How Athletic Workouts Became the New Normal for Women
The 1968 release of Dr.
Kenneth H.
Cooper's book, Aerobics, began the shift from disease treatment to disease prevention.
Exercising, specifically aerobic exercise, became normal and led to such fitness trends as Jazzercise (1969) and aerobic dance (1970s).
A few years later in 1972, marathon runner Frank Shorter, after his gold medal win at the Summer Olympic Games in Munich, Germany, made it cool to run for fitness.
Around the same time, The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) published their ACSM's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Exercise Prescription, which led to the acceptance of using resistance training for fitness.
Over time, cycling, spinning, exercise machines, Tae Bo, pilates, stability ball training, and zumba was introduced into the mainstream.
However, almost all of these fitness trends were aerobic in nature.
So then, what exactly led to the adoption of athletic-type training, especially amongst women? It's hard to pinpoint what brought this revolution on, however the shift certainly points to a change in what "sexy" looks like.
For example, during the Renaissance (1400s to early 16th century), women were admired for their natural curves.
These women would certainly be considered overweight by today's standards.
The Victorian Era (from 1837 to 1901) shifted the pendulum.
Women now desired unnaturally thin waists.
Some would even break ribs in the attempt to get their waists down to an impossible 12 inches.
The 1920s brought on a new trend.
Women no longer desired impossible thin waists, nor did they worry about modesty.
In fact, the shift led to desiring more of a boyish look.
The 1930s and 1940s brought the trend back to a more feminine look.
The influence of Hollywood brought on new fashion trends which accented a woman's arms and legs.
Therefore, women began to watch what they ate, and began lifting light weights to tone up.
The 1950s became all about the hourglass figure, and the 1960s was all about being rail thin.
The 1970s disco era perpetuated the obsession to be super-thin, and the introduction of aerobics became the answer to achieving the super-thin look.
However, somewhere along the line, the icon for the ideal female look went from Marilyn Monroe to Michelle Obama.
Athletic, lean sexy muscles were preferred over being super-thin.
One theory suggests that transformation in fitness trends go hand in hand with feminism.
As women became more empowered to do things that were outside of their society-ordained gender roles (such as play "manly" sports) other women took notice, admired the physiques of these athletic women, and began to copycat their regimens.
Kenneth H.
Cooper's book, Aerobics, began the shift from disease treatment to disease prevention.
Exercising, specifically aerobic exercise, became normal and led to such fitness trends as Jazzercise (1969) and aerobic dance (1970s).
A few years later in 1972, marathon runner Frank Shorter, after his gold medal win at the Summer Olympic Games in Munich, Germany, made it cool to run for fitness.
Around the same time, The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) published their ACSM's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Exercise Prescription, which led to the acceptance of using resistance training for fitness.
Over time, cycling, spinning, exercise machines, Tae Bo, pilates, stability ball training, and zumba was introduced into the mainstream.
However, almost all of these fitness trends were aerobic in nature.
So then, what exactly led to the adoption of athletic-type training, especially amongst women? It's hard to pinpoint what brought this revolution on, however the shift certainly points to a change in what "sexy" looks like.
For example, during the Renaissance (1400s to early 16th century), women were admired for their natural curves.
These women would certainly be considered overweight by today's standards.
The Victorian Era (from 1837 to 1901) shifted the pendulum.
Women now desired unnaturally thin waists.
Some would even break ribs in the attempt to get their waists down to an impossible 12 inches.
The 1920s brought on a new trend.
Women no longer desired impossible thin waists, nor did they worry about modesty.
In fact, the shift led to desiring more of a boyish look.
The 1930s and 1940s brought the trend back to a more feminine look.
The influence of Hollywood brought on new fashion trends which accented a woman's arms and legs.
Therefore, women began to watch what they ate, and began lifting light weights to tone up.
The 1950s became all about the hourglass figure, and the 1960s was all about being rail thin.
The 1970s disco era perpetuated the obsession to be super-thin, and the introduction of aerobics became the answer to achieving the super-thin look.
However, somewhere along the line, the icon for the ideal female look went from Marilyn Monroe to Michelle Obama.
Athletic, lean sexy muscles were preferred over being super-thin.
One theory suggests that transformation in fitness trends go hand in hand with feminism.
As women became more empowered to do things that were outside of their society-ordained gender roles (such as play "manly" sports) other women took notice, admired the physiques of these athletic women, and began to copycat their regimens.
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