This is part 2 of the series on the history of fitness. Last week we discussed the birth of exercise in Ancient Egypt. This article will focus on Ancient Greece.
Read last week’s article here.
Time to Hit the Gym
The word gym actually comes from the Greek word gymnasia. The first use of dedicated exercise facilities dates back to roughly the 6th century BC. They were designed for men and were sometimes combined with religious sites. The first iteration of personal trainers were called gymnastes.
These personal trainers were tasked with passing down knowledge of nutrition and fitness routines to everyone from athletes to children. Fitness began at a relatively young and in Greece and continued throughout much of life.
Many famous Greeks attended gyms and believed that exercise was an important part of daily life. Pythagoras, Aristotle and Plato are among the great minds that believed fitness was important.
It’s All About Looks
Oddly enough, modern America seems to closely embody the same ideas of fitness that Ancient Greece once did. There’s a similar reverence towards chiseled physiques in both societies, although today we’ve replace carefully carved statues with pictures in fitness magazines and social media posts.
The Ancient Greeks were possibly the first human society to hold fitness in such a high regard. The idea of competing in sports was taken from the Egyptians, so events like the Olympics weren’t groundbreaking. What was new in Greek society was the idealization of fitness.
They differ from any previous society in that they depicted gods as being muscular. Their detailed sculptures of muscular physiques showed that they held fitness in high regard.
This is an important distinction in the history of exercise. They didn’t simply use exercise to train for battle or prove dominance over one another. They wanted to workout so they could look muscular.
The First Workout Program
The first evidence of a structured exercise program is told through the story of Milo of Croton. He was an infamous wrestler who trained by carrying a calf up a hill every day. At the beginning of his training, the calf was small and easy to lift. As the days wore on the calf got bigger, and eventually grew into an adult cow. Since the calf got heavier every day, Milo got stronger and his muscles got bigger.
Science nerds would refer to this as progressive overload. It’s a principle used in almost every structured fitness program today. The idea is that you need to progress in small increments over time to see big changes.
If you work towards your goal every day, little by little, eventually you’ll make giant strides. The story of Milo shows that Ancient Greeks knew how to implement progressive overload to get stronger.
The Original Personal Trainer
Hippocrates was one of the first figures in recorded history to use exercise to make people healthy. This marks an important deviation from the use of fitness for competition and warfare to health and wellness. In fact, personal trainers began to work with doctors in Greece to cure ailments.
Hippocrates observed that inactivity could lead to poor health. In general, he recommended that people workout regularly. Exercises should not be too strenuous nor too easy. It should be difficult but not cause injury or pain.
For those suffering from diabetes, consumption and obesity, Hippocrates recommended various forms of exercise. These were not simple recommendations, either. They had to be personalized to the needs of the patient. He changed exercises based on factors like age, fitness level etc.
Age was an important consideration, and Hippocrates had different classifications such as youth, young adult, adult and elderly. He had different exercise recommendations for each group.
Wrestling, gymnastics, running and boxing are among the exercises he recommended. He knew that wrestling and gymnastics could grow muscle, whereas running would burn fat. He also knew that sprinting built more muscle than running long distance.
Regular walking was commonly recommended at night, in the morning and after workouts. Walking at night would aid digestion and walking after workouts keeps blood flowing and helps muscles recover.
The little evidence we have of Greek understanding of health and fitness shows how much they knew. They created exercise programs for strength, athleticism and health. In many ways they were just as advanced as we were, although they didn’t have the fancy cable machines and fitness trackers.
Next week I’ll discuss the evolution of exercise in India, which occurred at around the same time as Hippocrates’ reign.