Gym From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search This article is about the indoor sports facility. For the fitness club, see health club. For the school class known as "gym", see physical education. For the type of school, see Gymnasium (school). For other uses, see gymnasium (disambiguation). Globe icon. The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. You may improve this article, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new article, as appropriate. (December 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
Students of Texas Woman's University practicing in their university gymnasium, 2011 A gymnasium, also known as a gym, is a covered location for athletics. The word is derived from the ancient Greek gymnasium.[1] They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centers, and as activity and learning spaces in educational institutions. "Gym" is also slang for "fitness center", which is often an area for indoor recreation. A gym may be open air as well. A gym is a place with a number of equipments and machines used by the people to do exercises.
Contents 1 Overview 2 History 3 See also 4 References Overview
Overview
Gymnasia apparatus such as barbells, jumping board, running path, tennis-balls, cricket field, and fencing area are used as exercises. In safe weather, outdoor locations are the most conducive to health.[2] Gyms were popular in ancient Greece. Their curricula included self-defense, gymnastica medica, or physical therapy to help the sick and injured, and for physical fitness and sports, from boxing to dancing to skipping rope.[3]
Gymnasia also had teachers of wisdom and philosophy. Community gymnastic events were done as part of the celebrations during various village festivals. In ancient Greece there was a phrase of contempt, "He can neither swim nor write." After a while, however, Olympic athletes began training in buildings specifically designed for them[4]. Community sports never became as popular among ancient Romans as it had among the ancient Greeks. Gyms were used more as a preparation for military service or spectator sports. During the Roman Empire, the gymnastic art was forgotten. In the Dark Ages there were sword fighting tournaments and of chivalry; and after gunpowder was invented sword fighting began to be replaced by the sport of fencing, as well as schools of dagger fighting and wrestling and boxing.[5]
In the 18th century, Salzmann, German clergyman, opened a gym in Thuringia teaching bodily exercises, including running and swimming. Clias and Volker established gyms in London, and in 1825, Doctor Beck, a German immigrant, established the first gymnasium in the United States. It was found that gym pupils lose interest in doing the same exercises, partly because of age. Variety in exercises included skating, dancing, and swimming. Some gym activities can be done by 6 to 8-year-olds while age 16 has been considered mature enough for boxing and horseback riding.[6]
In Ancient Greece, the gymnasion (γυμνάσιον) was a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men. The latter meaning of intellectual education persisted in Greek, German and other languages to denote a certain type of school providing secondary education, the gymnasium, whereas in English the meaning of physical education pertained in the word 'gym'.[7] The Greek word gymnasium, which means "school for naked exercise," was used to designate a locality for the education of young men, including physical education (gymnastics, for example, exercise) which was customarily performed naked, as well as bathing, and studies. For the Greeks, physical education was considered as important as cognitive learning. Most Greek gymnasia had libraries that for use after relaxing in the baths.[citation needed]
History
Children's outdoor gymnasium, circa 19th Century. The equipment, which was standard for the time, includes ladders, gymnastic horses, and parallel bars. 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 larger Roman Baths often had attached fitness facilities, the baths themselves sometimes being decorated with mosaics of local champions of sport. Gyms in Germany were an outgrowth of the Turnplatz,[8] an outdoor space for gymnastics founded by German educator Friedrich Jahn in 1811[9] and later promoted by the Turners, a nineteenth-century political and gymnastic movement. The first American to open a public gym in the United States using Jahn's model was John Neal of Portland, Maine in 1827.[10] The first indoor gymnasium in Germany was probably the one built in Hesse in 1852 by Adolph Spiess.[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. As a result, towns began building playgrounds that furthered interest in sports and physical activity.[12] In the United States, the Turner movement thrived in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The first Turners group was formed in London in 1848. The Turners built gymnasia in several cities like Cincinnati and St. Louis which had large German American populations. These gyms were utilized by adults and youth. For example, a young Lou Gehrig would frequent the Turner gym in New York City with his father.
Interior of a gym in The Netherlands, around 1900 The Boston Young Men's Christian Union claims to be "America's First Gym". The YMCA first organized in Boston in 1851 and a smaller branch opened in Rangasville in 1852.[13] Ten years later there were some two hundred YMCAs across the country, most of which provided gymnasia 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.].[citation needed]
Today, gymnasia are commonplace in the United States. They are in virtually all U.S. colleges and high schools, as well as almost all middle schools and elementary schools. These facilities are used for physical education, intramural sports, and school gatherings. The number of gyms in the U.S. has more than doubled since the late 1980s.[14]
Benefits
Exercising can benefit a person no matter the age, height or sexuality. Doing physical activities can better your lifestyle. Exercising can;
- Help lose weight
- Help with health conditions
- Change your mood
- Help with sleep
Exercising is a good and healthy way of living. Not many people choose to do it, but it affects a person in a positive way.
Another benefit of exercising is that it can also help mental health. Other than exercising to physically change, taking care of mental health is also a very important thing a person should focus on. There are different ways that exercising can help a person psychologically. They are;
- Brain Boost
- Decreased stress
- Increased self- esteem and self confidence
- Depression and anxiety
- Better sleep
See also Exercise trends Gym floor cover Gymkhana Largest high school gyms in the United States Outdoor gym Bodybuilding Physical exercise Aerobic exercise References
Partridge 1984, p. 517 Ravenstein & Hulley 1867 Partington 1838, p. 627 Editors, History com. "The Olympic Games". HISTORY. Retrieved 2020-09-30. Partington 1838, p. 628 Partington 1838, p. 629 "Gymnasium (Greek)". Ancient Encyclopedia. Retrieved 1 April 2019. Limited, Alamy. "Stock Photo – Turnplatz (open-air gymnasium) in the Hasenheide, 1811". Alamy. Retrieved 2018-10-06. Goodbody, John (1982). The Illustrated History of Gymnastics. London: Stanley Paul & Co. ISBN 0-09-143350-9. Leonard, Fred Eugene (1923). A Guide to the History of Physical Education. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and New York, New York: Lea & Febiger. pp. 227–250. Dalvi, Rajani. ""INTRODUCTION TO PHYSICAL EDUCATION"". Retrieved 2019-04-05. Lumpkin, Angela (January 29, 2013). Introduction to physical education, exercise science, and sport studies. McGraw-Hill Education; 9 edition. p. 226. ISBN 0-07-802266-5. Mouheb, R.B. (2012). Yale Under God (in Italian). Xulon Press. p. 177. ISBN 978-1-61996-884-4. Retrieved April 1, 2019. ""The Scope of the U.S. Health Club Industry (industry estimates)."". International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association (IHRSA). 2003.
Bibliography
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gymnasiums. Ravenstein and Hulley. 1867. The gymnasium and its fittings London, UK: N. Trubner and Company Partington, Charles F., Editor. 1838. The British Cyclopaedia of the Arts, Sciences, History, Geography, Literature, Natural History, and Biography Volume 1 ABA to OPI London, UK: Wm. S. Orr and Co. Partridge, Eric. 1984. A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English. Milton Park, Abingdon: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group ISBN 0415065682 vte Gym, outdoor and playground games vte Strength-training exercises Authority control Edit this at Wikidata GND: 4186486-4LCCN: sh85058057NARA: 10663883NDL: 00572524 Categories: Educational facilitiesGymsHealth clubsPhysical educationPhysical exerciseSports venues by typeStrength training