander did not hesitate.

At first, the young circus performer really had a hard time. In addition to various "dirty" labor like cleaning animals or cleaning the arena, he helped the athlete Kuratkin during performances. Over time, Kuratkin became attached to the young man - he taught him various tricks of circus strongmen, trained him in balancing heavy objects. A few months later, Alexander received his own, small number - demonstrating strength, he threw a huge stone over his head from hand to hand. He wrote to his relatives that he was diligently working as a locomotive driver. This was only partly a lie - Zass really put his whole soul into the hard work of a circus performer.

Andrzhievsky's circus tent worked for six months in Orenburg and nearby settlements, and as soon as the fees began to fall, the troupe got ready to go. Zass had to make a difficult decision - to go to his father in Saransk and report on his choice of life path or to openly continue his circus career. Andrzhievsky, having learned about this, ordered Zass to return home, repent and trust in the mercy of his father. To all the requests of the young man to take him with him, he refused.

However, Zass did not go home at all. He took a train to Tashkent, and upon arrival in the city he immediately went to the circus of the famous entrepreneur Yupatov. He heard a lot about Philip Afanasyevich. Yupatov kept his circuses in Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara, his troupes included the most famous "stars", each of them was an unsurpassed specialist in his genre.

The performance of the Tashkent troupe made a huge impression on Zass. After the Andrzhievsky circus, the performances performed amazed with their unique technique, brilliant invention and purity of execution. When the performance ended, the young man went to the arena inspector for a conversation. Posing as an artist of the Andzhievsky circus, he explained his desire to get a job with Yupatov very simply: "I want to earn more." Half an hour later, he was already invited for negotiations with the director of the circus, who, barely looking at Zass, announced that he was ready to take him on as a laborer with the condition of making a “bond of integrity” of 200 rubles. Alexander did not have such money, and he was given a week to get it.

The very next morning, he wrote a letter to his father, in which he said that he had found a promising job with a good salary. He wrote that a large enterprise offered him training, but required him to deposit 200 rubles as proof of decency. Four days later, along with congratulations, the necessary amount of money came from his father, and Zass became a full participant in the Yupat performances.

Initially, he got an assistant to the legendary trainer Anatoly Durov. After six months of work in his team, Alexander was unexpectedly transferred to the position of a cashier. Wage there were more in this place, and Zass even managed to repay the debt to his father, who now did not particularly go into the essence of his son's "profitable" work. And soon he was returned to the arena, but not to Durov, but to the troupe of jigit riders. As soon as Alexander got used to this friendly and cheerful company, he was transferred to aerial gymnasts. So Philip Afanasyevich brought up young circus performers. In order to reveal their true inclinations, and also to have a replacement if necessary, he “passed” them through many specialties. At the aerial gymnasts, Zass, despite the fact that he liked the work, did not stay long and was sent to a group of wrestlers led by a 140-kilogram giant Sergei Nikolaevsky.

Some time later, after numerous discussions, a plan for Alexander's independent performances, not related to wrestling matches, was born. The basis was strength exercises, in which Zass was especially good - breaking chains with the force of the chest and hands, bending iron bars. These tricks were supplemented with less difficult numbers, but also very effective. For example, demonstrating the strength of the pectoral muscles, Alexander lay on his back, and on his chest was a platform that could accommodate up to ten people. And Alexander could successfully hold the platform in his teeth, on which the two heaviest wrestlers were sitting.

The people poured into Yupatov's performances, and the fees were excellent. However, the happiness of circus performers is short-lived. One dark August night, the circus menagerie caught fire. Perhaps the case was not without competitors, but it was not possible to find out. The damage from the fire was catastrophic - most of the animals burned down, the property died. There was nothing to pay the artists, and the troupe broke up. Horse riders left for the Caucasus, Durov went to St. Petersburg, and Alexander Zass, along with six wrestlers, went to Central Asia. On the way, athletes earned their living by performing, and served as an arena for them in best case central square villages, and more often - a street or a road. Thus, the emaciated and weakened strongmen reached Ashgabat, where they got a job in a circus tent of a certain Khoytsev.

With the advent of the Yupatov artists, the Khoytsev circus became mainly a wrestling circus, since against their background all other genres lost. Speaking in various cities and villages as an ordinary wrestler, Alexander continued to train hard. His day began with a three-kilometer jog, then there were exercises with breaking chains and with iron bars - he bent them at his knee, curled them in a spiral, tied them in a knot. He devoted a lot of time to the development of the dorsal and pectoral muscles. After finishing the morning workout, Zass rested, and trained a second time in the evening. During these sessions, the athlete practiced vaulting, worked out balance, developed the strength of the jaws and neck, lifting 170-kilogram steel beams from the ground.

Such exercises helped him gain a lot of muscle mass, which was necessary not only to perform various tricks, but to get a “commodity” look, since Zass was not taken seriously in the arena for a long time. Indeed, in an era when 150-, 170-kilogram heroes were considered the embodiment of physical power in world athletics, it was hard for the short and thin Zass with his 168 centimeters of height and 75 kilograms of weight against their background. Later, Alexander Ivanovich will write that “large biceps cannot be considered a criterion of strength in the same way that big belly is not a sign of good digestion. He argued that "a large man does not have to be strong, and a modest build is weak, and all the strength lies in the tendons, it is they who need to be trained."

