Conor Heffernan
@physcstudy.bsky.social
Lecturer At Ulster University. Historian of health, fitness and physical culture. Co-host of Boys We've Seen podcast. I also run history of fitness website, physicalculturestudy.com
We are stronger, and better historians, together. Historical societies abound in the UK, and we've listed 150 with BlueSky accounts in this updated Starter Pack. go.bsky.app/AZaYQDd Other societies appear on a new listing of subject societies on the RHS website bit.ly/4ebwP9r #Skystorians
Book reviews are an anxious thing for me so I am so grateful to Joe Piggin for his kind review. My only hope when writing is for it to be useful & entertaining... glad I halfway achieved it! @ulsteruni.bsky.social @iaphistorians.bsky.social @bssh.bsky.social idrottsforum.org/pigjoe_heffe...
An excellent exploration of the development, transformation, regulation and promotion of fitness over time
In When Fitness Went Global: The Rise of Physical Culture in the Nineteenth Century (Bloomsbury), Conor Heffernan shows how the 19th century was critical for the development of the modern fitness indu...
idrottsforum.org
New piece on thick grip work, odd lifts, Apollon Wheels, the Inch Dumbbell, Katie Sandwina, challenge objects, and why old-time strongmen loved unfair implements. open.substack.com/pub/physical...
Why a 115kg stone from Waterford is finding a new home in Boston. New #RTEBrainstorm podcast based on a piece by @physcstudy.bsky.social @ulsteruni.bsky.social @researchireland.ie & voiced by Jan Ní Fhlanagáin - now available wherever you get your podcasts www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...
Why a 115kg stone from Waterford is finding a new home in Boston
Shipping the Cloch Bán up to Boston is a slightly eccentric idea, but it captures how diaspora communities find joy in heritage
rte.ie
Buzzing to be part of the new Iron Culture documentary. Stone lifting, Herc’s Gym, the Stark Center and a lot of conversations about what strength actually is Worth a watch if you care about lifting beyond just numbers. @ulsteruni.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlX8...
The Iron Culture Documentary
YouTube video by Iron Culture Podcast
youtube.com
Bodybuilding has always rewarded what looks most extreme. What has changed is how widely and quickly those images now circulate. I wrote a piece trying to trace how that developed over time. open.substack.com/pub/physical...
The Sport Working Exactly As Designed: How Bodybuilding Builds Corpses
Bodybuilding didn’t go wrong. It’s working exactly as designed. For over a century, the sport has rewarded what looks most extreme on stage. Today, social media has taken that logic global. The resu...
open.substack.com
Most people think they know what hard training feels like. They don’t. We’ve got better language now. Failure. RIR. Intensity. Still the same confusion. A century ago, strength trainers were already trying to teach people how to feel effort. New piece: physicalculture.substack.com/p/you-dont-k...
You Don’t Know What Hard Training Feels Like
Most people think they know what hard training feels like. They don’t. A century ago, strength trainers were less interested in programmes and more interested in perception. They tried to teach peopl...
physicalculture.substack.com
New Substack Post physicalculture.substack.com/p/dressed-to...
Dressed to Pull: The Hidden History of the Deadlift Suit
The deadlift is pushing into territory once thought impossible. But behind the 500kg pulls and Enhanced Games hype lies a quieter story — how a piece of fabric helped redefine what strength actually m...
physicalculture.substack.com
New article out now 👇 ‘The History and Culture of Women’s Surfing in Ireland’ It was such fun writing with Clare Ablett and Rachael Telford. This all began, and sprang from, Clare's work and exhibition in this space! @ulsteruni.bsky.social @bssh.bsky.social 🔗 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Riding the Waves of Change: The History and Culture of Women’s Surfing in Ireland
While surfing in Ireland is a sport on the ascendancy, both in terms of recreational and competitive participants, a great deal more work needs to be done on the sport’s origin within the country. ...
tandfonline.com
Pull-ups are one of the most policed movements in fitness — historically and culturally. Really enjoyed chatting to Men’s Health about that tension www.menshealth.com/uk/building-... @ulsteruni.bsky.social @bssh.bsky.social
Why Is Everyone So Weird About Pull-Ups?
The social media age puts the move in the spotlight – but it’s been a fitness flashpoint for years
menshealth.com
New Substack Post: The Strongest Men in Britain Didn't Train the Same Way! open.substack.com/pub/physical...
The Strongest Men in Britain Didn’t Train the Same Way
Most people think the problem is finding the right training program. A century ago, Britain’s strongest men had already solved that. They trained completely differently. Same gym. Same coach. Same ...
open.substack.com
physicalculture.substack.com/p/the-most-c...
The Most Cited Squat in History Was a Marketing Stunt
Everyone thinks the 1992 squat-off proved something about strength. A bodybuilder versus a powerlifter. Reps versus max weight. Case closed. Except one of the men involved called it a “marketing gim...
physicalculture.substack.com
New book review published advance access by @jich.bsky.social Andrew T. Jarboe reviews 'When Fitness Went Global: The Rise of Physical Culture in the Nineteenth Century' by @physcstudy.bsky.social @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social @bloomsburyacademic.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
When Fitness Went Global: The Rise of Physical Culture in the Nineteenth Century
Published in The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History (Ahead of Print, 2026)
tandfonline.com
Awaiting book reviews is the part of publishing I dread. Many thanks to @jich.bsky.social and Andrew Jarboe for this positive review of my latest book When Fitness Went Global! If anyone would like a reviewer copy please do not hesitate to ask! @bloomsburyhist.bsky.social
Evan@evansmithhist.bsky.social · 5mo agoNew book review published advance access by @jich.bsky.social Andrew T. Jarboe reviews 'When Fitness Went Global: The Rise of Physical Culture in the Nineteenth Century' by @physcstudy.bsky.social @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social @bloomsburyacademic.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
New Substack Article. How the upright row became the most hated exercise in the gym! Link: physicalculture.substack.com/p/how-the-up...
