The Shadows of Our Past – Part

II The Evolution of Modern Fitness Training Settings

“The distinction between the past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.” Albert Einstein

Introduction In Part I of this series entitled Shadows of Our Past, we brought forward 15 of the most influential innovations in fitness equipment that have taken place over the past 3,000 years, and how each of these innovations has cast a large shadow on the equipment offerings of the 21st Century. In Part II of this series on the history of fitness, we will focus on bringing forward the most influential fitness constructs and facility offerings of the past, and how each has crafted what the fitness facility industry is today. This article, like the others in this series, has been adapted from a three-part series we wrote for Les Mills in 2019 based on the content from the book Legends of Fitness, authored by Peterson, O’Rourke and Tharrett.

The Emergence of Structured Fitness No one knows exactly when structured exercise made a formal entry into the lifestyle of humans. The earliest records of man indicate that around 2,000 B.C. (over 4,000 years ago) Egyptians formally introduced structured acrobatics and fitness training. Egyptian culture saw acrobatics as both entertainment and sport, and its practitioners realized that to excel in this early form of sport entertainment, they had to train appropriately. This led to the introduction of structured fitness regimens involving bodyweight calisthenics and improvised apparatus. The Egyptians were not the only civilization that had come to the realization that exercise was important, or as we might say today, exercise is medicine. During this same time period it is believed the Chinese practiced a form of exercise called Cong Fu involving a combination of breathing and formalized fluid movements. While the Chinese and Egyptians are credited with introducing structured exercise, it wasn’t till the Greeks introduced formalized training for competitive athletes that fitness finally received greater acceptance. At the peak of Greek civilization, fitness was critical to martial prowess (i.e., fighting), restorative capability (i.e., healing of the body, mind and soul) and education (introduced into the post-secondary education system). The degree to which Greek civilization valued exercise is best summed up in two quotes. The first is a quote attributed to the Greek physician Hippocrates who lived between 460 and 377 B.C., “If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little, and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health.” The second quote, and equally profound, is from the Greek philosopher Plato

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who is quoted as having said, “Lack of activity destroys the good condition of every human being, while movement and methodical physical exercise save and preserve it.” Talk about two shadows of the past that haven’t changed!

For some reason, once Greek culture lost prominence, so did the pursuit of structured fitness as a part of the human condition. It took nearly 2,000 years for fitness to regain a foothold as a recognized and needed part of civilization. In 1569, an Italian, Hieronymus Mercuialis, published a book entitled “De Arte Gymnastica Aput Ancientes” in which he described the use of medicine balls, dumbbells, body weight movements and other gymnastic-like movements for physical training. This publication seemed to spur the reemergence of formalized fitness training. Approximately 200 years later, a German, John Basedow introduced a curriculum at his school called the Philanthropinium using the movements and training regimens from Greek gymnastics. Twenty years after Basedow, Johann Gutsmuth, known as the grandfather of German physical education, authored “Gymnastics for Youth a Practical Guide to Healthful and Amusing Exercise for the Use of Schools.” These two landmark publications and their focus on making fitness a part of the educational curriculum for youth were the spark for the re-emergence of fitness as a means of improving one’s physical health and the spark that fired up the fitness industry.

The Pursuit of Fitness in a Structured Setting It was inevitable that fitness would emerge as a social activity. While the pursuit of exercise had long been a solitary activity pursued by a select few, it was the introduction of fitness into the curriculum of schools that spelled the beginning of a more socialized and formal approach to delivering fitness to a broad audience of citizens. The leaders of fitness at this time understood that for exercise to be more widely adopted as a means of enhancing one’s physical condition, it had to incorporate a social element whereby those who shared in the joys and agonies of physical exercise would be more likely to pursue it on an ongoing basis. In this section of our paper we will explore some of the milestones that frame the emergence of fitness into the social and cultural fabric of global citizens.

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The Pioneering Settings of (1700s to 2000) The Private Gym (1799) It had to happen sometime, and Franz Nachtegal, a native of Denmark, is believed to be the one who took the leap. In 1799, he established what is believed to be the first private gymnastics club and gym, what today we might call a gym or even CrossFit Box. It is said that Nachtegal’s private gym offered large-scale group classes using calisthenics, vaulting, wooden dumbbells and weighted balls. Some historians believe Nachtegal may have been the founder of what we presently frame as small and large group fitness training.

