The Ancient Egyptians, Chinese and Indians used resistance equipment, otherwise known as heavy instruments, for physical conditioning and as instruments of warfare or self-defense. The Ancient Greeks, in particular, used the forerunners of modern weight training equipment. In some respects, weight lifting equipment has become much more sophisticated in modern times, with the advent of Nautilus equipment. But the game remains largely the same, lifting weights to build strong and powerful bodies.
First Hand-Helds
In his article "From Milo to Milo: A History of Barbells, Dumbells & Indian Clubs, Jan Todd explains that halteres exercises, utilizing hand-held weighted implements shaped a bit like dumbbells, had wide use in the 5th century B.C. in Greece.
Dumbbells
The invention of dumbbells was more evolutionary than revolutionary. In the 2nd century A.D., a Greek physician wrote about the value of exercise in a medical text that remained influential until the 19th century. Heavy metal plates, body weights known as plummets and wood with lead enclosed were forerunners of the more modern dumbbell. In Italy in the 16th century, a doctor named Merecurialis, the personal physician to Emperor Maximillian II, wrote texts that revived the training of the Ancient Greeks, including early forms of barbell training. By the 19th century, dumbbells were routinely used in group exercise classes for both men and women.
Barbells
Indian clubs, originated in India and Persia, were adopted by the British army for training purposes in the 19th century. Clubs up to 176 lbs. were swung by men such Professor Harrison, a gymnastics professor honored by Queen Victoria for his physical prowess. Indian clubs might be seen as the forerunner to barbells, which were popularized at the end of the 19th century by strongmen such as Austrian Karl Rappo, who used barbells in his stage act.
In 1902, Alan Calvert of Philadelphia founded the Milo Barbell Company. The creation of the company, says historian David Willoughby, was "the greatest single impetus ever given to weight lifting in this country." Advertisements touted the barbell as the instrument that "developed all the famous modern Samsons now exhibiting before the public."
Arthur Jones
The ancient dumbbells and the newer barbells remained the instruments of choice for strength workouts until inventor Arthur Jones, the developer of High Intensity Training, or HIT, created the Nautilus machine. It took Jones about 20 years to build a resistance machine that worked to his satisfaction, but when the initial machine, dubbed the Blue Monster, was unveiled at the Mr. America contest in 1970, it proved to be a tremendous hit.
21st Century
At time of publication the old and the new sit side-by-side in most fitness centers and gymnasiums. Dumbbells and barbells, known as free weights, are an essential tool for serious athletes. So are resistance machines such as the Nautilus, which provide total body workouts with weights. You can adjust the resistance level of a machine with the twist of a dial and perform the same exercises you can do with free weights, including squats, bench press, military press and others in a controlled and safe manner. The modern weight training machines also play a major role for people undergoing medical rehabilitation for injuries and illnesses.
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