Getting “Physical” with the Victorians: 19th Century Physical Fitness, Part 1

In this episode, I explore the stages in which fitness culture evolved in the 19th Century, as well as the rise of strongman athletes and fitness “gurus,” some popular fitness equipment of the period, and early gymnasiums. ***** References Barford, Vanessa, and Lucy Townsend. “Eugen Sandow: The man with the perfect body.” https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-19977415 BBC News. “'Manly exercise' manual found at Cambridge college.” https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-38420468 Britannica. “Eugen Sandow.” https://www.britannica.com/biography/Eugen-Sandow Ernst, Gustav. The portable gymnasium: a manual of exercises, arranged for self instruction in the use of the portable gymnasium. https://archive.org/details/b20399789/page/61/mode/1up Macfadden, Bernarr. Macfadden's physical training : an illustrated system of exercise for the development of health, strength and beauty. https://archive.org/details/macfaddensphysic00macf/page/6/mode/2up Movement Health. “What is the Physical Culture Movement?” https://www.movementhealth.com.au/news/physical-culture-movement/ ScotlandsPeople. “Our Records: A Victorian Gymnasium.” https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/article/victorian-gymnasium Stark, James. “Fitness gurus and ‘muscular Christianity’: how Victorian Britain anticipated today’s keep fit craze.” https://theconversation.com/fitness-gurus-and-muscular-christianity-how-victorian-britain-anticipated-todays-keep-fit-craze-129522 Walker, Donald. British manly exercises : containing rowing and sailing, riding, & driving. https://archive.org/details/britishmanlyexer00walk/page/n105/mode/2up Wikipedia. “François Delsarte.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/François_Delsarte Wikipedia. “Friedrich Ludwig Jahn.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Ludwig_Jahn Wikipedia. “Genevieve Stebbins.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genevieve_Stebbins Wikipedia. “Johann Christoph Friedrich GutsMuths.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Christoph_Friedrich_GutsMuths Wikipedia. “Somatics.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somatics#:~:text=An%2520early%2520precursor%2520of%2520the%2520somatic%2520movement%2520in,culture%2520practices%2520were%2520brought%2520to%2520the%2520US.%2520 ***** Email: [e-mail] Twitter: twitter.com/victorianvarie1 Mastodon: @[e-mail] Buy Me a Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/marisadf13 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/thevictorianvarietyshow I’d greatly appreciate it if you could take a moment to rate & review this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Goodpods, Spotify, Podchaser, Audible, or wherever you listen, as that will help this podcast reach more listeners!