History of physical training and fitness

For example, running, jumping, wrestling, gymnastics and throwing heavy stones are mentioned frequently in historical sources and emphasised as being highly effective training-methods.

However, after the original Olympic Games were banned by the Romans in 394, such culturally significant athletic competitions were not held again until the 19th Century.

Epikoinos, a game involving two teams of equal numbers and a ball which was roughly the size of a large apple.

In other words, the body's muscular proportions are in the correct ratio to each other, having good posture in general, and not carrying too much or too little fat.

When physical training was used to prepare for athletics or warfare, the focus was predominantly on agility, speed, explosive power, and endurance.

This was partly due to athletes being able to depend on regular meals and sleep patterns, and warriors having to be prepared to be deprived of these.

Thus, it was easier for an athlete to maintain a more muscular frame, whereas it was an unnecessary and difficult task for a warrior involved in campaigning.

He goes on to argue that for this reason statues of athletes would be made with a sign of the event they specialized in, otherwise, it would be too difficult to tell them apart based on their physical development alone.

For similar reasons of attempting to achieve the optimum body proportions for moving in a fast, agile, and powerful manner, people throughout history, who have undertaken physical training, tend to be of similar proportions.British and French imperialism brought European sport practices and training routines to much of the world, including most of Asia and Africa.

Whilst discussion on women's physical training is relatively scarce in historical sources, there are two reasons which predominate.

It was considered that if a woman was struck in the area of her uterus it could cause long term damage, and negatively affect fertility.

The more common exercises which were undertaken by women include running (including sprinting), jumping, light stone or shot put, light dumbbell exercises, archery, fencing, swinging Indian clubs, swimming, ball games, racket sports, and various forms of gymnastics.

The maidens ran with their hair down their backs, a short tunic reaching just below the knee, and their right shoulder bare to the breast.

Ancient Roman relief showing a legionary . Antikensammlung , 2nd century AD
A scene depicting javelin throwers, a discus thrower, and a long jumper. This drawing is an early 20th Century copy of a scene found on a Panathenaic amphora from Ancient Greece. British Museum, c. 525 BC.
The throw of this 76kg stone represents the continuity of a ballistic training tradition which dates from Ancient Greece. Unspunnenfest , 1981.
This battle scene found on a Roman sarcophagus demonstrates the excellent physical conditioning of both Roman soldiers and Celtic warriors. Dallas Museum of Art , c. 190 AD. [ 39 ]
The Borghese Gladiator , c. 100 BC, Louvre
Schilling ( Swiss ) mercenaries training, including stone putting, wrestling, skipping, and jumping or diving. Lucerne Chronicle , 1513.
A training scene showing various exercises such as wrestling, fencing, and throwing a stone (stone putting). By Sebald Beham (1500–1550).
This engraving on wood shows gymnastics, monkey bars, and synchronised Indian club swinging being practiced in a large gym run by the YMCA . London, c. 1888 .
Gymnastics, climbing, fencing, and boxing in a commercial gym environment. Roper's gymnasium, Philadelphia, c. 1831 .