During the tour of the Khoytsev circus, Zassa finally found a summons ordering him to appear on military service. Recruits were called up at the place of birth, and Alexander had to go to Vilna, where he was from. There, his forehead was shaved and he was assigned to serve in the 12th Turkestan Infantry Regiment, located on the Persian border. During his three years of service, he worked as a gymnastics instructor and also continued to practice wrestling and horseback riding. Upon graduation, Zass went to Simbirsk (Ulyanovsk), where he was offered a position as a coach for women athletes, and after a while he moved closer to his family in the city of Krasnoslobodsk, where he bought a cinema with his father. However, things did not work out for him, and he was forced to turn again to power athletics. Zass began to perform solo numbers, and at the same time developed new unique power tricks. The first job offers came from a number of circuses, but then the First World War began.

Mobilization hastily passed, and Zass ended up in the 180th Vindav Infantry Regiment, which was transferred from Saransk to Lublin at the beginning of the war. Alexander Ivanovich was enrolled in regimental intelligence and, as part of a small group, made horse raids on enemy rear lines. A pedant and an ardent "regime officer" in civilian life, at the front he turned into a harsh and dashing warrior. It is known that for the courage shown in the fighting, he was promoted. There is also a legend about how, during the next outing, the stallion Zassa was wounded in the front leg. The athlete did not leave the animal in trouble, waiting for the night, he put the horse on his shoulders and went out with him to our trenches.

At the front, Alexander Ivanovich did not fight for long - during the next battle, a shell exploded next to him, hitting both legs of the Russian hero with shrapnel. He woke up already in an Austrian hospital. There he was operated on, but the first operation was unsuccessful, and soon Alexander Ivanovich underwent the second and third. The wounds did not want to heal properly, and the doctors warned the athlete that he might have to part with his legs. Left to himself, Zass used some of the principles of his passive exercises. He continued to work hard every day until all fears of losing his legs completely disappeared. Full recovery did not come immediately. At first, Alexander Ivanovich learned to move on crutches, helped to take care of other captives. And when he was able to move without crutches, he was transferred to a prisoner of war camp.

In this "institution" everything was different. They fed poorly, forced to work hard - from morning to evening, the prisoners were busy building roads and temporary hospitals for the wounded on both sides, who continued to arrive in myriads. Zass spent about a year in this camp. The place was well guarded, the barracks were surrounded by barbed wire. Together with another prisoner named Ashaev, Alexander Ivanovich began to prepare for an escape. With great difficulty, friends managed to get a scheme railway tracks no roads and a small, almost toy-like compass. They also managed to save some provisions. The last barrier to escape was barbed wire, completely hung with hundreds of bells and tin cans. Straining their brains in search of a way out, the captives very soon came to the conclusion that they had only one way behind the wire - to dig. On moonless nights, Zass and Ashaev dug a hole, and when it was completed, they escaped.

By dawn, tired and exhausted, they ran to the forest and took refuge under the canopy of trees. There was no chase. The purpose of the fugitives was to get to the Carpathians, where, in their opinion, the advanced posts of the Russian army were located. However, these plans were not destined to come true, on the sixth day they caught the eye of a patrol of the field gendarmerie. They tried to run away, but they were caught up and, having been brutally beaten, they were taken to the nearest commandant's office. After interrogation, Zass and Ashaev, to their surprise, were not shot, but sent back to the camp. There, the fugitives were brought before a military court, which issued them a relatively “soft” decision - they were sentenced to thirty days of solitary confinement on bread and water. At the end of the punishment, the captives were again returned to their old duties, however, they were transferred to another, more guarded part of the camp. Here Alexander Ivanovich stayed for a few more months, and then, due to a lack of masculine strength, he was sent to Central Hungary to a horse-breeding estate. Life here turned out to be much easier, and after a couple of months, taking advantage of the inattention of the guards, Zass and a Cossack named Yamesh left this place. This time the Russian athlete was much better prepared, had a reliable map and compass, and enough money. They stayed at large for two and a half months, until a patrol caught them near the Romanian city of Oradea. Friends were placed in a city prison, and when it was revealed that this was Alexander's second escape, he was put in a dark underground casemate for six weeks. After that, he was transferred to a regular cell and did minor prison work. And then he was transferred to street work, which prompted Alexander Ivanovich to make another attempt to escape. This time, already taught by bitter experience, he did not try to break through to the Russian units. Zass reached the Romanian town of Kolozhvar, where the famous circus of Herr Schmidt was located and asked to meet with the owner.

Alexander Ivanovich frankly told the director of the troupe about his troubles, as well as about his activities in Russian circuses. Fortunately, there were no strength athletes or wrestlers in Schmidt's program. Zass' stories about the tricks he could show convinced the owner. Schmidt was satisfied with the first performances of the Russian hero, who, by the way, is in far from the best shape, helped him buy new clothes and paid a huge advance. However, Alexander Ivanovich's luck was not destined to last long. Circus posters announcing the appearance of the "Strongest Man on the Planet" attracted the attention of the local military commandant. Interested in why such a fine fellow does not serve in the Austrian army, he arrived at the circus, and by the evening of the same day found out that Zass was a Russian prisoner of war. Taking into account that Alexander Ivanovich did not kill or maim anyone during his escapes, the military tribunal limited himself to confining him in the fortress until the end of the war. Zass was placed in a damp and cold basement, air and light into which penetrated through a tiny window located at a height of six meters and overlooking a moat with water. Legs and hands were shackled, which were removed only twice a day during feeding.

