Welcome back to the Daily Dumbbell, the newsletter that's got your back more than any gym buddy ever could! We won't get distracted by a gym hottie and leave you hanging with a heavy bar or try to convince you to get on this sick (wildly overpriced) stack from GNC with us.

No, we're here to keep it real.

Today we’re going to step into our time traveling phone booth and take a truly excellent adventure back through the decades of fitness fads. So strap on those safety goggle and keep your hands and feet inside the… booth at all times.

Let’s dive in!

Back to the Fitness:
Workout Trends Through the Decades

Fitness fads. We love them, we hate them. They come and go like the latest fashion trends, making bold promises and sweeping gym-goers off their feet. Unfortunately, these promises, like the results, tend to be rather empty.

Today we’ll be exploring some of the most memorable, bizarre, and downright entertaining fitness crazes that have left their mark on history.

1950s: Jack LaLanne’s Fitness Show

Arnold & Richard Simmons became household names, Jack LaLanne was a pioneer in the fitness industry with his televised workout program. Known as the "Godfather of Fitness," LaLanne encouraged Americans to prioritize their health through exercise and proper nutrition.

His show, which began airing in the 1950s, featured calisthenics, weightlifting, and motivational talks, inspiring a new generation to embrace a healthier lifestyle.

In a time when most of his contemporaries were doling out cancel worthy advice, Jack’s fitness advice has stood the test of time.

This is also where the term “jacked” comes from! We don’t know if that’s true, but it seems like it should be.

Honorable Mention: The Hula Hoop Craze (Because come on)

1960s: The Vibrating Belt Machine

Long before shake weights burst onto the scene, there was a much more expensive, yet just as useless machine stealing hearts and minds. The vibrating belt machine was all the rage. Strap on this miracle device, turn it on, and watch the pounds melt away as it jiggled and shook your body! Or so they claimed.

While this contraption turned out to be a bust, it didn’t stop other entrepreneurs from creating similar nonsense throughout the ages that also didn’t work.

$139 is about $1,600 in today’s prices btw. Yeesh.

Honorable Mention: The jogging boom & The Universal Gym Machine

1970s: Jazzercise

In the 1970s, fitness (along with everything else) took a groovy turn with the birth of Jazzercise. A blend of dance, strength training, and jazz music, this high-energy workout had people shimmying and shaking to the beat.

The craze spread like wildfire, and Jazzercise classes popped up across the country, with leg warmers and leotards as the dress code.

Honorable Mention: Nautilus Machines

Dishonorable Mention: Bikram Yoga

• For incredibly obvious reasons. (He was a sex pest.)

1980s: Aerobics

The 80s brought us big hair, bright colors, and aerobics. High-energy workouts filled with kicks, jumps, and lunges were accompanied by upbeat music and enthusiastic instructors in spandex. Jane Fonda and Richard Simmons became household names as they led the aerobic charge, inspiring millions to get moving and embrace the burn.

Honorable Mention: Arnold & The Rise of Bodybuilding

• Arnold may have the longer lasting impact in the space, but Richard Simmons and Jane Fonda deserve their shine.

1990s: Tae Bo

As the 90s rolled around, fitness enthusiasts were looking for something new and exciting to sink their teeth into. Or something that actually worked. We’ll give you one guess which they got…

Enter Tae Bo - a high-intensity mix of martial arts and aerobics that promised to sculpt muscles and blast fat. We think the pitch went something like this:

“Picture aerobics in your living room with Richard Simmons but…straight.”

Well that incredibly out-of-the-box thinking apparently did the trick and Billy Blanks became a fitness icon as his workout videos took the world by storm. At least until everyone realized these workouts didn’t actually do anything.

Honorable Mention: Spin classes!

Honorable Mention: Suzanne Sommers and the Thigh Master

2000s: Yoga

Speaking of creative marketing departments, Yoga, originally a practice with roots in ancient India, became the go to exercise for white women everywhere. No easy feat.

The flexibility and strength resonated with people searching for balance and wellness in their busy lives. It also resonated with astrology enthusiasts everywhere, introducing chakras into the lexicon of Scorpios everywhere.

The 2000s even saw an answer to the question: What if wearing spandex without the leotard on top was a $50B industry?

Honorable Mention: Zumba

Jazzercise but with J-Lo vibes? Those creative ad execs had another hit on their hands.

Dishonorable Mention: P90X

We’re very hopeful this marked the end of at home ‘living room workouts that don’t do anything’ fad.

2010s: CrossFit

The 2010s saw CrossFit bulldoze its way into the fitness scene. This high-intensity workout mashup of weightlifting, gymnastics, and functional movements captured the hearts (and sweat) of many.

Answering the age old question, what if you could have church…but everyone is low carb and on HGH? It didn't come without its fair share of controversy and debates about safety and efficacy though.

At the end of the day, we've got to hand it to CrossFit for one major accomplishment: they made lifting heavy weights cool for everyone. They transformed weightlifting from a muscle-bound bro-zone into an appealing activity for both men and women. For that, CrossFit, we salute you!

Honorable Mention: HIIT Training & Boutique Fitness

The vote was split as to which mention this would get. But as much as we dislike Orange Theory, F45, etc. This era also ushered in endless choice for fitness classes. More options is always good, even if sauna yoga might be one of them. Sigh.

The 2020s: ???

We’re about 33% of the way through this decade. What do you think will define the fitness craze of this decade when it’s all said and done?

It seems like nutrition turning into dogmatic ideology might be the lasting trend, but we’re hoping that’s not the case.

Let us know your prediction and we’ll publish the best guesses in a future edition!

Quick Hits: Wednesday Follow Up

About 20 minutes after we hit publish on yesterday’s newsletter Dr Paddy gave us this gem we definitely could have used.

Along with another tweet about hazard ratios

Explain it Like I’m 5:

The average life expectancy in the US today is 77, and your habits around health will either boost that number or knock it down. It's mostly in your hands.

Exercise, eat well, and don't smoke, and you could cruise well into your 80s.

On the flip side, if you embrace a sedentary lifestyle, drink heavily, and puff on cigarettes, you might be fortunate to hit 65. And we haven't even touched on diabetes.

We know these facts, but seeing the cold, hard numbers really brings it home, doesn't it?

On a Lighter Note

While we've poked fun at those quirky ad execs and their bizarre ideas, let's not forget they used to indulge in 3 martini lunches and chain-smoke like there was no tomorrow. Is it any wonder so many suffered heart attacks in their 50s? Yikes.

Hold on, wasn’t that supposed to be lighter? Our apologies to Don Draper for the drive-by.

Make sure to come back tomorrow for our very own Blueprint for living a healthy lifestyle! We promise it won’t include eating 70lbs of veggie mash each month.