A History of the Gym

[C C]

http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/...-1.2156021

EXCERPT: Why do people go to the gym? In this comprehensive history of the gym from its origins in the Greek Golden Age to the present, various answers are put forward...

[...Ancient...] Freeborn male citizens would go there to train their bodies in the pursuit of arete – moral, physical and intellectual excellence. At the gym they would also enjoy same-sex erotic relationships, the beginning of a symbiosis between homosexuality and the gymnasium that continues to the present day. The decline of classical Greek civilisation and the rise of Christianity, with its denunciation of the body as sinful and its castigation of same-sex relationships as ‘sodomy’, meant that the gymnasium fell into decline for many centuries. It was not until the late 18th century, when emergent nation-states warily eyed their neighbours and bemoaned the ‘effeminacy’ of their own citizens, that the gymnasium was revived. As well as providing training grounds for the production of better, fitter soldiers, the new gymnasia also served the physical education of children as part of a more progressive, child-centred philosophy of education....

[Magical Realist]

Freeborn male citizens would go there to train their bodies in the pursuit of arete – moral, physical and intellectual excellence. At the gym they would also enjoy same-sex erotic relationships, the beginning of a symbiosis between homosexuality and the gymnasium that continues to the present day.

Sounds like the very first YMCA!

[Image: its-fun-to-stay-at-the-ymca.jpg]

[stryder]

I would of guessed that Exercise in general has been apart of civilisation for thousands of years. The article touches upon "Military Doctrines" as being the main reason for it's initial collaboration as without "Fitter soldiers" there would have been more defeats in battle. Further still is the usage of Arenas/Colosseum's during Roman times (along with any arranged "fighting clubs" that would of been used as entertainment before that fact.) Those that fought would of trained regularly to increase their chances of survival.

Other potentials could be prior to that like "The hunt", how would men train to deal with a Sabretooth Tiger? After all you wouldn't want to come face to face with one and then make the ultimate decision that you were ill equiped or didn't have a plan and capacity to handle one.

Further more there is acts of endurance as persecuted by religions and cults on followers, especially those that reach that point in manhood where a boy becomes a man. "Preparation" would of been necessary and therefore likely some form of training for of ensued prior to whatever feat a boy would have to accomplish to prove themselves.