0:00:03 > 0:00:05OK, are you ready?
0:00:05 > 0:00:07Here we go!
0:00:07 > 0:00:09Lift, two, three, four.
0:00:09 > 0:00:12And stretch, two, three, four.
0:00:12 > 0:00:13Hold...
0:00:13 > 0:00:15That's good, keep it there.
0:00:18 > 0:00:22And lift, and one, two, three, four.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25And lift, and relax.
0:00:27 > 0:00:31Look at you, eh? You're out of breath opening the biscuits.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34The last time your knees were higher than your waist
0:00:34 > 0:00:37was when you fell over coming home from the pub.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40Come on, Britain. Get off the sofa.
0:00:40 > 0:00:42Put some shorts on!
0:00:42 > 0:00:45Go outside and run around a bit.
0:00:46 > 0:00:49You know what you need? You need the Great British Workout.
0:01:17 > 0:01:21When was the last time you chased after your lunch?
0:01:21 > 0:01:24You know, brought down a mammoth with a handful of kindling
0:01:24 > 0:01:26the way our ancestors did it?
0:01:29 > 0:01:32The way Gordon Ramsay still does it.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38I'm guessing it's been about, what, 10,000 years?
0:01:39 > 0:01:42Oh, you've filled out a bit since then, haven't you.
0:01:42 > 0:01:44Put on a few pounds.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48You're not the lithe, sinewy, hunter-gatherer you used to be.
0:01:48 > 0:01:51You're all right with the gathering part.
0:01:51 > 0:01:55That's just pushing a trolley around a supermarket. Tipping stuff in.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59And even that's classified as extreme gathering these days
0:01:59 > 0:02:01by those who do their gathering online.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06So, to recap, where you once wrestled a mammoth,
0:02:06 > 0:02:11you now click on a tiny mouse. And it's not even a real mouse.
0:02:11 > 0:02:15But surely we haven't lost that primal urge to keep fit?
0:02:15 > 0:02:19What do you think of good, healthy exercise?
0:02:19 > 0:02:20Terrible.
0:02:20 > 0:02:21Why?
0:02:21 > 0:02:23Well, I never do any, if I can avoid it.
0:02:23 > 0:02:25And you, do you take any exercise?
0:02:25 > 0:02:26- Not at all.- Why not?
0:02:26 > 0:02:28Too idle.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32The government had been worried about us for years.
0:02:32 > 0:02:38In the 1920s, Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald took on the role of Mr Motivator.
0:02:38 > 0:02:44The physical fitness of its people is essential to the life of the nation.
0:02:44 > 0:02:49A nation of weaklings and slackers
0:02:49 > 0:02:54can never maintain democratic institutions,
0:02:54 > 0:02:58or uphold personal liberty.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02Blimey, that's him trying to gee you up (!)
0:03:02 > 0:03:04What is it with these Ramsays?
0:03:04 > 0:03:07OK, sit up straight. Pay attention.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10This is what the World Health Organisation recommends...
0:03:12 > 0:03:16At least two and a half hours each week of moderate intensity aerobic activity,
0:03:16 > 0:03:21such as cycling, vigorous walking and strengthening exercises
0:03:21 > 0:03:26that work all the major muscle groups on two or more days in that same week.
0:03:26 > 0:03:28Ooh, I'm out of breath just saying it.
0:03:29 > 0:03:32In fairness, they did try and tell us about this
0:03:32 > 0:03:36back when we were still able to do something about it - in school.
0:03:41 > 0:03:44I've never heard of anybody who concentrated on physical fitness
0:03:44 > 0:03:46achieving anything whatever in the world.
0:03:46 > 0:03:47Most of them end up as PT instructors,
0:03:47 > 0:03:49and you know what terrible company they are.
0:03:49 > 0:03:53Oh! Did they flick towels at you in the showers, Robert?
0:03:55 > 0:03:58Unless your parents were naturists, Nazis or fitness instructors,
0:03:58 > 0:03:59or all three,
0:03:59 > 0:04:03school was where you got your first taste of PE,
0:04:03 > 0:04:05or Proper Exercise.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12Up until the 1930s, school PE basically gave you
0:04:12 > 0:04:16the option of flogging, being flogged or vaulting over a horse.
0:04:18 > 0:04:23For some reason, vaulting over horses became extremely popular.
0:04:29 > 0:04:34But in the 1940s, all the wooden horses were sent away to join the war effort.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38Tragically, almost none of them made it back.
0:04:39 > 0:04:43Schools tried to make children vault over real horses,
0:04:43 > 0:04:46but after a series of horrible accidents,
0:04:46 > 0:04:49they settled on vaulting over other children.
