Physical culture
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2008-06-22T03:24:16Z
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:''This is about the fitness movement; for the study of the physical aspects of cultures, see [[archaeology]].''
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'''Physical culture''' is the promotion of muscular growth, strength and health through various physical exercise regimens like [[resistance training]], [[bodybuilding]], [[sport]]s, [[stretching]], and [[posture]] correction techniques. [[Eugen Sandow]], [[William Muldoon]], [[Bernarr Macfadden]] and [[Edmond Desbonnet]] were among its earliest popularisers.
Macfadden's [[magazine]] ''Physical Culture'', whose first issue appeared in March [[1899]], became the foundation{{Fact|date=January 2008}} of [[Macfadden Publications|his publishing empire]].
== The Early History of Physical Culture in the United States ==
{{POV|date=June 2008}}
According to historian Harvey Green, the obsession with "physical culture" in the United States came about due to America's very public response to immigration and labor unrest in the late 19th century. For example, with the rise in labor disputes in the 1870s, the country turned towards training young men for the National Guard, and in response to the "inferior races" penetrating the country, many young men and women found it appropriate to improve their physicality, in order to combat the new "competition". Even those in academia, like Irving Fisher of Yale University, feared that Americans would "quietly lie down and let some other race run over us."<references/> Out of this fear stemmed many fitness programs and activities for young boys and girls, establishing the roots of an America obsessed with its "physical culture."{{Fact|date=June 2008}}
[[Category:Exercise]]
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[[pl:Kultura fizyczna]]
[[ru:Физическая культура]]