Exercise during the GE

[countryclubjoe]

Hi FL Folks

Yesterday while sitting on my deck drinking Jamison and trying to not inhale my cigar along with eating some italian susage and peppers with a half loaf of italian bread wearing my Knox fedora along with my four pocket waistcoat. I spotted two young joggers/runners. I got to thinking about excerise and the GE.

From movies and books tv shows etc, the mood of the time was eat, drink, sing, dress like a king and repeat as needed.

So how was exercise viewed during the GE? Was it popular or were only a few less adventures folks exercising?
Or did it actually get popular in 1940 during the hey day of mister strong man himself( Jack Lalann) ?

And now to my fellow FL members. Are you a big fan of exercise? My Father use to have a saying. He would say exercise never affected him, that he could sleep right along side of exercise. LOL

So FL folks, are you a serious exerciser?

TIA for reply's and comments,
Best regards
CCJOE

 

[JonnyO]

I've always wondered that myself, I feel exercise may have come in to "popularity" during or shortly there after WWII because of the PT that the soldiers went through.

I myself always thought I was in decent shape because I played sports throughout my whole childhood but stopped playing regularly around the age of 18. I recently, within the last few months, have started working out every day. I just ran my first 5K this past weekend, an adventure I never thought I would have tackled. I have found that I feel better and that feeling physically better has made me eat better as well. The looking good and feeling good is a major confidence booster if I may add too.

 

[Shangas]

Exercise for exercise's sake, for want of a better term, probably didn't exist as much back then as it does now, for the pure fact that back then, on a whole, people led far more active lives.

But you still had stuff like cycling, swimming, tennis, cricket, football, Indian Clubs, mace-throwing, etc.

 

[AmateisGal]

My great-grandfather ate eggs and bacon for breakfast every day of his life and drank like a fish and never exercised. But he was a farmer and he worked pretty darn hard. Lived into his 70s.

As farm kids, we played outside during the summer, rode our bikes, etc. I never really got into an exercise program until after I had my daughter in 2000. I feel tons better when I exercise regularly.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Bernarr MacFadden, the apostle of "Physical Culture," was a national figure thruout the Era. He had an early morning wake-up exercise radio program in the mid-twenties before it was taken over by others, and promoted a hard-core calisthenics workout program.

One of the men who replaced MacFadden on the air was Arthur Bagley, who was on NBC every morning at 6:45 for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company with a similar exercise program which aired thru the mid-thirties Yet another MacFaddenite was John Gambling of WOR, who did yet another wake-up-and-exercise-to-music program that was on the air in New York for decades.

As for me, I get all the exercise I need carrying fifty-pound boxes of film up and down three flights of stairs at work.

 

[m0nk]

Well, first thing that came to mind was that in the GE, people walked a whole lot more than we do now. There wasn't the same sedentary lifestyle, so exercise in general may not have been needed quite as much to keep in shape since they were getting a fair bit in daily life. Another side of that is while the food they ate may not have been any healthier than that of today, the portion sizes were certainly much smaller, and the snacks weren't quite as plentiful.

Another thing that came to mind was my grandfather; he was a Phys Ed instructor in the Army during WWII. He trained soldiers to keep in shape at wartime, so while he may not have actually seen combat, his role was instrumental in helping soldiers stay healthy with exercise during their "downtime" on the battlefield. I have a feeling that at least some of the soldiers returning home may have kept up with their regimental training, as I know many soldiers these days try to do the same.

As a side note, my grandfather also drank quite heavily, ate bacon and eggs daily, and smoked most of his life, and continued for several years after having been diagnosed with emphysema. He passed away 2 years ago in August, at the age of 95. The thing that killed him was having lost his wife of nearly 73 years... she passed 2 days before...

 

[dhermann1]

There was a lot less knowledge about the physiology of health and fitness then, and people did some thngs that were not particularly good for them. The king of all bad exercises was deep knee bends. Thousands of people destroyed their knees with that one over the years.
Baseball players seldom engaged in any fitness activities during the off season because they didn't think it was all that good for them. They'd show up for spring training in terrible shape, and get somehwat better down in Florida for a few weeks before the seaon started. They never lifted weights, which all modern athletes do, because they thought they'd get muscle bound. Since there was no refined science of weightlifting, as there is now, they were probably right.
If you look at old pictures on web sites like Shorpy.com, you'll see the kind of equiipment they used. And occasionally on TCM there will be a short subject that shows training practices of those times. Generally, they were not very good.

