Physical culture

Physical culture is the promotion of muscular growth, strength and health through various physical exercise regimens like resistance training, bodybuilding, sports, stretching, and posture correction techniques. Eugen Sandow, William Muldoon, Bernarr Macfadden and Edmond Desbonnet were among its earliest popularisers.

Macfadden's magazine Physical Culture, whose first issue appeared in March 1899, became the foundation of his publishing empire.

The Early History of Physical Culture in the United States
According to historian Harvey Green, the obsession with "physical culture" in the United States came about due to America's very public response to immigration and labor unrest in the late 19th century. For example, with the rise in labor disputes in the 1870s, the country turned towards training young men for the National Guard, and in response to the "inferior races" penetrating the country, many young men and women found it appropriate to improve their physicality, in order to combat the new "competition". Even those in academia, like Irving Fisher of Yale University, feared that Americans would "quietly lie down and let some other race run over us." Out of this fear stemmed many fitness programs and activities for young boys and girls, establishing the roots of an America obsessed with its "physical culture."