0:04:56 > 0:05:00As this footage shows, they weren't very good at it.
0:05:16 > 0:05:17Thank you.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21Eventually, the whole idea of vaulting was abandoned.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30After World War II, Britain needed to get back on its feet.
0:05:30 > 0:05:35In order to do that, it had to learn how to stand up,
0:05:35 > 0:05:38wriggle its toes and hop.
0:05:38 > 0:05:43'A wide variety of foot exercises is being practised here,
0:05:43 > 0:05:44'including nibbling the braid,
0:05:44 > 0:05:47'excellent for general mobility of the foot
0:05:47 > 0:05:50'and as a remedial exercise in flat feet.'
0:05:56 > 0:06:00We quite literally needed to learn to walk before we could run.
0:06:00 > 0:06:01Or jump.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07Then came the '60s, and everything went mad.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11It turned out that giving psychedelic drugs to children wasn't just illegal,
0:06:11 > 0:06:15it also made PE lessons a hopeless mess.
0:06:36 > 0:06:40And by the '70s, the kids acted like they didn't need no physical education.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43MUSIC: "Another Brick In The Wall" by Pink Floyd
0:06:43 > 0:06:47The teachers, they just left those kids alone.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54But why do we need to be taught this stuff anyway?
0:06:54 > 0:06:57It used to be hardwired into us.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00What happened to chasing mammoths?
0:07:04 > 0:07:07All the problems started with this -
0:07:09 > 0:07:10Civilisation.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15Bloody civilisation, with its agriculture, its art,
0:07:15 > 0:07:18its great advances in medicine and science,
0:07:18 > 0:07:22and its cakes. Its lovely, lovely cakes.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25Ruining everything and making us fat.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28And civilisation requires a lot of maintenance,
0:07:28 > 0:07:30and maintenance takes time.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33When everyone is building cathedrals, growing crops
0:07:33 > 0:07:36and baking lovely cakes,
0:07:36 > 0:07:39no-one's running around chasing mammoths any more.
0:07:41 > 0:07:43With no-one to chase them,
0:07:43 > 0:07:46they grew lazy and stuffed themselves with moss and doughnuts
0:07:46 > 0:07:49until their mammoth hearts gave out and they became extinct.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53Early civilisations heeded this woolly warning.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59The Chinese were first.
0:07:59 > 0:08:03Shortly after the discovery of sweet and sour pork around 500 BC,
0:08:03 > 0:08:06Confucius encouraged regular physical activity.
0:08:12 > 0:08:16In ancient India, soon after the birth of the chicken korma,
0:08:16 > 0:08:19the Hindus threw themselves into yoga sessions to work it off.
0:08:34 > 0:08:38In classical Greece, the invention of taramasalata
0:08:38 > 0:08:41was rapidly followed by the invention of the gymnasium.
0:08:45 > 0:08:46And in Britain,
0:08:46 > 0:08:50civilisation reached its pinnacle with the creation of this...
0:08:52 > 0:08:55..Fish and chips. It was all downhill from there.
0:08:59 > 0:09:03Even major building projects were put on hold.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05Does it need a roof?
0:09:05 > 0:09:07- WEST COUNTRY ACCENT:- Oh! I like it open-air.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10Pass the sauce.
0:09:12 > 0:09:14Then, along came the Romans.
0:09:20 > 0:09:21Just got worse.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24It was all wine, orgies and lounging around.
0:09:24 > 0:09:26We never stood a chance.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36But all things must pass.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39The Romans left, and all the henges fell into ruin,
0:09:39 > 0:09:41but one thing has stood the test of time.
0:09:41 > 0:09:43The gymnasium.
0:09:45 > 0:09:48And if you want to get back to your slim, trim,
0:09:48 > 0:09:52hunter-gatherer figure, you'd better bloody well join one.
0:09:52 > 0:09:57Woah! Stop! You can't just walk in there without any stuff! No, no, no.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59You've got to have the proper kit first.
0:09:59 > 0:10:05Fitness costs and this, my friend, is where you start paying.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20As soon as someone came up with the idea of the work out,
0:10:20 > 0:10:24someone else came up with the idea of flogging us stuff to wear while we were doing it.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28100 years ago, you didn't have to take anything off at all.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31In fact, the more you were wearing, the better.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40These days, you have to have the kit.
0:10:40 > 0:10:44I always wear a knotted handkerchief on my head.
0:10:44 > 0:10:46Stops the sweat getting in your eyes.
