Getting Physical: The Rise of Fitness Culture in America

Book Reviews

Getting Physical: The Rise of Fitness Culture in America. Shelly McKenzie. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2013. 254 pp. $34.95 cloth.

This comprehensive approach to the history of fitness culture in the United States takes a much needed look at the history of the movement and its present day iterations. McKenzie addresses not only the change over the past century in the type of physical activity but also the changing attitude towards fitness and health in modern America.

In a time where individuals are increasingly blamed for their poor health, McKenzie gives context to the decrease in physical activity as a nation. Though many historians have attributed the phenomenon to the rise of suburban life post World War II, very few have examined the effect of suburbanization on bodies - particularly around physical fitness. While it is clear that modern conveniences decreased physical activity, what McKenzie illuminates is a shift in perception about physical activity. It moves from the realm of being part of who we are as humans to being a completely separate activity that people began to engage in. While subtle, it may be the key to figuring out how Americans adopted such a sedentary lifestyle despite the increased emphasis on physical activity.

As an historian, McKenzie uses primary sources to gather evidence about the increase in American's preoccupation with fitness culture over the past century. Her analysis of celebrity fitness instructors is worth reading just for its picture into American culture during that time. In addition, she documents trends within the fitness industry, whether the emphasis on weight reduction which began in the 1950s or the growth of health clubs in the 1980s. A chapter on running and jogging chronicles both the rise of the movement and the rise of anti-running sentiment in the United States.

Throughout, McKenzie provides examples of government and private sector campaigns with specific messages about health. Often, this documentation serves as a barometer for the most popular ideas of that time. For example, in the 1960s, physicians discouraged exercise for women wanting to lose weight, focusing instead on dieting and reducing caloric intake. By the 1980s, however, fitness was considered essential to weight maintenance. The drastic changes throughout the decades, particularly the attitudes of the medical community towards fitness demonstrate that it was not necessarily a given that fitness would catch on.

Though not the emphasis, the book does cover the consumer culture aspect of fitness. The book mainly sheds light on the complex business of gyms and fitness centers along with celebrity fitness programs and leaves the door open for a more thorough examination of how fitness is marketed and sold and continues to shape and be shaped by consumer culture. The conclusion leaves us with some troubling thoughts about how separating fitness from our daily routines may have actually decreased the amount of physical activity Americans engage in and certainly the pleasure of physical activity. Moreover, it often excludes the working class, both for concerns of time and money.

This book is a much-needed look at the rise of a phenomenon that seems so integral to American culture but that is, at times, easy to overlook. Overall, it is a great addition to the literature on fitness culture and should be read by those who are interested in public health or consumer culture.

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By D. M. Greenwell, Drexel University

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The Author explains the changes of fitness culture in America from the 1950s through the 1980s, but fits well for today’s generation as well. A review from the journal of American History stated “Early twenty-first century conceptions of physical fitness are often assumed to be scientific truths . . . Shelly McKenzie's Getting Physical reveals that these truths have a specific cultural history encompassing a range of understandings and experiences of the fit body from the 1950s to the present.” (Journal of American History). Also stated in the journal of American culture “McKenzie highlights two important moments in fitness and exercise, governmental support for children's fitness and the rise of jogging culture.” (Journal of American Culture). Fitness is key in living a healthy life seeing how it has evolved over the years is very interesting. This books is very well researched. The author describes the history of the culture of fitness in the United States since the 1950s with great detail. She is very objective and comprehensive in her approach, giving a detailed analysis surrounding jogging, health clubs, exercise TV/videos and the like.

Reference
Greenwell, D. M. (2014). Getting Physical: The Rise of Fitness Culture in America. Journal Of Popular Culture, 47(4), 913-914. doi:10.1111/jpcu.12173