 

[sheeplady]

In the U.S., you also had the Civilian Conservation Corps that essentially got a generation of young men healthy and in good shape before the war, both in terms of exercise but also nutrition.

30% of the population lived on farms at the start of the great depression (heavy labor) and a significant rest of the population worked in factories- which wasn't light labor.

Also, although I am sure that there were people who could dine and smoke to excess, depending upon what time you were speaking about, people were thin because of mild starvation during the depression. I know that my family members, despite some of them living on farms, were hungry most of the time. Although the vogue might have been excess, the reality for most people was much more lean. Thin doesn't equal healthy or fit, but plenty of people do make that assumption.

I have read (not sure if it is true or not) that mild starvation (particularly when growing up) can lead to longevity. That's one of the reasons why they propose that the WWII generation has lived so long compared to previous generations. It's obviously a retrospective study when talking about people, but apparently the same thing happens with mice.

 

[Flicka]

An example: as a child, my grandfather, born in '21, would ride his bike four miles (single way, so 8 miles for each trip) twice a week in order to play football (or soccer to our American friends) for an hour or two. He didn't think of it as 'exercise', he thought of it as 'transportation' and 'play' respectively. That was the way everyone (here) lived back then. They wouldn't have said they exercised but they burnes calories like whooa.

 

[countryclubjoe]

There was a lot less knowledge about the physiology of health and fitness then, and people did some thngs that were not particularly good for them. The king of all bad exercises was deep knee bends. Thousands of people destroyed their knees with that one over the years.
Baseball players seldom engaged in any fitness activities during the off season because they didn't think it was all that good for them. They'd show up for spring training in terrible shape, and get somehwat better down in Florida for a few weeks before the seaon started. They never lifted weights, which all modern athletes do, because they thought they'd get muscle bound. Since there was no refined science of weightlifting, as there is now, they were probably right.
If you look at old pictures on web sites like Shorpy.com, you'll see the kind of equiipment they used. And occasionally on TCM there will be a short subject that shows training practices of those times. Generally, they were not very good.

Great points. Also athletes, most anyway, had to hold down a regular job during the off season. Today with current incomes of athletes, they can dedicate more time for fitness.
Best regards
CCJ

 

[1961MJS]

Hi

My Dad was born in 1919 and died in 2011 at 92. He was one of two boys in his graduating class that didn't smoke and they lived until 88 and 92 respectively. The other five man, who were smokers all died in their 60's. The last girl in his class still lives in his home town. Dad went by her house in May 2011 to visit. On a side note, it's kind of funny to watch two half deaf people talk at each other (they both figured it out).

Dad worked from the age of 8 or so, walking a mile into the country to feed the local doctor's goats. He also played baseball during any and all daylight hours he wasn't working. This is full up baseball games, and pitching to his neighbors at the gas station when it wasn't busy. Dad did walk a lot, but had a physically easy job (high school math teacher). He was active until the month before he passed away, probably from an aneurism.

My Grandfather (mom's side) was a coal miner, farmer, and county judge. He was born in 1897 or so. He smoked a pipe and ate bacon and eggs for most meals. He quit farming because of a stroke in 1964 and sold the mules... He lived another 15 years (1979). I doubt he needed exercise as such. From my knowledge he didn't play ball of any sort, or for that matter have ANY fun whatsoever. He was a serious sort of guy.

My Grandfather (Dad's side) was a fireman on the Wabash railroad and worked on the WPA. He didn't smoke at all, but did eat pretty well and drank occasionally. He died at 89, but was in the nursing home for 6 years after a stroke (that he drove home from). He was a more fun type, but spent a lot of time hunting. He watched baseball, but I never heard him mention playing. He died from Prostate cancer.

Later

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Town team" sports were huge around here up until the fifties -- every factory and mill in every town sponsored baseball or basketball teams, or both, and they were very big deals. My grandfather played semipro "town team" basketball thruout the twenties, with games all over the state. For games within five or six miles of the team's home base it was expected the players would run to the hall where the game was to be played, play a full game, and then run back home -- with the games usually played in mid-winter. This was after a full day's work in a factory, on the docks, or on a farm. And there were only seven men on the team, with five regulars and two substitutes, so they didn't get a lot of time to rest on the bench.

They weren't very big, and the photos we have show that most of them weren't all that muscular -- "wiry" was the term used by the papers -- but they had constitutions of cast iron. My grandfather lived to be 75, and it took twenty years for the emphysema to kill him. If he hadn't smoked all his life, he'd probably be alive and well today at 108.

