Strength Training Origins and Evolution

Strength training is in no way a modern invention. Pictures on Egyptian tombs show the lifting of bags filled with sand along with stone swinging and throwing, which were also popular in the early histories of Germany, Scotland, and Spain. Men's weightlifting competitions date back to early Greek civilization, which originated the games that became the modern Olympics. Of course, these pioneers didn't have the sophisticated equipment that we have today or the research on training and physiology to back up the exercises, but they did have the most important thing-the desire to lift something heavy for fun, sport, and physical health.

As weightlifters began to make their own equipment instead of using Mother Nature's gifts, we gained more modern inventions. For example, dumbbells originated in the 1700s when a rod was placed between two church bells. When the clapper was removed from the bells, they became silent, or dumb-hence the word dumbbell. Indian clubs-which resemble bowling pins-and kettlebells, which are cast-iron balls with a handle attached, were popular in the early 1800s. As the 19th century progressed, so did weight-training equipment in the form of pulleys, air pressure devices, and multistations. Strongmen performing at contests and exhibitions were the primary users of weight equipment at this time. Amateur weightlifting became a sanctioned event at the Olympics in 1896, although there were no female athletes. Women's weightlifting didn't become a sanctioned Olympic sport until 2000.

By the early 1900s, weight training had progressed significantly with the invention of the adjustable, plate-loaded barbell. Training with weights became more popular because it was much easier to change the weight on the barbells. But weight training really gained momentum when sports coaches began to see it as an excellent addition to their athletic and physical education programs. Bodybuilding soon followed on the sandy shores of Muscle Beach in Venice, California. Both men and women participated in physique shows, weightlifting competitions, and acrobatics demonstrations. When the Nautilus variable resistance cam machines hit the market in the 1970s, resistance training really took off, especially for women. The machines were less intimidating than free weights and allowed people to lift light weights easily-perfect for the woman who was just starting out. The creator of Nautilus, Arthur Jones, preached a philosophy of training that virtually gave people a road map and instructions for the use of his machines. He proposed a 20-minute workout three times a week that included 1 set of 8 to 12 repetitions for each Nautilus machine. Many people are still following his recommendations today.

The Nautilus machines inspired a fitness revolution, and many different companies burst on the market with their own types of selectorized resistance machines. Health clubs multiplied and prospered. The aerobics revolution began in the 1970s and flourished throughout the 1980s. Women who had previously been training with weights were now jumping and stepping in huge proportions in the confines of the aerobics room rather than venturing out to the weight floor. The late 1980s saw the introduction of plate-loaded machines, a hybrid of selectorized equipment and actual free weights. The first of these machines, Hammer Strength, focused on entire body movements (rather than targeting specific body parts) and had independent arms. The machines felt natural and smooth and actually led to a resurgence of lifting free weights. Women started flocking back into the weight room, many possibly as a result of injuries from high-impact aerobics. It was also becoming apparent, through research and anecdotal reports, that resistance training produced a huge benefit for those who participated in sports. There probably isn't any serious athlete or sports team today that doesn't augment training with weights.

As you can see, training with weights wasn't always a popular activity for women-to some extent, it still isn't. While men were lifting weights in the first Olympics, women had foot races in their own separate Olympics, called the Games of Hera. Female strength training was not promoted in the early years of civilization, primarily because women did all of their physical activity farming in the fields, cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the children. Consider how much work these everyday jobs actually required before there were grocery stores, microwaves, vacuum cleaners, and babysitters. Women weren't concerned about staying in shape, because they were in shape-and exhausted! As the Renaissance approached, it became even less popular for women to strength train because the focus was on culture, and fencing became a popular sport for men and women. Fencing wasn't promoted for health or fitness, but for self-defense and perfection of skill and technique. This emphasis is quite contrary to today's trends, in which martial arts are turned into aerobics classes for the sole purpose of exercise. Finally, the ideal female physique of the Renaissance period was soft and well rounded; having muscles was correlated with being poor and working in the fields.

The times were slowly changing. Although social norms discouraged vigorous exercise for women during the Victorian era, they promoted exercising with light weights and sticks to improve posture and body symmetry. The notion in America was that women shouldn't exercise in the same way that men did, because men and women were fundamentally different. Women should exercise only to make themselves more attractive to men, to make childbirth easier, and to make themselves strong so that their sons would be strong.

As the 19th century progressed, a style of German gymnastics was introduced to American women that included weightlifting and vigorous body-weight exercises on parallel bars. Women performed chin-ups, dips, and one-leg squats, and they swung from triangles that hung from the ceiling. But the tide turned from this high-intensity training to low-intensity calisthenics when American society didn't approve of women gaining muscularity and having callused hands. The new calisthenics of the 1800s sounds eerily familiar to the aerobics classes of today. Calisthenics were movements set to music and done in a group with perhaps light dumbbells, wooden or iron canes, or Indian clubs. Later in the century, calisthenics progressed to more dynamic exercise, and women's schools often included them in physical education programs. By the end of the 19th century women started lifting heavier weights. In 1892 the journal Physical Education (a publication of the YMCA) devoted an entire issue to women, saying that women needed physical strength and endurance.

Strength training for women really took off in the 1930s and 1940s with the advent of Muscle Beach in Venice, California, and with Bob Hoffman's Strength and Health magazine, which emphasized weight training for athletic improvement. His magazine featured female athletes and the women of Muscle Beach. In the mid- to late 1950s, it was clear that strength training was positively enhancing athletes'performances, and many professional and Olympic female athletes tried to add strength training to their routines. Unfortunately, because the weights were primarily located in men's training rooms, women often did not have access to the equipment.

The access issue changed in 1972 when congress passed Title IX. This legislation stated that "no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under any education program or activities receiving Federal financial assistance." It essentially opened the doors of the weight rooms to women. When President Nixon signed the act, about 24,000 women were involved in intercollegiate sports and about 300,000 were involved in high school sports. Today more than 100,000 women participate in intercollegiate athletics and more than 2.4 million high school girls play high school sports. The majority of these athletes are strength training.