Fitness: Then and Now...

Nothing interesting happened today nor was I focused enough to find some sort of correspondence to fitness in my conversations. However I did stumble across some interesting information that does relate.

Since I'm only 28 I would not naturally know what happened in the 1940's through the 1980's as it would relate to fitness. Thanks to my never-ending thought process and Google, I was able to do some simple research and found these interesting facts.

In the 1940's there was not a single workout in sight for women. This was a supposed era when experts suggested women did not workout because of potential damage to the uterus (Fitness for Dummies). The first elastic band used for exercise came about in the 50's from creator Jack LaLanne and was called the Glamour Stretcher. It was even sold with a record called "Glamour Stretcher Time."

Then the 1960's rolled out the vibrating belts. This in my opinion has to be the biggest gimmick and joke of them all. People believed, and still believe today, that the vibrations would somehow disrupt and melt the fat away. C'mon now, is that remotely possible? No wonder it's socially acceptable to think there's a quick fix to our fat bellies. Interesting enough, there are infomercials that are advertising something very similar today that are just as ineffective yet someone out there is buying it.

I won't mention much of the 70's and 80's but let's just say it was all about more sensible things that had legitimacy with them - roller skating (that's a valid leg workout and a way to elevate your heart rate) and Jane Fonda workout tapes.

As I mentioned, today was probably one of my dullest days. I've been busy doing a lot research, creative thinking, and meeting with potential employees. Overall, I've been too swamped to provide rich content but at least I was able to dig deep into the fitness catalog to find some exercise roots. Sadly enough, not much has changed. Only different designs, new labels, and fancier tag lines - wouldn't you agree?