The world’s first gym machines designed by Dr. Gustav Zander, 1892
The use of mechanical means for the application of exercise in therapeutics was first systematized and employed in a complete way by Dr, Gustav Zander, of Stockholm, about 1857. Zander’s vision of regular exertion using machines to honor health and well-being was certainly a novel idea in an age when the rising industrialization and mechanization moved millions of people into a more sedentary life.
Zander devised nearly one hundred machines to give his exercises and manipulations, and his system of mechanotherapy did enjoy wide popularity in Europe and considerable following in North America.
Dr. Gustav Zander came up with a novel approach to physical therapy based on machines that used weights and levers to vary resistance. The lever worked as an extension of the muscle group being exercised. Sliding the weight towards the end of the lever increased resistance, thus increasing muscle workload. Moving it closer created less resistance.
This was revolutionary because it allowed each machine to be adjusted to suit each user’s strength and physical goals. For those with paralysis or extreme weakness, motorized machines kept the affected muscles from atrophying, and some of them even came with massaging rolls.
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