Escape seemed impossible, but the Russian hero did not lose heart. Taking himself in hand, he began to train. Bound hand and foot, he worked hard - he took goose steps, backbends, squats, strained his muscles, kept them "on", relaxed. And so many times a day. The ostentatious humility and humility somewhat changed the conditions of his detention. Three months later, Zass was allowed a daily half-hour walk around the fortress, and after a while, knowing about his circus past, they offered to train local dogs. Alexander Ivanovich agreed, thereby freeing himself from leg shackles and gaining some freedom for his hands. This was enough for him. After some time, the Russian strongman successfully made his next, last escape.

He successfully reached Budapest, where he got a job as a port loader. Zass stayed at this job for quite a long time, gradually restoring his strength. And when the Beketovsky circus arrived in the city, he applied there, thinking of getting a job as an athlete or wrestler. But the director of the circus, who was experiencing financial difficulties, refused him, giving, nevertheless, a letter of recommendation for the famous wrestler Chai Janos, who had his own troupe. This good-natured Hungarian treated Alexander Ivanovich with attention. After listening to the story of the Russian hero and having tested him in a duel, he took him to his team. Three years after that, Zass performed in the troupe of wrestlers of Chai Janos, alternating duels on the carpet with numbers with dogs. He visited Italy, Switzerland, Serbia. Zass did not return to Soviet Russia, believing that, as a soldier of the tsarist army, the path there was closed forever. In the early twenties, tired of wrestling, the athlete moved to the circus of his old friend Schmidt, where he began to perform athletic tricks, which later brought him worldwide fame. At the suggestion of the director, he took the stage name Samson, under which the European public knew him for many decades.

In 1923, Zass received an unexpected offer to work in Paris. He signed a contract, but did not stay long in the French capital. A year later, at the invitation of the British variety show director Oswald Stoll, he went to England, where he lived until the end of his life. It is curious that Stoll's representatives, who met the famous strongman at London's Victoria Station, at first did not pay any attention to the inconspicuous stocky man who did not know a word of English. However, photos of the Russian athlete soon occupied the front pages of local newspapers. He visited Bristol, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh... His fame grew and his performances aroused fantastic interest.

Zass was really unique, common sense refused to believe in the numbers that he performed. To demonstrate the gigantic load on the shoulders, he built a special tower. Being at the top, he held suspended platforms with people on his shoulders. In one of the photographs, Zass holds thirteen people on his shoulders, including Winston Churchill. Another unique number "Projectile Man" Zass developed from a trick shown by other strong men. They caught a nine-kilogram cannonball fired from a cannon, but the Russian hero chose a ninety-kilogram shell. Then, together with foundry workers and blacksmiths, he developed a particularly powerful cannon capable of ejecting this core so that it glided along a given trajectory over the arena. By the way, the technical studies of Alexander Zass in the future brought him considerable benefit. Many years later, he developed the hand dynamometer, first as a competition device, and then as a training device. Successful performances with catching the core were not enough for him, Zass knew well how to conquer the public. After much thought and calculation, a miracle cannon was created that fired not cold metal, but girls. Flying eight meters across the stage, they invariably fell into the hands of an athlete.

Working with a jack, Alexander Ivanovich easily tore off trucks from one side of the ground. He generally had a craving for cars - either in one or another city in England, he liked to arrange "road shows". The strong man lay down on the ground, and cars full of passengers drove along him - along the lower back and legs. In the general public, Zass also practiced stretching with horses. At the same time, he held back two horses rushing in different directions.

Shaming future karatekas, Zass broke through concrete slabs with his fists, and arched a pattern from iron beams more intricate than on the gates of Westminster Abbey. The traditional numbers of Alexander Ivanovich were: hammering huge nails into a thick board with the palm of his hand, flying under the dome of the circus with a 220-kilogram beam in his teeth, carrying a 300-kilogram horse across the stage, shouldered. Many famous British athletes have unsuccessfully tried to repeat the tricks of Zass. And the Russian hero challenged anyone who was ready to knock him down with a fist in the stomach. Professionals also took part in this more than once. There is a photo where the world heavyweight boxing champion Canadian Tommy Burns is trying to topple the Russian hero.

In 1925, Zass met the dancer Betty - she became a member of one of his numbers. The athlete hung upside down under the dome of the circus and held a rope in his teeth, on which a platform with a girl playing the piano was suspended. Later a short time they began to live together. In 1975, 68-year-old Betty would say: "He was the only man I truly loved." But Alexander Ivanovich was always popular with women and reciprocated. Betty forgave him a lot, and only ten years later life together in 1935 they decided to end their relationship and remain friends. She later married Zass's best friend, clown and circus rider Sid Tilbury.

With the beginning of World War II, Alexander Zass, who never renounced Russian citizenship, had problems. In order to avoid being interned, he stopped public power shows and took up training lions, elephants and chimpanzees at the Chessington and Paignton zoos, and also gave numerous interviews talking about working with animals. As soon as the war ended, the joint performances of Alexander and Betty resumed. For many more years, she, hovering over the arena, played music, until during a performance in 1952 at the Liverpool stadium, the loop to which Zass was suspended by the leg burst burst. The whole structure, together with the athlete, the fragile woman and the piano, collapsed down. Alexander Ivanovich escaped with only a broken collarbone, but Betty injured her spine. After spending two years in a hospital bed, she was able not only to get back on her feet, but also to return to the circus as a rider. However, a second misfortune soon happened - she was thrown off by a horse. Since then, Betty has been forever confined to a wheelchair.

