- Ancient Greek
- Appreciation for beauty of body and importance of health and fitness throughout society
- Need for a strong, healthy body to harbor a sound mind
- Hippocrates: believed the key to health was a commitment to fitness and healthy diet (460-377 BC)
- Gymnastics, physical education programs
- Renaissance
- Rebirth of cultural learning from ancient Greek and Roman civilizations
- Appreciation for/interest in human body
- Created environment for development of physical education throughout Europe
- German/Swedish Gymnastics (stall bars)
- Europe 1700-1850
- Nationalism feelings created atmosphere for first modern fitness movement
- Gymnastics programs very popular
- Puritan work ethic: must be active and hard-working (idleness bad)
- Muscular Christianity
- Health and manliness in religion
- Exported campaign to America, but Protestant opposition
- Spiritual value of team sports
- Gave rise to YMCA
- Thomas Hughes “Tom Brown’s School Days”: 1856 novel about ethic of “muscular Christianity”
- Physical development at school through sports, important
- Colonial America 1700-1776
- Hardships ensured regular physical activity was a lifestyle priority
- United States – National Period 1776-1860
- Influenced by European cultures, brought gymnastics
- Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson recommended regular physical activity for health purposes
- J.C. Warren, Harvard professor, proponent of PA, exercises for females
- Catherine Beecher devised fitness programs to meet the needs of women
- Calisthenics performed to music
- Horace Mann 1840s: improve public schools
- United States – post-Civil War (1865-1900)
- Industrial Revolution very important event with respect to modern fitness in the US
- Widespread cultural changes
- Advancement in industrial/mechanical technologies replaced labor-intensive jobs
- Rural changed to urban lifestyle
- Decreasing levels of PA
- “The New Gymnastics” introduced by Dioclesian Lewis
- Most popular form of gymnastics
- Lung-diseases could be improved by exercise
- Sports gain popularity
- Ellen White: Adventist leader, founded health reform institute in 1866
- Emphasis on human wellbeing
- John Harvey Kellogg believed all illnesses originated in digestive system
- Invented wheat flakes while trying to make healthier foods
- Industrial Revolution very important event with respect to modern fitness in the US
- 20th century
- Theodore Roosevelt: very physically fit President
- Bernarr MacFadden: Physical Culture magazine about bodybuilding
- Advocate of physical fitness and healthy eating
- Exercise machines (most were useless)
- Marketed mainly for women who wanted to match strength of men
- Seat of health (rowing machine for exercise), first stationary bike
- Gertrude Ederle: first woman to swim English Channel in 1926 (inspiration)
- WWI
- After the war, statistics released from draft that a large percentage of drafted individuals were highly unfit and had various health problems
- Government legislation passed that ordered improvement of physical education programs in public schools
- Great Depression
- Interest in fitness dissipated
- Jesse Owens, black athlete, breaks Olympic records and won several gold medals in Berlin Olympics in 1936 Games
- Shatters Hitler’s aim to exemplify Aryanism
- WWII
- Drafted men were not fit for combat
- After the war, reported that almost half of draftees were rejected or given non combat positions because of fitness levels
- Helped gain attention to importance of fitness
- Thomas Cureton, University of Illinois, 1940s
- Introduced application of research to fitness
- Developed fitness tests, identified exercise intensity guidelines necessary for improved fitness levels
- 1950s, Cold War, Baby Boomer era
- Kraus-Hirschland developed fitness tests for children
- Use the Kraus-Weber tests to measure muscular strength and flexibility
- American children failed at much higher rate than European children
- Intense competitive nature due to Cold War launched political leaders into action promoting health and fitness
- President Eisenhower held conference
- Formation of President’s Council on Youth Fitness
- Implement mandatory exercise and fitness testing for kids in school
- Appointment of advisory committee on fitness of American Youth
- Organizations began taking initiative in educating general public about consequences of low fitness levels
- American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), 1954, premier organization in promotion of health/fitness to America and worldwide
- Kraus-Hirschland developed fitness tests for children
- Jack LaLanne
- Guiding pioneer of fitness
- Lifetime career as media fitness instructor
- Preached value of preventive lifestyle habits
- 1950s The Jack LaLanne Show began airing on television
- Developed fitness programs and introduced lots of exercise equipment
- Jack LaLanne
- 1960s
- President JFK proponent of fitness and health-related benefits
- Aerobic workouts: endurance exercise to improve cardiovascular and respiratory systems
- Dr. Ken H. Cooper, “The Father of the Modern Fitness Movement”
- Advocated a philosophy that shifted away from disease treatment to one of disease prevention
- Aerobics (book) 1968
- Prevent development of chronic diseases by exercising regularly and maintaining high fitness levels throughout life
- Women’s role in expanding fitness movement
- Title IX to the Civil Rights act, 1972
- Gender equality in sports opportunities within educational institutions
- Increased participation in sports and fitness
- Development of organized women’s sports
- Jane Fonda 1980s
- Aerobics workout videos available through VHS technology
- Title IX to the Civil Rights act, 1972
- Surgeon General’s Report 1996
- Imperative for health to be active
- Lessons from History
- Strong association of military and political power with physical fitness
- Mind-body concept