If you take the term exercise to simply mean physical tasks that may require strength or endurance then exercise has been around since the beginning of time.
After all, carving tools out of stone or building structures with one’s bare hands must have been very physically demanding.
When looking at a more narrow definition of exercise, however, it became normal to work out for the sake of maintaining your own health and fitness level at a much later date.
While it is impossible to point an exact date that modern exercise was invented you can pinpoint time periods in our history when regular fitness routines emerged in certain populations and eventually the general population.
Science is also tied closely to this history because much of what we base our fitness routines on today is based on studies done relating exercise to various aspects of personal health.
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When Was Exercise Invented as a Means of Training?
Exercise for the purpose of training to increase strength, speed, and endurance can be traced back to ancient Greece around 600 B.C.
Greek and Spartan soldiers were among the first to engage in exercises such as lifting heavy rocks and doing construction work to increase muscle strength, running long distances to increase speed and endurance, and competing in wrestling matches to refine fighting skills.
Exercise for the purpose of training the military led to the idea of sports and competition with the first Olympic Games held in ancient Greece.
Despite this, exercise was by no means seen as something the average person took part in. If you were not part of the military there was no purpose seen in engaging in structured fitness routines.
Perhaps people in ancient times and even more modern history did not see a need for the average person to exercise because their daily lives provided them with all the physical fitness tasks their bodies needed. Until later in the 20th Century, people mostly walked everywhere they needed to go whether it was a job, school, or to a local market.
They carried their belongings while they walked, and did manual labor around their homes themselves. Formal exercise was not a necessity back then as it is today in a world of conveniences that greatly reduce our level of physical fitness.
When Was Bodybuilding Invented?
Bodybuilding first emerged a while before more structured exercise routines for the average person. In the early 1800s men with well-trained physiques began popping up on the carnival and circus circuits. People began viewing toned muscles and strength for men as something to be desired. Still, it was only a small portion of the population that this pertained to. For many, exercise was associated with those who were lower class and was not viewed as something the majority of people, especially women, wanted to engage in.
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When Was Exercise Invented as a Means of Improving Health and Fitness?
It was not until the mid 20th century that regular exercise as a means to improve health began to become mainstream. In 1949, Jerry Morris, an epidemiologist, made the first correlations between cardiovascular health and exercise. He completed studies in London examining bus drivers who sat for long periods every day and often suffered from heart and lung conditions. He also studied postal workers who delivered mail through biking or walking versus those who sat behind counters all day. These studies were published in 1953.
At roughly the same time, the treadmill was invented, initially for use by doctors for medical testing, but soon after was used in prisons to provide daily movement for prisoners confined to their cells for long periods of time. In the 1960s, treadmills began being marketed for use in the home.
Throughout the 1960s, spurred by Morris’ studies, more and more people began taking part in organized physical fitness activities. In 1968 Kenneth Cooper published the book, Aerobics, which created an even greater desire among the general population to take part in regular exercise. Fad diets and exercise workout routines began popping up left and right and a new craze was born.
Today, exercise is considered necessary in order to live a healthy, productive lifestyle. As additional studies point to increasing health benefits and more and more exercise programs gain endorsements by medical gurus and celebrities more people see exercise as a necessary part of daily life.
Ironically, with all the technology we now have to make our lives supposedly easier, we have reduced our natural means of getting exercise so much so that even with today’s health clubs, exercise fads, home equipment, and children’s programs, people have significantly more problems with obesity than they did a hundred years ago.
Now that you know more about when exercise was invented, you can get started planning your own fitness routine. Sign up for an Exercise.com PRO plan today to develop a program that meets your personal needs.