Throughout his life, Edwin Checkley embodied all the best elements that the physical culture movement sought to promote. In fact, when he passed away prematurely at age 75 (after suffering a fatal dose of gas poisoning), the physician attending him was so impressed with his physique that he declared that Checkley had the body of a much younger man. The photo of Checkley on the title page of this book was taken when the author was 45 years old. But those who knew him said that it could have been a representation of him at 75.

Of course, that was because Checkley had spent his life in perfecting a strategy for fitness training that relied on the body, and nothing else—no weights, machines, or other apparatus.

One informed observer stated: “To me, the most interesting points of Checkley’s physical equipment were his lungs and his back. I have seen him box, wrestle, run, jump for protracted periods. I have seen him lift and carry hundreds of pounds of live and dead weight, but never once have I seen him pant for breath. At his lectures, I have seen him demonstrate the capabilities of some muscle groups by performing feats of strength beyond the power of most professional strong men, and a second later resume his talk without the slightest catch in his breath.”

This classic book, entitled Checkley’s Natural Method of Physical Training, published in 1921 after Checkley’s death, will give you a good sense of what makes him—and other strongmen and physical culturalists of his era—excellent examples for us to follow today. They were not merely body builders. They were students of the art of strength and fitness, which is what physical culture is all about. They were devoted to effectively combining the physical, mental, and spiritual elements of their beings, so that they could be in every way the individuals that God had created them to be.