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Anonymous
Who invented push-ups? My research bore fruit 2017-07-11 12:09:48 Post No. 42102327
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Who invented push-ups? My research bore fruit 2017-07-11 12:09:48 Post No. 42102327
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Who invented push-ups? My research bore fruit
Anonymous
2017-07-11 12:09:48
Post No. 42102327
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The earliest source I found is the "Volksturnbuch" (The People's Gymnastics book) by August Ravenstein, from 1861. Push ups are described on page 346, on a bar apparatus, as an exercise for people who are too weak to do bar dips, or, as he puts it "for very weak persons". Doing them on the ground was described as "uncomfortable", hence the apparatus was used.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_August_Ravenstein
This seems to be the guy.
So, anyway.
Theory 1: Turnvater Jahn (the guy who invented gymnastics and calisthenics as we know them today) originially invented the exercise of "push-ups", about 50 years before it was used in the US (earliest mention: 1905) and almost a hundred years before it was used in the UK (earliest mention: 1940s to 1950s according to an etymological lexicon). That was somewhere in the 1840s to 1850s. Ravenstein took it from him. This seems plausible as Jahn invented a lot of exercises we know today, however, I cannot find push ups in Jahn's books - he mainly uses the bar dip instead.
Theory 2: Ravenstein is actually the sole inventor of the exercise. Which would be kinda cool. Nobody knows the guy (he was a cartographer and did gymnastics as a hobby) but everyone uses his exercise.
Be it as it may, push ups as an exercise are a lot younger than you probably think. We're talking 120-150 years here at most.
Additional information: I have never been able to get a source on the urban legend that the Roman emperor Constantine invented the exercise. It seems to be the usual case of "American education".
Just FYI.
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i can dip +30kg for reps but can't do more than 15 pushups without getting sore/tired
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Pushups is such an obvious exercise that I think it was "invented" before writing
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>>42102341
There isn't a single source on that, though. Nobody, through thousands of years, every described such an exercise, even if they described other exercises.
In fact, what we recognize as exercise would look like bullshit to most people before the 1800s. The only exercises similar to what we understand as exercise were recommended for monks who didn't leave their room and wanted to keep fit. Push ups weren't among them, though.
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>>42102360
>no source on something before writing was invented
But honestly, exercise as a thing was not something that people were doing before the modern era. Haven't looked much into this or even cared about the history of exercise, but pushups seems like would come naturally to humans. I can't imagine anyone would go through life without doing a single pushup, even accidentally
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>>42102406
>But honestly, exercise as a thing was not something that people were doing before the modern era.
American education?
>Haven't looked much into this or even cared about the history of exercise, but pushups seems like would come naturally to humans.
How can you admit to being completely ignorant on a subject, yet still hell-bent on arguing your point?
>I can't imagine anyone would go through life without doing a single pushup, even accidentally
>On 4chan
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>>42102327
I don't care about your gay ass research OP, you'll never convince me that the ancient Greeks, Romans, Chinese or some other group of people didn't do pushups
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>>42102418
>american education
I'm not american
also I mentioned that I haven't even looked into a subject only to let you know you should consider what I say important on the subject. I'm not trying to argue any point, just saying that pushups seem like an obvious movement considering the human body
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>>42102496
Typo, I meant you should NOT consider that important
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