Muscles of Iron
Strength, Health, Physical Development, Inspiration, and Know-How
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During her illustrious life, Caroline Bauman transformed her body through resistance training, became one of the strongest women in the world, and established a very successful career as a physical trainer. Her efforts helped hundreds of women improve their figures and their self esteem. Public domain photograph.
Sometime around 1910 a rather plump little girl and her parents moved from a small city in Austria to Chicago, the second largest city in the United States at the time. The little girl’s name was Caroline Bauman, and for years she struggled to control her weight.
By the time Caroline had graduated from high school, she had become quite despondent due to her weight problem, and she feared that her physical condition would limit her career options. She even pictured herself limited to “working as a fat girl in a museum.”
As a last effort to lose weight and gain fitness, at the age of 18 Caroline sought help from Attila, a veteran gymnast and the trainer of many top athletes and strongmen, including Eugen Sandow.
Attila lived and worked in Chicago, and Caroline would visit him frequently for training guidance. Under Attila’s instruction, the girl from Austria made remarkable progress. Soon she was no longer plump, and her muscles gained tone and shape.
After a year of training under Attila, the great strength coach declared that Caroline was the most wonderful of the thousands of pupils whom he trained during his fifty years’ work among athletes. Caroline’s weight had dropped to 135 pounds, and she had increased her strength remarkably. In fact, Caroline had become so strong she was able to lift a huge dumbbell that had previously been reserved for Sandow!
Caroline’s success in transforming her body encouraged her to help other women improve their physical proportions. Driven by this encouragement, she became a physical instructor and started her own training business.
As a physical instructor, Caroline demonstrated considerable skill and devotion. Throughout her career as a trainer, she helped hundreds of pupils gain fitness, vitality, and a high level of self confidence. Some of her students were as young as 10 years old; others were past 80 years old.
Caroline believed that the attainment of strength is key for women to gain beauty. She once exclaimed, “Women should be giants of strength if they wish to be not only man’s equal, but Helens in beauty and charm. In reality, strength is the foundation and permanent sustainer of beauty.”
The physical instructor also believed that added strength was a valuable asset for women who engage in strenuous activities. In her own words, “Dancers, singers, clubwomen and suffragists are among my pupils, for women are beginning to realize that if they want to live the strenuous life they must have the physical strength to stand the great strain that is put upon their vitality.”
As her training career progressed, Caroline Bauman gained a reputation for being one of the strongest women in the world. However, she rarely performed on stage, despite receiving many offers from promoters and managers to participate in strength shows. Her main focus was teaching her students how to better themselves, not lifting before a crowd. Nonetheless, Caroline was often seen playing with 120-pound cannon balls and lifting 130-pound dumbbells in her gymnasium.
Thanks for visiting,
Rob
PS – I’m going to take a holiday break from MOI for a few days, and I expect to return with a new article on December 26. See you then.