Shortly before the war, Alexander participated in filming in the small town of Hockley, located forty minutes from London. Here he saw a site on Plumberow Avenue that he liked very much. In 1951, Zass, Sid and Betty bought this house for three. Alexander Ivanovich lived in it on short visits, in between tours. In 1954, Zass worked as the chief administrator of the "New California Circus" in Wokingham, and also performed with his famous Scottish ponies and dogs. On August 23 of the same year, the BBC television company organized the last public performance of an athlete with power tricks. And although he was already 66 years old, the numbers shown were impressive. After that, Zass continued to work tirelessly, but already as a trainer. However, for the entertainment of the public, he liked to include power numbers in his programs. For example, at the age of seventy, he carried two lions around the arena in a special yoke.

In the summer of 1960, Alexander Ivanovich received a letter from Moscow from his sister Nadezhda. A correspondence began between them. In the messages, Zass asked if he could come and visit his relatives, stay in Russia, get a job as a coach or physical education teacher there. And in 1961, when the Soviet circus came on tour to London, the athlete met with Vladimir Durov, the grandson of the legendary Anatoly Leonidovich, for whom he worked as an assistant in his youth.

Monument to Zass in Orenburg

In the summer of 1962, a fire broke out in Zass's wagon house. 74-year-old Alexander Ivanovich bravely rushed into the fire to save his animals. At the same time, he received serious head burns and injured his eyes. These injuries took a toll on him. He felt that he did not have long in this world, and gave Betty detailed instructions about own funeral. One of the main wishes was the time of burial - "in the morning, when the sun begins to shine." It was at this time that circus performers used to leave their places and set off. Alexander Ivanovich died on September 26, 1962 in a hospital in the city of Rochford, where he was taken the night before with a heart attack. He was buried in Hockley in accordance with his wishes.

Based on the materials of the book by A.S. Drabkin "The Secret of the Iron Samson" and the athlete's memoirs "Amazing Samson. Told by him… and not only”

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Alexander Zass is one of the best circus athletes of all time, he has an incredible number of unique tricks. Born a weak and sickly child, he designed his own body, developed his own isometric system, and all this for a life full of not the best events.

Childhood and youth of a circus athlete

Alexander Zass comes from a poor peasant family, which is why there are even inaccuracies around the date of his birth, in some sources it is October 4, and in others it is 14. One of the most famous circus athletes of his time was born the fifth child, not the most favorable for the family time. That year turned out to be stingy for the harvest, and the Zass family, having sold their not cunning property, went to work beyond the Volga, to the estate of Princess Yusupova. All these disasters in the first years of Alexander's life affected his health, as a child he was frail and sickly.

In the new place, the Zasses had a typical peasant life, full of labor, to which the future strong man was introduced from the age of four, helping adults in the field. The road to athleticism for Alexander Zass began with a childhood dream of visiting the circus, which he learned about from the stories of one of the many guests of the estate. The dream came true at the next autumn fair.

In the circus, Alexander was punished by the performance of the strongman Ivan Pud, which consisted of a set that was classic at that time: lifting barrels, breaking horseshoes and bending rods. This had a strong effect on the inexperienced young Zass, and from that moment he decided to become the most famous circus athlete. Upon returning home, he immediately got down to business, soon a horizontal bar and a trapezoid were built not far from the house, and weights begged from the storekeeper of the estate. Zass began to train in a makeshift gym.

It soon became clear that special knowledge was indispensable, and with the help of his father, Alexander got a book and began to train according to his system. After a while, the understanding comes that this knowledge is not enough to become a world-famous strongman, and Zass begins a correspondence with the then popular athletes and Dmitriev-Morro, they willingly answer him, sharing their experience.

Alexander achieves significant results in his training, he begins to masterfully cope with kettlebells, and even juggle them, and this is not to mention progress in lifting weights. With a weight of 66 kg, Zass is controlled with a barbell of 80. At the same time, he is trying to master the arsenal of circus tricks, trying to bend, break all kinds of prices, nails and horseshoes. At this moment, an understanding of the benefits of isometric exercises begins to be born, which will later develop into a whole system.

The beginning of a sports career

After several years of training, Zass tries his hand at the circus arena, starting as an assistant to the then-famous trainer Anatoly Durov, and athlete Mikhail Kuchkin. Kichkin was very impressed with the strength of the circus recruit with such height and weight.

The first own circus number took place in 1908, in Orenburg, Alexander Zass, to the delight of the public, raised three spectators with one hand. The career began to develop rapidly, the repertoire expanded, tricks were added with breaking horseshoes, breaking chains and healing nails with palms. But, unfortunately, good position affairs were spoiled by the outbreak of war, the circus strongman was drafted into the cavalry regiment.

At the front, Zass had a chance to use his strength more than once, one case is especially noteworthy when he had to drag a wounded horse on his shoulders for half a kilometer. The news of this act quickly spread throughout the army, and the visiting officers asked Alexander to demonstrate his strength, and he had to raise the horses again and carry them tens of meters, later this experience will come in handy when creating a spectacular circus act - raising a horse with a rider.

