Theme: Aerobics plan

History

See also: Exercise § History, and Fitness culture

Archibald Hill, a British physiologist, introduced the concepts of maximal oxygen uptake and oxygen debt in 1922.^[5][6] German physician Otto Meyerhof and Hill shared the 1922 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their independent work related to muscle energy metabolism.^[7] Building on this work, scientists began measuring oxygen consumption during exercise. Notable contributions were made by Henry Taylor at the University of Minnesota, Scandinavian scientists Per-Olof Åstrand and Bengt Saltin in the 1950s and 60s, the Harvard Fatigue Laboratory, German universities, and the Copenhagen Muscle Research Centre among others.^[8][9]

After World War II, non-organized, individualistic, health-oriented physical and recreational activities, such as jogging, began to become popular.^[10] The Royal Canadian Air Force Exercise Plans, developed by Dr. Bill Orban and published in 1961, helped to launch modern fitness culture.^[11][12] There was a running boom in the 1970s, inspired by the Olympics, the New-York marathon and the advent of cushioned shoes.^[13]

Physical therapists Col. Pauline Potts and Dr. Kenneth H. Cooper, both of the United States Air Force, advocated the concept of aerobic exercise. In the 1960s, Cooper started research into preventive medicine. He conducted the first extensive research on aerobic exercise on over 5,000 U.S. Air Force personnel^[14][15] after becoming intrigued by the belief that exercise can preserve one's health. Cooper published his ideas in a 1968 book titled, "Aerobics". In 1970, he created his own institute (the Cooper Institute) for non-profit research and education devoted to preventive medicine and published a mass-market version of his book "The New Aerobics" in 1979. Cooper encouraged millions into becoming active and is now known as the "father of aerobics".^[16][17] Aerobics developed as an exercise form in the 1970s and became popular worldwide in the 1980s after the release of Jane Fonda's exercise videos in 1982.^[18][19]

Fox and Haskell formula showing the split between aerobic (light orange) and anaerobic (dark orange) exercise and heart rate