0:10:46 > 0:10:51Always useful - sweatband. Again, a lot of sweat in this sport.
0:10:51 > 0:10:55On my feet, a rather expensive pair of running shoes,
0:10:55 > 0:10:57£12 worth, but well worth it.
0:10:57 > 0:11:02Good pair of warm socks and a lightweight pair of pants.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06You could just bung on an old pair of shorts of course,
0:11:06 > 0:11:09but you wouldn't want to look silly, would you. Course not!
0:11:09 > 0:11:12And there's nothing silly about Lycra.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15Lycra is nature's way of telling you you're not fluorescent enough.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20Actually, it's not nature's way of doing anything.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23It's a polyurethane, polyuria copolymer
0:11:23 > 0:11:26that was created in a lab in 1959 by chemists.
0:11:29 > 0:11:33Clothes made by chemists? That already sounds wrong.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36It doesn't only stretch, but it recovers,
0:11:36 > 0:11:39that is, it always goes back to its initial shape.
0:11:40 > 0:11:44Then in 1978, Kate Bush became Queen.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47On the day of her coronation, thousands lined the streets
0:11:47 > 0:11:49in leotards and leg-warmers,
0:11:49 > 0:11:52and a new national costume was born.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58And things get even more complicated when you reach your feet.
0:12:02 > 0:12:06When some killjoy figured out that six-inch heels weren't great for exercise,
0:12:06 > 0:12:10in came the boring plimsoll.
0:12:10 > 0:12:15There are now over 450,000 different types of training shoes available
0:12:15 > 0:12:18at any one time. Probably.
0:12:18 > 0:12:22There are walking shoes, running shoes, sprinting shoes,
0:12:22 > 0:12:26jogging shoes, cross-country running shoes, cross-training shoes,
0:12:26 > 0:12:31cycling shoes, climbing shoes - I'm still on C!
0:12:31 > 0:12:33Somebody make it stop!
0:12:34 > 0:12:36Have you got a bag to put everything in?
0:12:36 > 0:12:39Oh no, not that one. You need a proper sports bag,
0:12:39 > 0:12:44because it's sports. So it's got to say "sports" on it.
0:12:44 > 0:12:45Oh, 80 quid, please.
0:12:47 > 0:12:52If only you'd listened to 19th century poet and philosopher, Henry David Thoreau.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02Unfortunately, you didn't listen,
0:13:02 > 0:13:05and you've spent £500, and you look ridiculous.
0:13:05 > 0:13:09You're ready to get down to that gym.
0:13:09 > 0:13:13Wrong! You can't go to the gym - you're not fit enough.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16Aw, you don't understand how this works at all, do you?
0:13:16 > 0:13:21You can't go to the gym to get fit till you've got fit enough to go to the gym, to get fit.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27You, my friend, need to start eating properly.
0:13:33 > 0:13:37The great British diet is the natural enemy of the great British work out.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40Bacon, eggs, sausage,
0:13:40 > 0:13:44fried bread, black pudding. The works, you know.
0:13:46 > 0:13:47Look at those Greeks.
0:13:47 > 0:13:49It's all grilled fish and olive oil
0:13:49 > 0:13:52and the herding of sheep until you're 112.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55And the Italians -
0:13:55 > 0:13:59tomatoes and beans, and really fruity fruit.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01And more olive oil.
0:14:01 > 0:14:04And the Spanish -
0:14:04 > 0:14:07octopus and squid and bloody hell, more olive oil.
0:14:08 > 0:14:10And the British?
0:14:12 > 0:14:15Good 'eavens. It's oil but it's not from an olive.
0:14:15 > 0:14:17I love chips!
0:14:17 > 0:14:21Ah, but come on! It looks great, doesn't it!
0:14:21 > 0:14:23Well, sorry.
0:14:23 > 0:14:24You can't have any of it.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27There you go. Have that instead.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30A lovely British salad.
0:14:30 > 0:14:32What's that?
0:14:32 > 0:14:35Salad cream with it? Not a chance!
0:14:35 > 0:14:37I know this is going to come as a shock, love,
0:14:37 > 0:14:40but you're going to have to stub that out.
0:14:42 > 0:14:44And none of that either.
0:14:45 > 0:14:49A slice of lemon with your water? Go on, it's the weekend.
0:14:53 > 0:14:55How about a lovely glass of British rhubarb juice,
0:14:55 > 0:14:58full of rhubarby goodness.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01British rhubarby goodness.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06But I must be saving money, right?
0:15:06 > 0:15:08Not likely!
0:15:08 > 0:15:10You haven't had your vitamins yet.