Alexander Zass in Europe

In the first year of the war, Zass was taken prisoner by the wounded. As soon as Alexander recovered, attempts were immediately made to escape. From the third time, the efforts were crowned with success. Having escaped, the strong man turned to Schmidt, who was touring nearby with his circus. After demonstrating a few tricks, Zass was hired. But soon the military became interested in the circus athlete, and, having learned about his origin, they arrested him. The Russian strongman did not give up his attempts to get free, having broken the bars in the cell, he fled again. Having reached Budapest in a roundabout way, he got a job as a port loader. At the new place, he met the circus producer Pasolini. Pasolini quickly assessed the potential of the Russian strongman and the situation in which he found himself, and offered him a contract, according to which Zass got only 20% of the fees.

A recent fugitive could not refuse such a contract, and soon went on a tour of the cities of Europe under the pseudonym Samson. The new circus athlete is fast becoming a European star. Real recognition comes at the performances in London, which coincided with the wrestling championship. Famous wrestlers came to see the performance of Alexander Zass, they were impressed by what they saw, and they decided to try to repeat the tricks of the Russian athlete, but the attempts were unsuccessful. After this event, Zass was spoken of as the most strong man in the world.

Samson ended his performances in the circus arena as an athlete only in 1954 at the age of 66. Then he was engaged in animal training. The life path of Alexander Zass ended on September 26, 1962 in the small town of Hockley, near London.

The system of isometric exercises by Alexander Zass

Alexander was distinguished by extraordinary views on athletic training, which he outlined in a full-fledged isometric system. This system causes a lot of controversy to this day. Of course, one can doubt its effectiveness, but if you look at Zass's circus performances, then it's just stupid to leave it unattended.

Isometric exercises are those that do not require a change in the position of body parts during execution, i.e. static postures. The difference between this type of exercise is in the maximum tension of the tendons. With ordinary, dynamic exercises, the muscles are well trained, but the load on the tendons, for their development, is insufficient.

Tendons connect bones to muscles, and their development increases the number of muscles involved, thereby increasing strength. From all this, it is easy to conclude that the combination of dynamic and isometric training is the best option for developing strength. This concept of combining dynamics and statics was developed by Alexander Zass.

He was called "Iron Samson". He believed that his strength was that he was Russian. Alexander Zass escaped from German captivity, carried a wounded horse from the battlefield, bent horseshoes and tore chains.

Zass and Rezazad: who is stronger?

Alexander Zass is considered the legendary Russian strongman. And in fact, everything that he showed on the circus stage did not fit in the minds of the townsfolk. For example, in one of his numbers, "iron Samson" lifted a horse weighing 500 kilograms. For comparison, the most outstanding result in modern weightlifting belongs to the Iranian Hossein Rezazade, who pushed 263.5 kilograms. And despite the fact that the weightlifter from Tehran weighs twice as much as Zass. Of course, there is a difference between carrying a horse on your shoulders and lifting a barbell. However, the scale of the physical capabilities of the Russian circus performer is still amazing.

man of his time

Meanwhile, in tsarist Russia there were many other athletes who earned their bread with power numbers on circus tours. For example, Eugene Sandow easily squeezed 101.5 kilograms with one hand. Ivan Zaikin surprised by the fact that he wore a ship anchor weighing 409 kilograms. And the "Russian Lion" Georg Gakkenshmidt easily spread his arms to the side with two-pound weights.
At that time, every Russian boy dreamed of becoming a circus strongman. By the way, Alexander Zass himself in his memoirs said that he was greatly impressed by the circus performer Vanya Pud, who raised huge barrels of water. It happened at the age of seven, and young Shura - as he was called in the family - played circus strongman, trying to lift a wooden tub.

Get over yourself

In his childhood games, Zass took on weights that he could not lift even adult. The boy did not succeed, but Shura did not give up and pushed for a long time with all his strength. In fact, he performed isometric-static exercises, concentrating muscle tension with an effort of will. The result was not long in coming. After some time, the future "iron Samson" easily raised the saddle, although quite recently it required considerable effort for this. He saw an obvious relationship between desperate attempts to achieve the "impossible" and increased strength. However, the recognized athletes of that time did not see the point in such training, preferring to "pump" the muscles with dynamic exercises.

scientific explanation

It will take decades scientific research to explain this "Samsonian" phenomenon. It turns out that human energy depends on the metabolism in the body, which is carried out in two ways - aerobic and anaerobic. With dynamic variable exercises, such as squats, the aerobic system is stimulated. And with static loads - anaerobic, the one that is the biochemical basis of strength capabilities.

Raise the horse, break the chain ...

Since Alexander Zass mainly trained with static methods, he developed unique strength capabilities in himself, which he himself had no idea about. In 1914, as a cavalryman of the 180th Vindava Regiment, he fell into an Austrian ambush. He himself was not injured, but his horse was wounded in the leg. Without thinking twice, he picked up his four-legged friend and carried half a kilometer to the camp where the regiment was located.
Having done this, Zass believed in the unique capabilities of his body and in the power of the spirit. Once in captivity, the strong man, shackled, broke the chain and unbent the bars of the prison bars. Later, recalling his escape, "Samson" admitted that without the concentration of moral forces he could hardly have done this. Later, this property was noted by the director of the English club of athletes "Camberwell" Mr. Pulum, writing about the "Russian strongman" as "a person who uses his mind no worse than his muscles."

