Strongman makes case for forgotten strength training equipment.

LISA RAINFORD
Bloor West Villager Newspaper
Jul. 13, 2006

He's an unassuming guy, which is surprising considering he's a strongman competitor. One would expect to see muscles bulging out all over the place, but size does not always equal strength as John Hadzi once believed.

"I've always been a person of functionality over aesthetics," he said. "I focus on getting myself healthy to get strong,"  

Hadzi, 32, owes his fitness success in part to a little known regime that uses kettlebells. The kettlebell, a round ball with a handle on top, originated a century ago by circus strongmen. They are slowly making a comeback in strength and conditioning fitness programs.

Hadzi, who used to work at several Toronto nightclubs, was introduced to kettlebells when, working as a bouncer, he met a Russian gymnast. At a YMCA, the gymnast turned to Hadzi and said, "Where are the kettlebells?"

Hadzi had never heard of the kettlebells until his gymnast friend introduced him.

"He brought me one from the old country," Hadzi said.

Eight years later, Hadzi is one of the only certified kettlebell instructors in the city. They are still used in Russia and some parts of Europe to build strength. Dumbbells began to replace kettlebells in the early 19th century and by the Second World War, strength training became "domesticated," according to Hadzi.

"Now, with almost all commercial gyms being called 'fitness clubs,' who would know or care about anything as crude yet unmatched as a kettlebell," Hadzi said.

Kettlebells have been generating more and more buzz within the last five years. Elite athletes have discovered kettlebells are still unmatched when it comes to producing desired results.

"Our bodies were made to work. Technology is a good thing," Hadzi said, "but we've become like vegetables."

Hadzi, a personal trainer at Rhino's Gym on Dundas Street West near Runnymede Road, moved to the area from downtown six years ago. He has been working and competing for the past 15 years. He is hosting, along with his friend Dave Bellomo, a professional strongman, former grappler and Judo master, an old school strongman exhibition this Saturday and Sunday at Rhino's Gym.

Bellomo, the founder and owner of Maximum Fitness and Nutrition and MaxKettlebells, a training facility in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, will attempt a personal record by lifting a 165 pound kettlebell over his head (the current record is 145 pounds). Tremendous strength is needed for such a feat, Hadzi explained, because as the kettlebell is lifted, it shifts and puts tremendous force on the sorounding joints.

The two will also be bending steel bars and nails, which is another lost old form of training - something Hadzi is recapturing.

"I'm an old school dinosaur. Ever since I was a kid I liked strength," he said.

Trainers, athletes, martial artists, police and firefighters will take part in the exhibition at Rhino's Gym, 3415 Dundas St. W., from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The event continues Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For further details, call 416-816-1720.