Turn - The Physical Culture Club (1811) Many historians credit Frederick Ludwig Jahn of Germany as being the father of modern gymnastics and the developer of Turn, a physical culture club built around gymnastics and the shared social and patriotic interests of its member; what may have been the first attempt to offer a tribal fitness experience. Jahn was the creator of the pommel horse, parallel bars, horizontal bars, vaulting blocks, and ladder, all of which became essential accessories along with climbing ropes in his original Turn and those that followed. In 1811, Jahn established what is believed to be the first gymnastics club, Public Turn Platz. The Public Turn Platz was an open field that offered men and boys mass exercise classes designed to help them become physically fit to protect their country. Jahn’s initial Turn not only incorporated exercises that employed parallel bars, the pommel horse, and horizontal bars, it also integrated dumbbells and Indian Clubs. In 1818, Jahn’s first Turn was outlawed by the German government, but by 1860, however, over 150 Turns or Turnverein had spread across the globe, making it the first scaled fitness offering to exist on both sides of the Atlantic.

Swedish Pedagogic Gymnastics – The First Medical Fitness Offering (Early 1800s) Swedish pioneer, Pehr Henrick Ling, frequently referred to as the father of Swedish gymnastics, created Swedish Pedagogic Gymnastics, a systemized and highly structured

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approach to gymnastics designed to provide specific medical and health benefits. Ling’s pedagogic gymnastics was founded on four core principles. The first precept was medical, which was grounded in the belief that exercise, through proper posture and movement, could help overcome or possibly diminish certain ailments of the body. The second underlying element was military (martial arts), which focused on the role exercise plays in developing soldiers. Ling’s third principle was pedagogical in nature which emphasized the ability of exercise to bring the body under the control of the individual’s will (mind-body). The fourth element in Ling’s approach was aesthetic, bodily expression to an individual’s internal thoughts and feelings. Over time, Ling’s gymnastics system became the physical training mainstay of the Swedish military. Ling’s program of physical training was conducted in open fields, stadiums and halls using a group format.

Gymnase Triat – The First Membership-Driven Facility (1848) Gymnase Triat was the brainchild of Hipplyte Triat. The gym, opened in 1848, was initially located in Brussels, Belgium, but within one year was relocated to its permanent home in Paris., France where it occupied 9,500 meters (100,000 square feet). The gym was dedicated to serving every aspect of physical training and included every modern piece of equipment available at the time, including ropes, pommel horses, horizontal bars, Indian Clubs, dumbbells, and globe barbells. Triat’s barbells are believed to be among the first barbells (called Bares A spheres De 6 Kilos) ever offered for use in a public setting. Triat’s barbells were long bars with 6-kilo globe weights attached to their ends. Another first associated with the gym involved his approach to financing the club. He financed the facility by selling shares (he sold 250,000

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shares at five francs each, raising over one million francs in the process). The individuals who purchased shares in his gym could then redeem those shares for private sessions or for payment of the membership fees. Talk about a foreshadowing of the fitness business as it exists today.

The Boston YMCA – The Granddaddy of U.S. Fitness Facilities (1850) Shortly after Gymnase Triat opened its doors in Paris, the Boston YMCA introduced the American public to what is believed to be the first multipurpose-style fitness gym in the U.S. (note that Jahn’s Turnverein opened in Cincinnati in 1848). The Boston YMCA featured many of the same elements found in Gymnase Triatt, including a fully equipped gym featuring rings, ropes, pommel horse, benches, wooden dumbbells, ladders, and combat art training zones.

Professor Attila’s Athletic Studios/Schools of Physical Culture - The First Personal Training Gyms in Europe and U.S. The forefather of personal trainers, master trainers and strength coaches, as well as a physical culture legend, Leo Durlacher, or as he was better known, Professor Attila, appears to be the first fitness professional to build a business model around personal training. Attila established his first personal training gym in Brussels, Belgium in the 1880s, opened a second gym in London in the late 1880’s, and finally founded Atilla’s Athletic Studio and School of Physical Culture in New York, New York in 1894. His personal training gyms introduced several modern-day pieces of equipment including the Globe barbell, the Roman chair, and the Roman column. Professor Attila was one of the first proponents of progressive resistance training for

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women, and for combating the effects of aging. Professor Atilla built his reputation by serving as a personal trainer to some of the world’s most prominent athletes and dignitaries of the period, among the most notable being George Rolandow (the first to lift the Rolandow Challenge Barbell), Louis Cyr (a Canadian strongman and onetime world’s strongest man), (a famous American strongman), Gentleman Jim Corbett (onetime heavyweight boxing champion), Eugene Sandow, possibly the most famous strongman of all- time, Cornelius and Alfred Vanderbilt, J.P. Morgan, Jr, John Philip Sousa, Alexander III, Czar of Russia, King Edward VII of England, King George of Greece and queen Mother Alexandra of England. In 1926, Professor Attilla sold his club to Sig Klein, who operated the studio for 50 years as Sig Klein’s Studio of Physical Culture.

