Dumbbells Podcast

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  Dumbbell use in 1915

  Dumbbells were part of a physical culture routine in the Fordyce Bathhouse.

  Duration:

  1 minute, 54 seconds

 

Hello, I'm Jeff Heitzman, one of the park rangers here at Hot Springs National Park.

I'm in the beautiful gymnasium on the third floor of the Fordyce Museum. The Fordyce was an operating bathhouse from 1915 until 1962 and now has been restored as our museum here on Bathhouse Row. We're particularly proud of this beautiful gymnasium because much of the equipment in here is original as it was back in 1915 when the building opened.

I'm going to demonstrate how a patron here at the Fordyce might have used dumbbells to help them in their quest to get well. Dumbbells and Indian Clubs were very popular at that time, and there were a number of routines that folks could . . . drills they would do as they came into the gym and worked out.
Probably the most strenuous . . . .

At this time they didn't use a lot of weight like we do today. They were more concerned with just using light weight but lots of reps.

And that's how someone could have worked out with dumbbells in the Fordyce.