 

[Big Bertie]

Here in the UK the introduction of conscription (c. 1938) revealed an alarmingly high proportion of young men to be in very poor physical shape. George Orwell has written about the wretched conditions endured by the working classes in the 1930s - high unemployment, chronically bad housing conditions, very poor diet, shocking dentistry, bad health etc. Military recruitment at earlier points in the 20th century had revealed much the same. Obesity was not much of an issue. There was some interest in organised 'keep fit' routines, for both men and women in the 1930s, together with an outdoor movement, but not widespread.

 

[green papaya]

I never liked high endurance excercise like running 26 mile marathons or triathalons, etc

people these days over do it and I think it actually shortens your life span, your wearing your body out, I heard the human heart only lasts a certain number of heartbeats until it stops, all that extra running wears out your body, joints, heart, etc

I noticed most people that live a long life were never atheletes, just regular people that have a healthy diet and didnt over work themselves

I believe exercise doesnt need to be strenuous like your training for boot camp or Mui Thai fighting to be in good shape, just staying active like walking, climbing stairs, gardening is sufficient

and eating right , no smoking, a good nights sleep, no heavy drinking

 

[LizzieMaine]

Probably the most muscular baseball player of the Era -- Jimmie Foxx, a Hall of Fame first baseman for the Athletics and Red Sox, and one of the most powerful hitters of his generation.

Known around the American League as "The Beast" for his physique -- and especially for the size of his arms, which by the standards of his time were huge -- Foxx never set foot in a gym in his life. His entire off-season training regimen consisted of picking up and throwing bales of hay on his parents' farm.

 

[The Wolf]

I wonder what Alan Ladd's and Douglas Fairbanks, sr's workouts were?

Sincerely,
The Wolf

 

[Stanley Doble]

As others have pointed out, in the Golden Era most people got more exercise at work, walking to and from work, playing etc. Children spent a lot more time playing outdoors in good weather. You did not get a lot of pop and junk food. There was a lot less obesity and most people were in decent shape.

Amateur athletics were popular with younger people. Everyone knew that smoking and drinking were bad for you, and to avoid sweets and starches if you wanted to lose weight.

By the time you were 40 the sports and athletics were behind you except for a few rich old men who played golf, and a few eccentrics called "health nuts" who obsessed about diet, fitness, fresh air, and similar topics.

There were vegetarians, health farms, and spas of various kinds. Books and magazines for the health and fitness conscious. But fitness clubs of the modern type were unknown. There were gyms for professional athletes like prize fighters but that was about it.

Most of the things we associate with health and fitness are as old as the hills but they were never mainstream until fairly recently.


Huey Lewis and The News sang about it in the 80s. It's Hip to be square.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LB5YkmjalDg

Today you have some who are very careful to maintain their weight and fitness and many who are overweight or obese, you did not have that contrast in the old days. I don't know if the average was higher or lower (I would guess higher) but you saw fewer at the extreme ends of the scale.

For a 1934 Hollywood view of this question watch Search for Beauty starring Buster Crabbe and Ida Lupino

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVQ284nsUv0

 

[Burton]

I agree with other posters that in the past people in general lived a much more active existance and thus the need for exercise was less. Today so many people are sedentary and in addition some of our food choices are less than desirable thus it becomes important to do something physical.

My own program has been quite extreme running approximately 2000 miles a year and doing other things to be ready for activities I like to do. I've tried to not become a slave to it and ensure I have some vices to moderate it. The OP's Jamesons, cigar and Italian sausage is right up my alley!

 

[Shangas]

Not to point fingers or raise generalisations, but in the old days, it was much more common for kids to go off exploring on their own. You have things like the Famous Five and Secret Seven, which I know are just fictional portrayals, but life was very much like that in the older days. When the world was perceived as being safer. There was no fear of kids getting a few quid from mother and father, meeting their friends in the town square, and then heading off for a week of cycling and camping and fishing and fire-making and all that good, wholesome stuff.

These days, if kids did that, they'd be roped in for being unsupervised minors and whatnot.

I remember when I was a kid, I used to go out cycling in the local park. And I used to do that regularly until about the age of 13. That was when the brakes failed on my bicycle (in the most spectacular fashion which sent me flying into a steel-bar fence). I never cycled again (although if I could get a new bike, I probably would).

These days, I don't know of many kids who still do stuff like that.