Our modern day familiarity with Alexander Zass, as well as with many of the Iron Men of the Golden Era, is due to the efforts of two men, Roger Fillary and Gil Waldron. With the advent of the Internet and a growing interest in the early Iron Men, Alexander Zass has been resurrected from virtual obscurity and is today being hailed by many as the Father of Isometrics.

He also sold a course of strength-building utilizing the methods he had developed as a prisoner of war, and which he, himself, practiced throughout his illustrious career.

Finally, when the time was right, he bent the bars to his prison window, snapped the chains of his manacles, bent one of the bars clear around to be used as a j-hook for scaling a wall, and made good his escape! After the war, he went on the road as a strongman and gained fame throughout Europe and England as 'The Amazing Samson'. To his great delight, he discovered that this type of training actually increased his strength. It was then that he began pulling on his chains and prison bars as a means of exercise. He was concerned that, being unable to exercise properly, he would deteriorate and loose the strength and physique he had spent so many years developing. At one point, Zass found himself shackled in solitary confinement. He had been a strong man prior to the war, having worked out religiously as a young man, but as a prisoner, he discovered the means by which extraordinary strength could be achieved. What makes Zass so unique was not only his ability to perform these astounding feats of strength, but the way in which he developed the strength to be able to do these things.Īs a Russian prisoner of war held in Austrian prison camps during World War I, he developed a powerful physique and tremendous strength by pulling on his prison bars and chains. His claim to fame was his ability to bend thick iron bars and to snap chains with his bare hands. Sliders enable quick adjustments in the lengths of webbing.Īlexander Zass was a noted strongman from the early 20th century. Here are some examples of using webbing as an Isometric exerciser. (see the Miscellaneous page for webbing tips and ideas) Isometrics means pitting your muscles against an immovable object and holding for a period of time - usually for a slow count of 10.Īn assortment of webbing hardware and homemade handles. Isometric - from the Greek isos, which means 'the same', and metron which means 'size'.

Alexander zass isometric workout pdf