0:15:15 > 0:15:17What was it that Socrates said again?
0:15:21 > 0:15:24There speaks a man who's never had fish and chips.
0:15:25 > 0:15:29Come on, let's see what you got at the supermarket.
0:15:29 > 0:15:32Woah! You can't eat that stuff!
0:15:32 > 0:15:35It's all processed and unnatural
0:15:35 > 0:15:37and full of chemicals that are made in the lab by scientists.
0:15:37 > 0:15:41No, you need some fitness foods.
0:15:41 > 0:15:46Foods that were made in proper laboratories by proper scientists.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49You need stuff that comes in buckets and jars and bottles,
0:15:49 > 0:15:51with big sporty italic writing on,
0:15:51 > 0:15:55saying things like "energy", "nutrition" and "mega" on them.
0:15:57 > 0:15:58OK?
0:15:58 > 0:16:04Your body is now 90% polyunsaturated iodised isoflavone.
0:16:04 > 0:16:08Are you bankrupt yet? No? Good.
0:16:08 > 0:16:11Get your card out, we're going down the gym.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16And this time, we're going in.
0:16:26 > 0:16:30Right, one adult please. No?
0:16:30 > 0:16:33Monthly membership then?
0:16:33 > 0:16:35Oh. Six-monthly membership? No?
0:16:35 > 0:16:38Annual? Ah, off-peak? No?
0:16:38 > 0:16:41Rolling? I mean, full-flexi? Multi-venue?
0:16:41 > 0:16:45Platinum Anytime? Weekends only?
0:16:45 > 0:16:49It's so confusing, and I haven't even got through reception yet.
0:16:50 > 0:16:54Right, I'm a few hundred quid lighter - there's no going back.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01Blimey, everyone here looks really fit.
0:17:01 > 0:17:05Don't look at them. Look at the floor. Focus.
0:17:05 > 0:17:07Oh, why am I doing this?
0:17:07 > 0:17:10'It's the keep fit craze hitting Kensington.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13'This is where you come and punish yourself for fun,
0:17:13 > 0:17:15'or rather, for your health.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21'Here you'll get rubbed down, shaken up, pummelled and pushed around
0:17:21 > 0:17:23'for a price and a purpose.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26'If you want to turn fat and flab into nice, hard muscle.
0:17:26 > 0:17:30'And there's a full-time muscle man to make you feel at home -
0:17:30 > 0:17:32'or just plain useless.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40'It's best to start this serious business of reducing
0:17:40 > 0:17:42'with nice, easy exercises,
0:17:42 > 0:17:45'although someone's always there to stretch a point.'
0:17:47 > 0:17:50Didn't Plato say something about this?
0:18:03 > 0:18:05Luckily for Plato, he was in the right place
0:18:05 > 0:18:07to sign up for gymnasia membership,
0:18:07 > 0:18:11and I bet he didn't stop going at the end of January.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15The first gymnasia were ancient Greek training facilities
0:18:15 > 0:18:18for competitors in public games.
0:18:18 > 0:18:23The name comes from the Greek term "gymnos" meaning "naked".
0:18:23 > 0:18:28Now, I speculate here but my guess is a naked Ancient Greek
0:18:28 > 0:18:31and a naked modern Brit are fairly distinct creatures.
0:18:33 > 0:18:35Ah! Now I get the Lycra thing.
0:18:35 > 0:18:39Gymnasia were also centres of learning and philosophy.
0:18:39 > 0:18:44The body and the mind being seen as equal parts of the human whole.
0:18:46 > 0:18:50Nowadays the gym has a big telly with MasterChef on it.
0:18:50 > 0:18:52It's a risky business keeping fit
0:18:52 > 0:18:55and one that paralyses in time all the other functions,
0:18:55 > 0:18:58such as the brain, the spirit, the appetite and everything else.
0:18:58 > 0:19:03Did you not get picked for the football team at school, is that it?
0:19:04 > 0:19:07Up until the 20th century, gyms were basic and rough.
0:19:07 > 0:19:11You weren't meant to be having fun, you were meant to be suffering.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14They were cold and unforgiving, full of men grunting,
0:19:14 > 0:19:16sweating and chafing.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20But these days, you can get a cappuccino.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24And they have come on in one other way.
0:19:24 > 0:19:28They've got women in them, too. Grunting, sweating and chafing.
0:19:28 > 0:19:30'Mavis, a 23-year-old clerk,
0:19:30 > 0:19:32'is one of hundreds of Health & Strength League girls
0:19:32 > 0:19:37'who get themselves and, more important, their figures in trim.
