Getting physical : the rise of fitness culture in America

Summary: "In this first book on the modern history of exercise in America, Shelly McKenzie chronicles the governmental, scientific, commercial, and cultural forces that united--sometimes unintentionally--to make exercise an all-American habit. She tracks the development of a new industry that gentrified exercise and made the pursuit of fitness the hallmark of a middle-class lifestyle. Along the way she scrutinizes a number of widely held beliefs about Americans and their exercise routines, such as the link between diet and exercise and the importance of workplace fitness programs."--

Record details

ISBN: 9780700619061 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN: 0700619062 (cloth : alk. paper)
Physical Description: print
viii, 254 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.
Publisher: Lawrence, Kansas : University Press of Kansas, [2013]

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 231-248) and index.

Formatted Contents Note:

Introduction: Fitness in American culture -- "Fitness begins in the high chair:" exercise in the Cold War -- "Your honeymoon figure:" women's weight reduction and exercise in the 1960s -- The heart of the man in the gray flannel suit: men's exercise promotion and the cardiac crisis -- Run for you life: jogging in the 1960s and 1970s -- Temples of the body: health clubs and 1980s fitness culture -- Epilogue: The future of fitness.