Other Notable Gyms and Clubs of the 1800s During the fifty-year period from 1850 to 1900, several prominent athletic clubs and gymnasiums opened around the world. A list of these noteworthy facilities include: the New Orleans Athletic Club, New Orleans, LA (1872); the Detroit Athletic Club, Detroit, Michigan (1887); the Hemmingway Gymnasium, Boston, Massachusetts (1888); The Lille Athletic Club, Lille, France which was operated by Professor Desbonnet (1885); the Vienna Athletic Club, Vienna, Austria (1880s), the Wrestling and Weightlifting Club of Saint Petersburg, Saint Petersburg, Russia (1885); the Athletic Club of Florence, Florence, Italy (1880s); the Chicago Athletic Association Facility, Chicago, Illinois (1893); and the London YMCA, London, England (1888). These facilities, as well as many others that opened during the latter half of the Industrial Revolution catered to men focused on the pursuit of sport and physical culture and incorporated gyms with gymnastic style equipment, barbells, dumbbells, medicine balls, ring bells, Indian Clubs, ladders, rings, horizontal bars, etc. These fitness facilities offered a setting for group calisthenics,

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believing that a social element was critical to continued engagement in a fitness program. What we see in each of these early fitness facility offerings is an approach to fitness that is eerily similar to the fitness facilities of the 21st Century, including many of today’s “innovative” fitness boutiques that deliver fitness in a tribal-type group setting using bodyweight and functional movements and equipment.

The Pioneering Operators of the Modern Gym and Studio Experience Studio – The First Pilates Studio (1926) Joseph Pilates opened his first fitness studio dedicated to the practice of “Contrology” in 1926. The studio, located in the vicinity of the New York Ballet, originally catered to dancers, but later emerged as a popular and effective modality for training circus performers, actors and athletes. The founding Pilates Studio operated for 50 years. One of Joseph’s most passionate followers, Ron Fletcher, took what he learned from working with Joseph Pilate and in 1970 opened his own Pilate’s studio in Los Angeles, called Ron Fletcher’s Studio. Many of today’s Pilate studio chains owe their existence to Joseph’s original New York studio.

Vic Tanny Health Clubs –The First Suburban Fitness Club (1947) In 1947, and his brother Armand, opened the first chain of modern health clubs. Vic Tanny introduced middle-class Americans to a new club model, one that pioneered the concept of a facility for men and women (offered alternate day workouts for men and women). These clubs offered an experience that was considerably different from the body building gyms,

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YMCAs and private athletic clubs that dominated the fitness facility landscape prior to 1947. In addition to providing a workout environment that both men and women could use, his clubs also introduced the public to various forms of training equipment and restorative spaces (i.e., saunas and whirlpools) not previously available to the public. Vic Tanny may be most well- known for introducing many of today’s modern sales practices (e.g., membership contracts, hard sales, commission-only staff, closing pitches, etc.). Vic Tanny’s was the first chain of clubs to operate over 100 locations, and to achieve (by 2020 standards) over $100 million in annual revenues.

Lotte Berk Studio – The First Barre Studio (1959) In the mid-50s, Lotte Berk, an accomplished German dancer, collaborated with an osteopathic physician to create a series of exercises based on her experiences as a dancer. Her exercise techniques combined principles from Pilates and yoga, as well as her own dance background. Berk assigned her exercises names, such as “prostitute”, “peeing dog,” and “French lavatory.” In 1959, she opened an exercise studio in Manchester, England in which she taught her unique and intensive exercise program (focusing on developing the “core”). Over the decades, numerous well-known individuals, especially women, flocked to her classes to learn her secrets to developing an incredible core and fantastic legs. Some individuals refer to Lotte Berk as the Queen of Fitness; possibly a more appropriate title would be Queen of Barre, since today’s various versions of barre can all be traced back to the Lotte Berk method.

Health and Tennis Corporation (aka Bally Total Fitness) – The First Regional Consolidator (1962) Established by a former Vic Tanny employee, Don Wildman, Health and Tennis took Vic Tanny’s business model to an entirely new level. Health and Tennis did not become Bally’s

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until 1982, and subsequently Bally Total Fitness in 1992. The business model used by Health and Tennis, including its use of long-term membership contracts and hard sales, were right out of the Vic Tanny playbook. The company was an industry pioneer when it came to acquiring regional club chains (i.e. Vic Tanny’s, President’s Health and Racquet, European Health Spas, Holiday Universal, etc.) to establish a national footprint. In time, it became the largest chain of clubs in the world. Bally Total Fitness was also the first club chain in the fitness industry to be purchased by a non-industry firm, and the first fitness club company to be traded on the public markets (didn’t last long). Bally was the first fitness chain to run national advertisement campaigns through multiple media outlets (paper, magazines, and television), and the first fitness chain to tie its marketing success to relationships with celebrities.

