The Origin of Fitness Gym In 19th Century

Cabinet Magazine posted a great feature on the secret history of Cybex-like exercise
machines. Apparently, the first "gym" filled with mechanical fitness contraptions was
built by Swedish physician Gustav Zander in the late 19th century.
Zander's mechanical horse was an early version of the Stairmaster, a contraption for
cardiovascular fitness designed to imitate a "natural" activity. His stomach-punching
apparatus evokes contemporary "ab-crunching" machines. What makes Zander so
important, for anyone trying to trace the Cybex family tree, is what happened when
his machines, created in a European cultural context, immigrated to the US in the early
twentieth century. They are prototypes of the workout equipment now ubiquitous in
American life.