PAST TIMES G
YMS and yoga classes are packed with extra people at this time of year all vowing to stick to their New Year resolutions to get fit. It’s nothing unusual; the notion of getting some exercise goes way back, but it was the 20th Century that really saw the emergence of the fitness industry as we know it today.
Before the First World War, fitness centres were only frequented by the upper classes, but afterwards things changed.
The 1960s saw the introduction of the UK’s first commercial health clubs and over the decades there has been a growth in everything from gym machines and home workout equipment, to fitness magazines, DVDs and apps. WB Curtis held the patent for the first indoor rowing machine. It was intended to help competitive rowers keep in shape off the water, but unlike today’s designs, it offered no way of measuring the energy output produced by the rower’s efforts.
There have been various different designs over the years, including ones with an iron wheel and another that used weights to create resistance. BOXING is an ancient sport and for a long time, anybody wanting to take part would have to go to a specialised boxing gym to pound a punch bag or speedball.
British heavyweight boxing champ Henry Cooper showed what it took to stay in shape during the 1960s by demonstrating his intensive speed bag training.
Boxing became part of mainstream fitness around 20 years ago, with the introduction of boxercise classes. The fitness training has become extremely popular, with women as well as men donning the gloves. Above: Singer Barbara Dickson and swimmers Sharron Davies and Duncan Goodhew taking part in an exercise bike race during the Slimathon gala in 1982 for Save the Children Below: Henry Cooper training in 1963 and West Ham stars using dumbells in a 1959 finess session at their traing ground PUMPING iron dates back to ancient Greece, while the dumbbell was invented during the Tudor period to help novice church bell ringers develop their arm strength with a rope connected to a metal weight.
Gustav Zander is credited with opening the first gym using weight machines in 1865 in Stockholm. It offered both men and women the chance to use early fitness equipment.
Weight training has gradually become part of the training for professional sports stars, no matter their game. West Ham footballers, including England legend Bobby Moore, used dumbells as part of their training programme as early as 1959 and weights became a staple in the first commercial gyms of the 1960s ... remaining that way ever since.