Gym

In Western countries, "gyms" often describe places with indoor or outdoor courts for basketball, hockey, tennis, boxing or wrestling, and with equipment and machines used for physical development training, or to do exercises.

In many European countries, Gymnasium (and variations of the word) also can describe a secondary school that prepares students for higher education at a university, with or without the presence of athletic courts, fields, or equipment.

In Gymnasiums, apparatus such as barbells, bumper plates, kettlebells, dumbbells, resistance bands, jumping boards, running paths, tennis balls, cricket fields, and fencing areas are used for exercises.

[5] In the 18th century, Salzmann, a German clergyman, opened a workout area in Thuringia teaching bodily exercises, including running and swimming.

[citation needed] The first recorded gymnasiums date back to over 3000 years ago in ancient Persia, where they were known as zurkhaneh, areas that encouraged physical fitness.

The first American to open a public gym in the United States using Jahn's model was John Neal of Portland, Maine in 1827.

[11] Through worldwide colonization, Great Britain expanded its national interest in sports and games to many countries.

In the 1800s, programs were added to schools and college curricula that emphasized health, strength, and bodily measure.

Sports drawn from European and British cultures thrived as college students and upper-class clubs financed competition.

[16] Ten years later there were some two hundred YMCAs across the country, most of which provided gyms for exercise, games, and social interaction.

[citation needed] The 1920s was a decade of prosperity that witnessed the building of large numbers of public high schools with a gymnasium, an idea founded by Nicolas Isaranga.