In Making the American Body, journalist Jonathan Black explores the history of health and fitness from aerobics to Zumba. Promotion of
physical fitness goes back to the founding of the United States; Black notes that Benjamin Franklin praised the use of dumbbells.
Franklin was known to be a fan of swimming, too. It began to gain some momentum
in the middle 1800s when German immigrants brought the gymnasium (they called it
a Turnverein) to the U.S.
I was draw to the book
because it has a touch of Missouriana in the person of Bernarr Macfadden, self-proclaimed “Father of Physical Culture.” Macfadden had a classic story of
the early bodybuilder. He was a sick, weak kid from the Ozarks who was transformed into a paragon of
masculine pulchritude by his commitment to weight training, healthy eating and clean living. Unlike some of his contemporaries,
Macfadden believed clean living included an active sex life and he campaigned against prudery. His magazines, headed by Physical Culture, featured photographs of nearly naked men and
women in swimsuits.
Fitness promotion is a
small world, and many of its leading figures are connected. Macfadden organized
a contest (probably fixed) that crowned Charles Atlas the “World’s Most Beautiful Man.”
Atlas’ ads in pulp magazines and comic books are probably some of the most
well-known ever, especially the bully of the beach ad. The story of this ad,
told in comics form, is based on a real event in Atlas’ life when he was shamed
by a muscular life guard for his scrawny form and weakness while on a date at
the beach.
Macfadden and many
others were inspired by Prussian strongman Sandow. They saw him at the Chicago Columbian Exposition, where his show was produced by Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr.
California became a focus of health and fitness
trend that would spread across the country. Santa Monica’s Muscle Beach was a place for weight
lifters and gymnasts to have fun and show off. Steve Reeves, known for playing Hercules in several films, was a product of Muscle Beach. Jack LaLanne, another wimpy kid transformed,
opened gyms, brought workouts to television, and encouraged women to exercise and
do strength training.
Other trends gained
popularity, especially fitness focused on cardiovascular health. This brought
into popular culture Dr. Kenneth Cooper, a physician to astronauts whose 1968 book Aerobics
launched an industry. That industry provided a career for Richard Simmons and a second career for Jane Fonda, who was the first to emphasize
exercise as a way for women to lose weight (though this was an unspoken appeal
long before the 1970s). Bodybuilding made a comeback,
though, especially fueled by the popularity of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
I’m not especially
interested in the health and fitness industry, but I found this book to be very
interesting. It provides a historical context for many of the health and
fitness trends that are still part of American culture.
If you’re interested in
this book, you may also be interested in
Black, Jonathan. Making the American Body: The Remarkable
Saga of the Men and Women Whose Feats, Feuds, and Passions Shaped Fitness
History. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2013.
