History Of Aerobics...

History of aerobics. Who invented it, and when?

Group Fitness. Increasingly, this is the term used today to describe what we all refer to as 'aerobics'.

Who invented aerobics? When?

Here's a brief history of aerobics and how step aerobics came to be one of the most popular forms of aerobics- especially for those who like to workout from home.

Dr. Kenneth H. Cooper, a physician at the San Antonio Air Force Hospital in Texas is often credited with devising a form of exercise called "Aerobics".

Indeed Ken H. Cooper, M.D. did coin the term 'aerobics', which became popularized with the release of his best-selling 1968 book bearing the same title, "Aerobics".

The sequel to his book, "The New Aerobics" was published in 1970.

The Oxford Dictionary added a definition of "aerobics" in 1986 after consulting with Dr. Cooper.

Dr. Cooper literally swayed millions of Americans to adopt exercise as a means of maintaining good health and well-being.

The system he called 'aerobics' was a series of exercises initially invented for astronauts.

His scientific programs included walking, running, cycling and swimming. His lasting legacy is that he was successful in shifting the emphasis away from disease treatment to disease prevention through the use of regular physical activity.

His ground-breaking work based on a study of 50,000 U.S. Air Force men and women spawned aerobic workout innovations such as step aerobics, water aerobics, spinning and dance aerobics combining yoga, martial arts, boxing, kick-boxing, African, Caribbean, salsa, hip hop, rock, and jazz.

History Of Aerobics - Evidence dating back to 10,000 B.C.

However, the notion of aerobic exercise, most notably defined as exercise designed to improve respiratory and circulatory function that increases oxygen consumption such as walking, running and swimming- has been around since the beginning of time.

Some historical sources like to cite evidence of aerobic forms of exercise dating as far back as 10,000 B.C. with primitive nomadic tribes involved in the hunting and gathering of food for survival.

These tribes often undertook long excursions to neighbouring tribes for dance, tribal music, cultural games and other physical forms of exercise.

History Of Aerobics - The birth of Low-Impact aerobics

Throughout the 1970s and 80s, aerobics was still in its infancy. Much of the classes offered in health clubs across the nation and in videos available for home use were high-paced, dynamic movements often referred to as high-impact aerobics.

The fitness industry as a whole began to show concern over the increase in overuse injuries due to the nature of high-impact aerobics and as the 1980s were drawing to a close, low-impact aerobics began to emerge.

Low-impact aerobics, often considered softer on the joints of the body because there is no jumping, jarring or hard landings- is defined as movements involving large muscle groups used in continuous rhythmic activity in which at least one foot remains in contact with the floor at all times.

History Of Aerobics- History of step aerobics

In 1989, Gin Miller, a competitive gymnast throughout college, suffered her own overuse injury as a result of high-impact aerobics. Her physical therapy consisted of stepping up and down on a milk crate to strengthen and rehabilitate the muscles of her knee.

Rather than a milk crate, she used her porch steps and added aerobic music to break the silence and reduce boredom.

This simple notion gave rise to the popular form of exercise we know today as step aerobics.

Here are some numbers...

The number of participants involved in aerobic exercise has grown from an estimated 6 million in 1978, to 19 million in 1982, to 22 million in 1987.

While indications are that the growth rate is subsiding, in 2006 there was an estimated 33.7 million participants engaged in aerobics.

Step aerobics is said to be offered in over 90% of health clubs across the nation.

Step aerobics also serves as an excellent form of aerobic exercise particularly for those who like to train from home because you don't need the space to travel across the room, as is often required with other forms of dance aerobics.

Indeed, step aerobics has several advantages especially for those of you who workout from home. Find out more by exploring our next topic...

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