At the very beginning of the 20th c

At the very beginning of the 20th century, at the same time Georges Hebert developed and promoted his “Natural Method,” another Frenchman, Professor Edmond Desbonnet, managed to make physical exercise and strength training fashionable through the publication of fitness journals (he used photography to capture male and female athletes) and by opening a chain of exercise clubs. This laid a strong foundation for physical culture in Europe, but also for “fitness” as an industry.

Desbonnet’s system was a reaction against the decadence of the Belle Epoque, during which people lived without thinking on their physical condition and health. At the height of his popularity, he had more than 200 fitness centers, and several of the famous early strongmen and bodybuilders were proponents of the Desbonnet method.

Being rather expensive, his fitness centers were frequented by the high class of French and European society before World War I. After the war, the working class also started to gain access to the physical culture movement.

During the same period in the USA, Bernarr Macfadden came to prominence as an American physical culture guru and healthy living advocate. He recommended a minimalist lifestyle based on time spent in nature, daily vigorous physical exercise, and the elimination of alcohol, tea, coffee, and white bread from one’s diet.