Strength of mind

Nowadays, it has been proven that moral forces indeed significantly increase a person's energy. In particular, scientists from the American Sports Association have empirically established that the muscular abilities of a person under hypnosis, when he was inspired that he has incredible strength, are much higher than when doping is introduced into the blood. The fact is that the force of muscle contraction depends on the power of the electrical impulse coming from the brain along the central line. nervous system. The more intense this impulse, the more calcium ions are released, which affect the strength of a person.
Alexander Zass did not know all these scientific intricacies, but he believed that the concentration of mental strength also increases physical strength. And he also believed that the "strength of the spirit" in the Russian people is strong.

Very often you can find such a picture: a person with very thin legs is much stronger than an athlete, whose legs are a mountain of muscles. A logical question arises - why is this happening? And the thing is that big muscles do not mean strong muscles, only complex training of muscles, ligaments and tendons gives real strength. In terms of density, tendons are inferior to bones; without them, a person would simply turn into a jelly. It is the development of tendons that is the basis of real strength, so they need to be as hard as muscles. The picture described above is quite common when muscular athletes are not able to do what a person of modest physique can.

Bulky muscles are of no use if they are not complemented by strong tendons, because the very basis of strength is missing.

Many bodybuilders fail to use their full strength when they really need to. So there is little practical benefit from giant muscles alone.

Muscles grow in volume through movement, but tendons are strengthened in a completely different way. Best Option- try to move some immovable object, for example, push a wall. It is from resistance that tendon strength increases.

Probably, any athlete knows such a name as Alexander Zass or know this person as Iron Samson. It was he who created the system for the development of strength, which is now used by people not only in our country, but throughout the world.

Speech by Alexander Zass:

Alexander managed to develop phenomenal strength through exercises that strengthen the tendons. He was short, weighing about 70 kg, and with such data he acted as an athlete in the circus. What he saw amazed and shocked the audience: a very weak-looking man easily defeated giant artists, tore chains and horseshoes, bent metal rods and could keep horses running in different directions. Some viewers suspected cheating, so Alexander had to do exercises with dumbbells to gain mass. But, his weight never exceeded 80 kg.

In general, tendon training has been known since ancient times. Strongmen in the old days raised animals, bent rods, even dragged trees ... And Roman gladiators climbed the platform in robes, all of which reached 400 kg.

However, it was Iron Samson who compiled all this into a system and introduced it to the world in 1924.

Muscles are based on tendons, they must be developed in the first place.

In the 60s of the last century, athletes from America made a "rediscovery" of this technique, and called these exercises isometric, or static. Since then, tendon strengthening has become a mandatory part of many training programs. But these workouts are just separate exercises, and Alexander Zass created a whole system!

Unfortunately, most sports coaches and scientists prefer to remain silent about this fact. But this system is unique in many ways: it does not require any training equipment, just a little free space and time is enough. And the effectiveness of these classes is simply excellent. Many modern circus athletes, such as Gennady Ivanov and Ivan Shutov, developed their phenomenal strength using the Zass technique.

Meanwhile, experts are trying to find white spots in the sun. What they don't come up with...

They talk about how isometry is harmful to the cardiovascular system of unprepared people (needless to say, this is a blatant lie); sometimes they present alleged evidence that dynamic training is much more effective than static training (that is, they convince everyone that complex training is better than simple); many say that maximum tension injures muscles and causes tears in muscle tissues.

And recently they came up with another way to mislead people who do not understand all these training methods. The method is quite simple - mixing concepts. According to some of these “smart” people, isometry is essentially no different from Anokhin’s gymnastics. Or they come up with “safe” training systems, they say, the maximum tension should be kept for no more than 6 seconds, and after about a year you can increase the time to 8 seconds. And holding the voltage for 12 seconds is extremely dangerous for health. If you have a headache, stop exercising immediately. And no more than 15 minutes a day!

As for spots, a real spot can be considered modern history isometric development. In the 60s, Bob Hoffman started manufacturing special frames for static exercises. As evidence of the real benefits of tendon exercises, he touted the achievements of Billy March and Louis Riquet, who achieved incredible gains in the all-around in just 6 months. Many then began to engage in isometric exercises, some achieved very good results, but no one could come close to the achievements of March and Rike. And at one point, this “static boom” came to naught when it turned out that their amazing progress had another reason - the use of steroids. A big scandal broke out, as a result of which the reputation of tendon training was damaged for many years.

And yet these events were the first experiment of its kind. All the equipment created in those years was later used for research. The result of one such study speaks for itself: 175 athletes were engaged in isometric exercises for a certain period of time. Each week, their strength performance improved by about 5%! As they say, comments are superfluous.

Immediately after these studies, interest in this type of training increased dramatically, and static exercises became firmly established in the world of sports practice. However, new difficulties arose, now they were associated with the athletes themselves ... Many athletes were simply bored with these monotonous exercises, which, moreover, are narrowly focused. What can we say about ordinary amateurs who recognized only dynamic training and did not consider it necessary to waste their time on this nonsense, and they almost did not believe in the effectiveness of such training.

It was in such a difficult way that the development of what was once created by our hero Zass went. But everything could be much simpler, one could simply republish 2 books of Iron Samson and show in practice how effective the Zass method is, that is, training with iron chains.

