Fitness Through Time 🕰️ July 2024

Celebrating the history of the USA 🇺🇸 and fitness.

It’s July and we are approaching the nations Independence Day this month. We are celebrating 248 years of growth (more to come) as a nation and as a fitness industry.

250 years ago, fitness wasn’t even a thing, not even close. People physically moved throughout the day, working to survive. With the beginning of the industrial revolution (first “factory jobs”) kicking off people were working hard in the factories and fields, in their trade shops, working for food, all without machines to do the work for them. Life was physically demanding, why workout when your daily routine was filled with physical labor.

The first time we start to see “fitness” is linked to the military during WWII. 90% of men called into action would be turned away due to deficiencies in health and fitness (1). As war developed, so did these tests and when the soldiers returned, they too continued their fitness journey as civilians.

Next, we introduce the belt shaker thing-a-ma-bob that some genius marketed to housewives claiming it would drop the fat right off their body. We have jumped to a time where office jobs are booming, and we are starting to really see the decline in physically demanding jobs. Even farming is being taken over with large scale machines to harvest the haul.

Next comes the sixties and we “create” jogging! The race for the fastest mile had peaked in 1954 with Roger Bannister at 3:59.4 and took the world by storm to start the hobby of jogging. Weight training has started with Jack LaLane with the famous broom stick and soup cans. His rein would last decades introducing weight training to the households.

In the seventies we start to really see the boom in bodybuilding for men with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Encyclopedia of Modern Body Building. Still seen as the “freaks” in the room, huge muscles were the minority. As the eighties rolled around, we see a boom in physical fitness with aerobics lead by Jane Fonda. This started getting the women at home moving and into the studios for step aerobics.

As we enter the nineties, we are seeing women gain confidence in the gym and lifting lighter weights in group classes, the boom of group exercise is in full swing. The bodybuilding era had reached turbo speed with HUGE oversized (in my opinion) bodies. Youth athletics is taking hold and really pushing for movement at an early age. The baby boomers are still holding strong to physical outside activity for “working out.” We eagerly anticipate their entrance to the fitness community next decade.

As we stride into the 2000’s we are reaching a time that Crossfit is taking over and empowering every young person (and some older) to dive into high intensity training. Really building the cardiovascular system with quick 20–30-minute workout bouts.

Finally, we reach the 2010/20’s and we are seeing a surge in education on longevity. Our older population (70-90’s) are stepping into a weightroom for the first time in their lives. They are getting empowered and realizing it is never too late to start the process of getting stronger. They are seeing massive improvements with decreased fall risk and increased function.

At TOA our mission is to empower every person, older or young, limited or unrestricted to get moving and GET STRONG. Our programming is focused on daily life and daily strength. We feel functional training with heavy weights in the path to a healthier, longer more functional life.

Our TOA Method includes five basic movement patterns: Hinge, Carry, Overhead Action, Row, and Split Stance. We program our workout for you with these movements in EVERY workout, this ensures total body movement and total body strength. With this formula we are able to come back daily and work hard thwarting sarcopenia and osteopenia, aiding in longevity and ensuring function for the remainder of your thriving life.

Join the Battle Against Sarcopenia, Train the TOA WAY!