Physical culture

From ArticleWorld

Physical culture promotes the well being of humans through physical exercise. Physical culture emphasizes the physical and mental well being of its participants.

Meaning

Physical culture can incorporate any combination of resistance training, bodybuilding, sports, stretching and posture correction techniques. It can include gymnastics, ballet and aerobics. It can also include martial arts and folk games from the 19th Century.

History

Eugene Sandow and Bernard McFadden were two of the earliest populizers of physical culture. Sandow is often credited with the creation of bodybuilding. In 1893 he was featured at the World Columbian Exposition in Chicago and toured the vaudeville circuit. He opened a Physical Culture Studio in England in 1899 and promoted it with a bodybuilding contest (believed to be the first one ever).

Mcfadden was a personal trainer in New York and also worked as a physical therapist and wresting instructor. In 1899, he began publishing Physical Culture, a magazine that emphasized healthy diet and general physical fitness. He is credited as being an early crusader for women’s physical fitness. His Mcfadden Institute, developed to train coaches, therapists and trainers, later came to be known as the American College of Physical Education.

Australia’s Hans Bjelke-Petersen founded the Bjelke-Petersen School of Physical Culture in 1892. Today there are more than 180 clubs through Australia.

Today, physical culture is used by a variety of schools, organizations, states and countries in reference to the promotion of physical and mental well being. Especially in the Western cultures, where physical activity often gives way to a sedentary lifestyle (particularly in children), there is an increasing push for the emphasis of a physical culture established early in life through gym classes or recess activities.