Now it is worth giving some clarification regarding the various objections and discussions on this topic:

• The basis of the system was chain exercises, but it also included dynamic exercises with heavy bags. Nowadays, bodybuilding is slowly but surely approaching this system. And athletes try not only to approach it, but also to improve it;

• It is wrong to develop the strength of tendons only by isometry, they must be pumped, strain the entire volume of the joint. Thus, the tendons must develop in several directions at once, from the development of the tendon spring to the distribution of force density throughout the entire range of motion. Several types of training should be used: stops, work with “iron”, lifting and lowering with support from the body, etc. There are quite a few ways to train.

• There is a direct link between the health hazards of straining and disruption of physiology and energy regimes. The main danger lies in improper breathing during the exercise. Another danger is a violation of the recovery process. And finally, narrow-profile training, which can lead to energy imbalances. These factors apply not only to static activities, they can be found in any kind of activity, most often in sports.

• It has already been said that many consider isometry to be an ordinary copy of Anokhin's gymnastics. Indeed, some of the exercises from this gymnastics can be a good addition to tendon training. But, this gymnastics refers to muscle training, not tendon.

• There is a type of gymnastics that can be called a close relative of isometry. We are talking about the gymnastics of self-resistance by Vladimir Fokhtin. With statics, this gymnastics is related at least by what it also gets from the so-called “experts”. It is equated with Anokhin's gymnastics, attempts are being made to instill in the townsfolk that all the benefits of exercising are only toning the muscles, and it is only suitable for keeping fit during business trips or business trips, and some argue that it is no less dangerous than isometry. The next sign of kinship is the focus of training: in addition to muscles and joints, gymnastics also has a very effective effect on tendons. And again, training requires only a little free time and a minimum of equipment. The most important thing here is not to try to do as many exercises as possible, if you do 80 exercises in one course, then it will not end in anything good. It can be considered that Fohtin took the next and very important step in the development of tendon training.

• As for the widespread opinion that each exercise should last no more than 6 seconds, and the maximum effort no more than 3 seconds, it is difficult to give an unambiguous answer here. Alexander Zass himself did not say anything about the duration of training.

However, the following facts are known for certain:

1) While in prison, Iron Samson did 20-second tension exercises. It can be assumed that in the conditions of ordinary life this time reached a minute.

2) In the first 8 seconds, the ATP reserve is burned, then glycogen is burned, and after 40 seconds, fat is also burned. But, the dynamic way of spending and restoring energy is completely different, and may conflict with the isometric way. If you do not have a desire to radically change something, then it is best to choose one type of training. If isometry is selected, then 4 time types of tension can be defined: 6-12 seconds, 15-20 seconds, minute, 3-6 minutes. Each of them must first be awakened, and then developed. Otherwise, the only result of training will be a state of overtraining, leading to stress.

The technique of working with iron chains is not forgotten today. And this is not surprising, because it simultaneously develops strength, strengthens ligaments and tendons, and forms a reserve for natural development. So much pleasure in one bottle!

If women decided to take up the Zass technique, then there are a few comments. Muscles practically do not increase in volume from classes, just as veins do not increase. During a workout subcutaneous fat is included in the process of general energy exchange, which leads to its resorption and improvement of the skin condition.

To perform tendon exercises, in addition to iron chains, you can use the following projectiles: metal rods, thick cord, wooden sticks, etc. Walls, closets, heavy furniture, doorways are great as fixed objects that you can try to move with maximum effort. You have to try to bend metal bars, lift the door jamb, break chains, squeeze sticks ... In general, do everything you can with these things. During any such exercise, muscles, ligaments and tendons are tensed, all strength gradually passes into a state of maximum density. And then the whole body calms down again. Several exercises performed in one training set develop and condense the strength of our entire body. Do each exercise once, or can you do it 2-3 times a day? There is no consensus on this issue, but negative consequences from several repetitions of one exercise was not observed.

Basic rules for doing exercises:

1) The subject you train is your body. When working with chains, it is necessary to create a dense wave of the body, then the chain will break itself.

2) Throughout the exercise, breathing should be calm.

3) A wave of force should take over the whole body, while the whole body should be pressed into force, this will strengthen the connection between the tendons, muscles and joints.

4) It is necessary to achieve a good power wave, the input is smooth, the amplification to the maximum occurs without breaks, then the same smooth output.

5) A positive attitude before training, the attitude is much more important than the exercise itself.

6) Action on the principle of tension-relaxation, together with the force you will feel some energy, it is impossible to realize it.

7) The interval between exercises is 30-60 seconds, if a more powerful effort is required, then you can increase the break to several minutes, you can experiment with this.

8) If you feel uncomfortable, have a frantic heart rate and are having difficulty breathing - stop and calm down, and when you return to training, do not apply maximum effort at first.

9) You don’t need to immediately try to hold the tension for 15-20 seconds, by this time you need to come gradually, for a start 5 seconds will be enough, and then there will be a smooth transition to a longer voltage.

10) Perform 5 to 8 exercises daily, in each exercise do 3 sets in sequence, first at 60% tension, then at 90, and the third at 75%.

11) A full workout should not be done more than 2 times a week and take more than an hour.

12) And once again - the main mood, without it you can train as much as you like, and this will not bring results.

