The Rise of the Gym Through History
But fifty years ago, gyms as we know them today just didn't exist.
So how did we get to where we are today - and what "dos" and "don'ts" can we pick up from the past?
Ancient Greece: The First Gyms
The word "gym" is a contraction of "gymnasium" - derived from the ancient Greek word gymnasion. The ancient Greek gymnasiums were places where athletes trained for public games such as the Olympics. Many had libraries (going a bit further than the traditional stack of magazines in modern gyms...)
Don't Try This Today: The root word gymnos means "naked" - Greek athletes performed in the nude. Not recommended in your modern gym...
19th Century Gyms: Schools, Colleges, YMCA and Turners
After the ancient Greeks, gyms disappeared for centuries. Medieval and Renaissance life was physically arduous enough, and ordinary people got all the exercise they needed working on the land and carrying out chores.
By the 19th century, though, schools and colleges were building gymnasiums (and even today, the word "gym" means "school gym class" to many people). The YMCA also built a number of gyms for physical exercise and social sports and games.
During the mid 19th century, the Turnvereine (gymnastics unions) movement led to the founding of Turners, German-American gymnastics clubs. These had a political as well as an athletic element.
Don't Try This Today: Modern gyms are open to people of all political persuasions. They're not a place to debate politics, argue or canvass.
1930s - Boxing Gyms
A form of gym known as the "boxing gym" began to appear in the 1930s, with the founding of Cus D'Amanto's Gramercy Gym in Manhattan in 1939.These gyms were to train fighters and boxers - not places for general exercise.
Try This Today? If you are interested in boxing, plenty of specialised boxing gyms exist today - check out BoxingGyms.com to find one in your area.
1960s and 1970s - Early Gym Chains
Gold's gym chain, still going to day, was founded by Joe Gold in 1965 in Venice, California, which became a landmark for bodybuilders (despite the dirty state of its equipment). Joe Gold founded the World Gym chain in 1977.
Don't Try This Today:Don't risk your health by working out in dirty surroundings. Before you join a gym, check out the cleanliness of the equipment (and the changing rooms, toilets and showers).
1980s - Corporate Gyms
More and more gym chains were founded during the 1980s, including 24 Hour Fitness (1983) and LA Fitness (1984).
Do you work in an office building with its own gym? The trend of corporate gyms began in the 1980s, too, as employers began to take on a greater responsibility for employee's health.
Try This Today? If you work for a company without a gym, ask your boss about getting corporate membership with a local chain - or get together with a bunch of colleagues and approach the gym yourself.
1990s onwards - Mass Popularization
Today, lots of people are or have been gym member s - people who would never call themselves "bodybuilders", "fighters" or even especially sporty. New gym chains have sprung up over the past couple of decades; Lifetime Fitness in 1990, Equinox Fitness in 1991, and Virgin Active in 1999.
Widespread celebrity gym-going has encouraged the boon in gym membership, and gyms look set to be popular for decades to come.
Try This Today? If you've thought about joining a gym, or going to an exercise class, give it a go (most gyms offer free trials). You don't have to be "sporty", fit or co-ordinated to enjoy modern gyms.
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Interesting look at how modern gyms came to be. The right gym can offer a motivating environment for giving a workout your all. I find that I push myself harder with a bunch of people around me than if I'm exercising all alone at home.
ReplyI definitely remember when a lot of corporate gyms and healthclubs started opening. It was a huge deal when our city got a Princeton Club and a Bally's Vic Tanny and a bunch of other ones. My parents joined the Princeton Club when I was a kid because they offered water aerobics for my mom. Interesting post!
ReplyA friend of mine spent hundreds of dollars on gym membership, only to see him abandoning it after a few weeks. I feel that gym membership is not really necessary for those people who are starting to make crucial changes in their health and fitness.. cuz they could just be like my friend and get demotivated.
Other forms of exercise such as brisk-walking, jogging and sports with friends are cheaper and much easier to be sustained in the long run, imo.
When I need to get my exercise, I'll go window-shopping and walk for hours or take myself to a park.
ReplyWalking just never held my husband's attention. Now that he has a gym membership and can lift weights, he's sticking to it.
ReplyEveryone has their own motivation and preferences.
You are right - everyone has his/her ways. :) I remember being so into gym-training before, but I didn't join as a member; just paid a small admission fee for each session. So it was so easy for me to abandon the workout I promised myself at the gym... ah, I need to start again soon.
