Some examples can be found in the metaphors and illustrations used by philosophers. For example, the Greek Epictetus (c. 100 AD) said:

As if I should say to a wrestler, Show me your muscle; and he should answer me, "See my dumb-bells." Your dumb-bells are your own affair; I desire to see the effect of them.

Here's the Greek:

καθάπερ εἰ ἀθλητῇ διελεγόμην ‘δεῖξόν μοι τοὺς ὤμους,’ εἶτα ἔλεγεν ἐκεῖνος ‘ἴδε μου τοὺς ἁλτῆρας.’ ὄψει σὺ καὶ οἱ ἁλτῆρες, ἐγὼ τὸ ἀποτέλεσμα τῶν ἁλτήρων ἰδεῖν βούλομαι.

Discourses 1.4 (Greek)

The Greek word that gets translated as "dumb-bells" is "ἁλτῆρες" ("halteres"), which in Modern Greek does refer to dumbbells.

Other passages (both Epictetus and Aristotle, four centuries prior, come to mind) discuss the importance to athletes and wrestlers of eating large quantities of meat.

Then there are all the stories about Milo of Croton, a strongman and wrestler who lived in the 6th century BC, another 200 years before Aristotle. One famous story involves Milo carrying a bull on his shoulders. He started when the bull was but a calf, and as it grew so did his strength. Eventually he was able to carry the full-grown bull. In modern times this is invoked as a parable of progressive overload.