history of exercise equipment

The history of exercise equipment dates back to the time of early civilization. Before that, the need for survival kept people in very good shape no matter if they were hunters, gatherers or farmers. When they began to live in large groups and specialize, their day-to-day workload changed and for many the need to exercise was born. Physical training began with the early Greeks when Hippocrates wrote “what is used develops, and what is not used wears out”. In other words, use it or lose it.

Physical training was introduced through two types of competition that arose between groups of people: games and warfare. Military conflict and athletic competition between city-states created a need for gyms, calisthenics, strength training, and exercise equipment.

The first exercise equipment consisted mainly of weights and tools for gymnastic training. Stones, sandbags, water pitchers, various yokes, and bars formed the components of early weight training equipment. The earliest gymnastics tools were precursors to modern equipment consisting of swings with bars, ropes, and rings. A variety of solid balls were also used for coordination and strength training. Running and calisthenics were commonly used to develop coordination and endurance. Additional power and speed was developed going up and down hills and mountains.

Much later, the Greek physician Galen described strength training using a primitive type of dumbbell. But the history of exercise equipment doesn’t really begin until the late 19th century with the advent of the barbell. The first weights were made from hollow balloons filled with water or sand. Around the same time, modern gymnastic training equipment appeared in Germany with Friedrich Jahn’s equipment including wooden horses, balance beams, and parallel bars.

Serious exercise equipment began to appear in the late 18th and 19th centuries. The first exercise bike was made in the 18th century and was a great machine that worked both the arms and the legs. The first rowing machine appeared in the middle of the 19th century and looked like the middle section of a boat.

Later, in the early 20th century, fitness machines arrived. Many of the machines were adapted from earlier applications. The treadmill, for example, was initially invented with industrial applications in mind, during a time when steam engines were impractical and before electric motors were in widespread use. Later, this and other weight-and-pulley systems were adapted for use in gyms as exercise equipment and as safety-enhancing features in strength training. By 1933 the treadmill was in widespread use, and by 1952 it was being used in medical applications.

Also in the 1950s, Jack LaLanne created several new exercise machines, including the cable pulley machine, the Smith machine, used in weight training, and the leg extension machine.

The step treadmill came onto the market in 1983. It was a rotating stair, similar to an escalator, and was called a stairmaster. Modern step machines with individual foot platforms followed soon after with the development of the Stairmaster 4000 in 1986. These machines provided an excellent cardiovascular workout along with lower body strength training.

Finally, the history of exercise equipment goes all the way back to the development of modern home fitness equipment that includes universal machines like the Solo-flex and Bowflex, along with devices like the mini stair stepper. The mini stair treadmill is a device that offers all the advantages of the treadmill in a small portable device that can be easily moved and stored.

After the Bowflex and the mini stair, what new wonders will be added to the history of exercise equipment? Without a doubt, there is a group of inventors who work diligently to show us and take their place in history.