How the Upright Row Became the Most Hated Exercise in the Gym
Okay, you pencil-neck geeks, listen up.
physicalculture.substack.com
‘A whole lost culture’: the Irishman reviving the forgotten sport of stone lifting www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...
‘A whole lost culture’: the Irishman reviving the forgotten sport of stone lifting
For centuries in Ireland lifting huge boulders was a way to test strength and bond communities, says Instagram sensation Indiana Stones
theguardian.com
🌍🏋♀ From yoga and gymnastics to Jiujitsu, the 19th century turned many local exercise traditions into global trends. Discover how imperial networks, militaries, new print culture and trade routes spread them in When Fitness Went Global by @physcstudy.bsky.social. Learn more: https://bit.ly/4qExUKF
New piece in the Irish Times on how Ireland learned to treat obesity as a moral failure rather than a social outcome. The panic preceded the prevalence - anxiety about discipline and control dressed up as a health concern. Link here: www.irishtimes.com/life-style/p... @ulsteruni.bsky.social
It was an era of body-moralising in Ireland, when obesity was a personal failure
In a culture that treats bodies as projects to be improved, the idea of simply caring for them feels almost radical
irishtimes.com
How did fitness, exercise and physical culture become a key part of our modern lives? In When Fitness Went Global, @physcstudy.bsky.social explores how the 19th century was critical for the development of the modern fitness industry. ᯓ🏃🏻♀️➡️ Find out more: https://bit.ly/4rcoMNp
Had a really fun chat on The Gist with Mike Pesca about fitness culture. It’s always nice when a conversation about lifting heavy things turns into a broader chat about bodies, culture, and history. My book When Fitness Went Global pops up, if you’re curious. Link: open.spotify.com/episode/3aW4...
Conor Heffernan on Why "Ego Is A Transhistorical Phenomenon"
open.spotify.com
*me reading a book* “ok ok we get it, it’s complicated. NOW TELL ME YOUR CONCLUSIONS” *me writing a book* “tis beneath me to burden my reader with anything so crass as a ‘takeaway’ or ‘summary’, they shalt all read mine whole book and make theyn own conclusions”
I was on the Weirdly Helpful podcast recently, talking about historic stone lifting and why I drifted away from modern gym culture. No mirrors. No apps. No optimisation. Just effort, history, and people being supportive. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...
Step Into the Slipstream of History and Get Jacked with Dr. Conor Heffernan
Podcast Episode · Weirdly Helpful (formerly The Best Advice Show) · 01/14/2026 · 12m
podcasts.apple.com
Your fitness resolution isn’t new — it’s about 200 years old 💪 I joined On Point to talk about how modern fitness culture emerged, and why it still shapes how we think about movement, health, and ourselves today. A genuine to be on a show I’ve listened to for years. 🎧 www.wbur.org/onpoint/2026...
Your fitness resolution is 200 years old
Humans have been obsessed with fitness for centuries. But how did this fascination start? In the new book “When Fitness Went Global” historian Conor Heffernan examines the rise of physical culture wor...
wbur.org
Really happy to see my new article published in the Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences. It looks at how early twentieth-century American physical culture defined success through measurement images and commercial claims to science. Free access: bit.ly/4qvlswy
Defining Success in American Fitness: Physical Culture in Early Twentieth–Century America
Abstract. This article examines how American physical culture entrepreneurs between 1880 and 1918 transformed ideas of health and success by merging commer
bit.ly
Measurement, morality, and the display of bodily perfection: @physcstudy.bsky.social on the origins of the 'gym selfie' @rtebrainstorm.bsky.social www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...
How the Victorians invented the gym selfie
British and Irish men in the 1890s mailed their portraits to fitness guru Eugen Sandow, who created a global business with gyms, books and training kits
rte.ie
How the Victorians invented the gym selfie. British and Irish men in the 1890s mailed their portraits to fitness guru Eugen Sandow, who created a global business with gyms, books and training kits, writes @physcstudy.bsky.social @ulsteruni.bsky.social @researchireland.ie www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...
How the Victorians invented the gym selfie. British and Irish men in the 1890s mailed their portraits to fitness guru Eugen Sandow, who created a global business with gyms, books and training kits, writes @physcstudy.bsky.social @ulsteruni.bsky.social @researchireland.ie www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...
How the Victorians invented the gym selfie
British and Irish men in the 1890s mailed their portraits to fitness guru Eugen Sandow, who created a global business with gyms, books and training kits
rte.ie
Today marks publication day for my book When Fitness Went Global! It explores how physical culture travelled the world, how ideas about health circulated across continents, and how we arrived at today’s global landscape. Bloomsbury have it at 10% off today: www.bloomsbury.com/uk/when-fitn...
