KIN 100 - Lecture 3: Historical Origins of Kinesiology (Unit 1)

Human Movement Studies

First coined by a British Physical Education and Psychologist

Human Movement Science

Alternative name started in Europe

Kinesiology

• North American

• “Study of Human Movement”

Primitive Hunter-Gatherer (Pre - 10,000 BC)

• Nomadic: continuous hunting and gathering

• Feasting and fasting cycles

• Dancing and cultural games

Neolithic Agricultural Revolution (<10,000 BC)

• Farming communities and domestication

• Invention of the plow

• Shift towards sedentary?

China and Egypt (1000 BC)

Wrestling, Tumbling, Swimming, Yoga

Ancient Greek Civilization (2500 to 200 BC)

• Development of Physical Education (PE)

• MVPA

• Palaestras & Gymnasiums

• Training for war and civic duties (Paidotribe)

Hippocrates

• Modern Medicine

• Formalized the study of the human body

• Connection between diet, exercise, fatigue/poor health.

Roman Empire

• Military Training – running, marching, jumping,

discus, and javelin throwing

• Decline in Physical Activity

• Entertainment and spectating over

participation

The Dark & Middle Ages (350 – 1350 AD)

• Very little investigation in the field

• Limited formal exercise, except military training

• Some civilizations prioritized physical activity

The Renaissance (1350 – 1650 AD)

• Functional anatomy

• Physics

The National Period (1800s - 1929)

The start of a divide between the discipline and profession

Free play and cognitive function

“mens sana in corpore sano” (a sound mind in a sound body)

In what ways did physical education took shape in Western Europe?

• Formalized school-based programs took shape in Germany, Sweden, Denmark, & Great Britain

• First professional organization – AAPE, 1885

YMCA/YWCA

• Founded in London in 1844 and formed in Boston, 1851.

• World War I, 1/3 were physically unfit for duty & more were found physically inept.

When did Exercise Science become a discipline?

1930-Present

Josephine Rathbone, Ph.D. & Edward Hitchcock, MD

Faculty members at Wellesley College & Amherst College

Barbara Drinkwater, Ph.D. & Dudley Sargent, MD

• University of California, Santa Barbara

• Director of the Hemenway Gymnasium.

• Founded the Sanatory Gymnasium (Sargent College, BU) – Formal PE Education.

Harvard Fatigue Lab (1920 – 1927)

• Morgan Hall Exercise performance

WWII

• Unfit for Service

• Development of physical training program in the armed

forces.

Formalized profession of Physical Education

• Shift to education, teaching and coaching

Kraus-Weber Study (1953)

• 60% of children failed at least 1 test

• Only 9% of European failed

• Cold War Influence

Formal university training began

Teacher Shortage

Jogging and Running Boom

• Arthur Lydiard 1960s (Auckland Jogging Club)

• Bill Bowerman 1970s (Jogging for health)

• Olympic Influence

• 25 Million people took up running between 1970 & 1980

President’s Council on Youth Fitness (1956)

organization established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to address concerns about the physical fitness of American youth compared to their European counterparts.

The Rise of Resistance Training & HIIT

• ACSM’s Guidelines

• Nautilus HIIT

•  Growth of commercial health clubs