After strength training, you can do a small test: try to stretch the chain or towel, hands down, we apply 95% of the effort. When finished, listen to the sensations of your hands, if everything is in order with the muscles, then you can raise your hands first to the sides, then up. You can conduct this test only once a week, it will be an indicator of the progress of your strength and its quality over the week. Lack of progress means that you are doing something wrong, think about what it might be. Perhaps you didn’t get enough sleep, overate, didn’t fully recover from a previous workout, or re-exercised on this one. And you also need to decide on the goal that you set for yourself before testing, if you cannot stretch the projectile for more than a minute, then be very careful with surges. And if you are able to do this for more than 90 seconds, then this is just fine, your strength progress is obvious.

Tendon chain exercises

The original Zass technique is a set of exercises with chains. If you attach handles with hooks to the chains, then the chain can be lengthened or shortened if desired. To fix the legs, it is tedious to attach to the ends of the chain, which, like belts, will hold the legs. Thus, to begin classes on this system, you will need 2 chains, the length of which is the distance from the floor to your outstretched arm. In addition, you will need 2 handles for hands and 2 loops for legs.

Chains are sold at any hardware store. Handles can be made as follows: thread a wire or cable, bent at the connection into a hook, into 2 pieces of pipe of approximately the same thickness. As for the leg loops, a tarpaulin, materials for trunks and even a women's handbag can work here. First you need to experiment with the fabric: take the ends of the fabric in both hands, step on it with your foot and pull it up. So you can evaluate the thickness, width and usability of the loop.

And finally, it's time to move on to the exercises themselves. Below will be described 2 sets of exercises, they were collected from articles by Alexander Zass' nephew, Yuri Shaposhnikov. The chain is always tensioned in its original position.

First complex:

1) Take the ends of the chain in your hands. Bend your right hand and stretch the chain with it, hold the other end in a straight left hand. Then change hands and repeat the exercise.

2) Hands in the starting position are held shoulder-width apart or slightly wider than shoulders. Stretch the chain, but at the same time strain not only the muscles of the hands, but also the muscles of the chest and the latissimus dorsi.

3) Stretch your bent arms in front of your chest and stretch the chain. This exercise works the muscles of the arms and chest.

4) The chain stretches behind the back. The primary effect is on the triceps.

5) As in the previous exercise, stretch the chain behind your back. But this time, in addition to triceps, tighten the muscles of the abdomen and chest.

6) Before starting the exercise, you need to exhale. After exhaling, wrap the chain around your chest and secure it. Then take a deep breath, tighten your pecs and lats, and stretch the chain.

7) Here we need two chains. You need to attach leather loops to one end of each chain, and thread the feet through these loops. The chain is stretched, while the trapezius muscles and arm muscles are strained.

8) When stretching the chain, change hands in the starting position. Triceps and deltoid muscles are tightened.

9) As in the previous exercise, change the starting position. In addition to the arms, change the position of the legs.

10) When stretching the chain, use the right thigh first, then the left thigh.

11) This time, change the position of the arms, legs, and torso as you stretch. It is necessary to make 2 inclinations, to the left and right legs.

12) The chain is stretched while lying on the floor, the muscles of the shoulder girdle and triceps are tensed. The body must be in constant tension.

13) Now you need to stretch the chain in the handstand, using the muscles of the arms, back and neck. When looking for balance in the rack, try to transfer the entire load to the fingers.

14) To complete this exercise, you will need to use two loops. When stretching the chain, the neck muscles and spinal muscles should tighten.

15) When you do an exercise that develops the muscles of the arms and quadriceps, change the position of the arms and legs.

16) As in exercise 14, two loops are needed here. The main effect is on the muscles of the back of the thigh, and they must be strained while stretching the chain. You can diversify the exercise a little, and take your leg to the side when stretching. Change the starting position of the legs and repeat the exercise.

The second set of exercises:

1) Take the chain in your hands, bend them and stretch them in front of your chest, your elbows should be approximately at shoulder level. Apply force and try to stretch the chain.

2) Bring your bent arms behind your head. While stretching the chain, change its working length.

3) In this exercise we will need two chains, handles are attached to their ends. Pass the feet of the hands into some handles, take the others in your hands, bend them and lift them to your shoulders. Stretch the chains straight up. Next, position the handles at head level, and then above the head.

4) And again I will use two handles. Pass the foot of the right foot through one, take the other in the right hand and lift it up. Slight bending of the arm at the elbow is allowed. When straightening the arms, the chain should stretch upwards. Then you need to repeat the exercises with the left hand.

5) While inhaling, wrap the chain around your chest and secure it. Then take another deep breath and try to break the chain by tensing your chest and lats.

6) In the starting position, put your feet wider than your shoulders. straight left hand take one handle and hold it at the left knee, the other handle is in the bent right hand at the waist. In this position, the chain is stretched, then the hands change.

7) Take one end of the chain in your hands, and the other must be fixed. If you have a hook in the wall at waist level, then fasten the end to it. Put your feet wider than your shoulders and pull the chain. Try to pull her out of the hook.

8) Now you need to fasten one end to the hook in the floor, and attach a handle to the other end. Then you need to take hold of this handle with both hands at knee level, and try to tear the hook off the floor. At the same time, the muscles of the back, arms and legs are tensed. Then you can repeat the exercise, holding hands on the handle at waist level or behind your back.