Gold’s Gym – Franchising and Licensing Pioneer (1965) In 1965, Joe Gold opened his namesake gym, Gold’s Gym; a brand that has since become symbolic with and gym franchising. In 1970, Gold’s was sold to Pete Grymkowski and Tim Kimber, who upon completing the acquisition started licensing the brand to other operators, and in 1980 converted to a franchise model to more effectively expand the brand’s reach. It was at this juncture that the Gold’s brand took off and established itself as an iconic global brand. As of 2019 the company had approximately 700 clubs in 29 countries, with nearly 550 of those operations franchised. The franchising model used by Gold’s Gym paved a path for many of todays must recognized fitness franchisees (Anytime Fitness, Planet Fitness, Orange Theory and Snap Fitness), all of whom operate under a franchise model.

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Midtown Tennis – First Indoor Tennis Club (1969) Founded by industry legend Allan Schwartz and his father, the Midtown Tennis Club became the first indoor tennis club in the U.S. The Midtown Tennis Club was the first of its kind in the health/fitness facility industry. It was the first club facility to establish a trademarked and patented tennis program, called Tennis in No Time. The Midtown Club also became a template for future multipurpose sports clubs when it converted a portion of its tennis space into other uses (group exercise and fitness training). Most recently, Midtown added a hotel to its campus, creating one of the first clubs to also have a namesake hotel.

Lucile Roberts Health Clubs - The First Women’s Only Club Chain (1970) Lucile Roberts developed the first chain of women’s-only health/fitness clubs. The chain was the first to see the value of providing women with a non-intimidating environment for exercising (clubs before Lucile Roberts were either predominately used by men or co-ed facilities where women worked out on alternate days). Roberts’ facilities featured an environment that targeted women and provided services that were important to women, including group exercise and “babysitting” services. Lucile Roberts’ clubs also offered educational opportunities to help women achieve their professional ambitions. The company’s clubs still operate today as a women’s-only chain of clubs (company recently purchased by Town Sports International) and is the largest women’s-only club chain in the world (with the exception of Curves, which is a franchise model of express clubs for women).

24 Hour Fitness – The First 24/7 Fitness Club Chain (1983) Originally founded in 1983 by Mark Mastrov, 24 Hour Fitness has gone on to become one of the largest health/fitness club operators in the world, with over 400 clubs in the U.S. and revenues exceeding $1.5 billion USD. 24 Hour Fitness established a template for 24/7 fitness clubs, as well as creating a standardized template for building an organic national brand. 24 Hour Fitness is most recognized for being the first club company in the industry to leverage a

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partnership with private equity, raising both equity and debt to fuel multiple regional acquisitions and rapid organic growth to establish a global dynasty of clubs. 24 Hour Fitness was also the first company to develop celebrity-branded clubs (e.g., Magic Johnson, Andre Agassi, Jackie Chan, etc.). Ultimately, what most industry professionals will remember about 24-Hour Fitness is the fact it achieved the largest purchase price of any club chain in the world at the time of its sale when it sold for $1.6 billion in 2006.

McFit – The First Scaled Budget Club Operation (1997) McFit was founded in 1997 by Rainer Schaller. At the time, McFit was just another new club on the market, but over the next 10 years it evolved into a showcase for the industry’s most popular business model of the 21st Century, referred to in Europe as a no-frills, low-cost gym or budget club. Schaller’s club model was based on delivering a convenient, user-friendly, no-frills, high-tech and extremely affordable club model to the masses. McFit showed operators around the world the potential of the budget club model, spurring the development of similar low-cost club models throughout the industry (i.e., Basic Fit, Crunch, Planet Fitness, Smart Fit, The Gym Group, and others). McFit’s model was one of the first to integrate a minimally staffed fitness business with a high-tech approach to member service, member communications and club operations. Even taking a shower can be an additional charge at Mcfit.

Final Thoughts Albert Einstein is quoted as saying, “The distinction between the past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.” His words could not be truer when it comes to fitness, where the practices of the past and present are eerily similar. What some might see as a modern innovation, others would say is only a new painting on an old canvas. The goal of this whitepaper was to provide readers with a historical framework for how today’s modern fitness

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settings arose in the hope it spurs innovative thinking that stretches beyond the stubborn and persistent illusions we continue to grasp onto.

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