ReplyI think that part of what leads to that de-motivation is the idea that if you're not going for 30 min 3 times every week, or on whatever schedule, then it's not worth bothering. If more people remembered that it's still good to go even if you haven't gone in a couple weeks, or even if it's the only time you'll make it in this week, or whatever, then we might see fewer wasted memberships. That's what keeps me going to my school's gym, even when I'm not going as often as I know I should!
And for some people with bad knees, elliptical machines are what makes a solid exercise routine possible. Running is out, and walking is great but it takes a LOT of walking to equal a half hour of good cardio. I walk so much in my everyday life (1.5-2 miles a day) that walking for a half hour doesn't even get my heart rate up. Not to mention the fact that anyone who lives in the northern third of the country basically has no outdoor options for 1/3-1/2 of the year!
ReplyThe modern gym arose because of one thing, the ability to make a profit selling something people don't really need.
In fact this is how most industries have risen in the post World War II era.
Think about this we pay gym memberships to walk on a treadmill that goes nowhere, when walking outside or at a mall is free.
I'm actually like a gym for the social environment, but I eventually I want to build a workout room in my house and just play sports outside for fitness.
ReplyThis is an interesting article.
Charles, I can relate to what you're saying. I feel like there is a big sense of disconnect between physical activity in our culture. People will often walk or pedal away, while plugged into their ipod or the TV in front of them. I can't imagine zoning out of my exercise, and I think walking outside beats a treadmill anyday (and to think we pay money for this - but to each his own). I think the greatest aspect of exercise is being consciously involved in your own personal transformation, every step of the way.
On the other hand, I realize that going to the gym is a form of stress relief, and a great way to "defrag" from the day or week.
I'm a huge fan of home gym training. If you want some home gym ideas, check out the video in my link above.
John Sifferman NSCA-CPT
ReplyFitness Professional
Unfortunately, it isn't always practical to walk outside. When I ride my stationary bike, I can do so while my kids are asleep and my husband is at work. The YMCA has daycare, so I can lift weights even though I have kids.
ReplyRight, but you're not accounting for the convenience of gyms. I walk and cycle outside frequently in the summer, but it's much less possible to do so in wet or very cold weather.
ReplyPlus, the primary reason I use the gym is for weight training. It's not as if I could do that at home, as I lack both the room and $ to put together a decent weights setup.
We joined a gym one year ago this month and it was the best investment we have made. I would love for it to be less expensive but it's been worth it. We not only use it for the equipment but we take advantage of the classes.
One day we would like to set up our own personal gym here at home. Since we don't use the garage for our SUV's, hubby thinks it would be the perfect place once we can get it sealed, heated and stocked with some awesome cardio/gym equipment. One day!
ReplyAli, this was an interesting look into the history of gyms. I just wanted to point out a correction in the first sentence of your post. The health club industry is actually an $18.7 Billion industry. For more information, please feel free to contact me at the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association (IHRSA). Thanks!
ReplyJust fyi, the article asserts that Medieval and Renaissance ordinary people got all the exercise they needed working on the land and carrying out chores. Perhaps so, but for the fighting caste physical fitness was a necessity and their schools of defense long recognized this. A sophisticated curricula of exercise existed within humanist teachings of the age and among martial experts from the eras --- as this linked article here establishes: http://www.thearma.org/essays/fit/RennFit.htm
ReplyWell DO go naked in the gym if you're at a nudist resort - plenty of them around. And I have to admit that I recently resigned from my 'gym' because I hate all those chemical wipes they use to wipe everything down with. I'm happier to take on human germs than chemical ones - thanks!
ReplyMy gym is LA Fitness. I hate it. People constantly curl in the Squat rack. No one really pushes themselves either. We don't want to get too uncomfortable do we?
I have even instructed fitness classes. I give up on people. They want results without doing anything hard.
ReplyVery awesome article. I love ancient Greece, they must have been very fit.
ReplyI'm now seeing the aging of the gyms in our city (Duluth, MN). The YMCA was great until the decay of downtown began. The YWCA, which also had apartments, a restaurant, a great pool; built in 1909 it closed after 100 years. Many of these places don't have the budget to start a new building and many downtowns are inconvenient with lack of safety and lack of parking. The new thing here is to open a fitness center on medical campuses (that way they make money through onsite rehab and physical therapy). We also have Anytime Fitness and Snap Fitness all over the city which is nice.
Replygym is really good for you because you get to lose he weight if you gain any pounds some gyms are free you get a better advantage of working out with your friends and better equpitiment. plus there is more space where you work out and you can stretch out and have a spot for your self to work out in. if you are fat you need to get to the gym and workk out you'll see the difference once your done I lost 100 pounds in just two months becaus e i went to the gym for days. I hope you can try the gym.
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