0:19:37 > 0:19:40'For a chest exercise, she has shown the correct dumbbell press.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49'Before the girls are allowed to use weights,
0:19:49 > 0:19:51'they undergo a toughening-up course.
0:19:51 > 0:19:54'This exercise is for the leg and stomach muscles.
0:19:54 > 0:19:58'Jean Elliott, a 20-year-old American housewife who came to this country two years ago,
0:19:58 > 0:20:00'is one of the keenest of the keep fit girls.
0:20:00 > 0:20:05'For the record, her vital statistics are 37, 23, 36.'
0:20:16 > 0:20:17'With proper supervision,
0:20:17 > 0:20:20'weight training is a boon to fat and thin who're otherwise fit.'
0:20:20 > 0:20:22'It might be easier to take vitamin pills,
0:20:22 > 0:20:25'but this kind of iron does control the weight.'
0:20:30 > 0:20:33The first piece of proper gym equipment
0:20:33 > 0:20:36was the Gymansticon of 1796.
0:20:36 > 0:20:40You could even use it without removing your wig!
0:20:40 > 0:20:44It was basically an exercise bike doing a wheelie in a wooden box,
0:20:44 > 0:20:47and it claimed to help conditions such as gout and palsy.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50By the time you'd worked out it didn't,
0:20:50 > 0:20:53the bloke who flogged it to you was off selling his new venture,
0:20:53 > 0:20:55the South Sea Bubble.
0:20:55 > 0:20:59But just look at what we've got now, eh?
0:20:59 > 0:21:00All this machinery.
0:21:00 > 0:21:02The benchpresses...
0:21:02 > 0:21:06The barbells, the rowing machines...
0:21:06 > 0:21:08The treadmills, the bikes...
0:21:08 > 0:21:11The shoulder presses, the leg curls...
0:21:11 > 0:21:13This...thing.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18It's like the Spanish inquisition with carpet tiles.
0:21:19 > 0:21:21In some ways,
0:21:21 > 0:21:24going to the gym is like going to the office in your pants.
0:21:24 > 0:21:25There are people you like,
0:21:25 > 0:21:27people you hate,
0:21:27 > 0:21:29people you want to avoid,
0:21:29 > 0:21:32people you want to flirt with...
0:21:36 > 0:21:38Then there are the boring ones,
0:21:38 > 0:21:39the tyrants,
0:21:39 > 0:21:42the jokers...
0:21:42 > 0:21:44and the ones who grunt all the time.
0:21:44 > 0:21:46Unh!
0:21:46 > 0:21:48Hey, we're British.
0:21:48 > 0:21:49If we really have to do this,
0:21:49 > 0:21:52can we not do it in front of strangers?
0:22:03 > 0:22:07This is more like it. No strangers around.
0:22:08 > 0:22:12Even better, you're just a few feet away from the fridge.
0:22:12 > 0:22:15All you need is a machine.
0:22:15 > 0:22:17Or two.
0:22:17 > 0:22:19Or three.
0:22:19 > 0:22:21Machines designed specifically to give you
0:22:21 > 0:22:25a body like Charles Atlas without ever really moving from the comfort
0:22:25 > 0:22:29of your fireside chair or missing a single episode of Crossroads.
0:22:29 > 0:22:33A cycle like this would probably set you back about £120.
0:22:33 > 0:22:37And a rowing machine like this would set you back about £85.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40They're ideally geared to the energetic young executive
0:22:40 > 0:22:44who wants to cycle the equivalent from London to Bournemouth
0:22:44 > 0:22:48or row the entire length of the River Severn.
0:22:48 > 0:22:51The same time it takes the missus in the kitchen to do the washing up.
0:22:51 > 0:22:55She wasn't in the kitchen with the washing up, Chris.
0:22:55 > 0:22:57She was in the bedroom with one of these.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01'If it's on the door that's all you need to start.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04'You put your little feet against the rest, take hold of the grip
0:23:04 > 0:23:09'and pull and pull and pull
0:23:09 > 0:23:14'and stretch and you
0:23:14 > 0:23:17'and how.
0:23:17 > 0:23:19'If you've missed the last rows of summer,
0:23:19 > 0:23:21'you can have them in the bathroom.'
0:23:21 > 0:23:24By the '50s, all you needed to get fit
0:23:24 > 0:23:27were a couple of sticks and some West End showgirls.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30'For those who haven't got the energy to go
0:23:30 > 0:23:32'for ten mile runs in the country to keep fit,
0:23:32 > 0:23:37'we introduce a new streamlined method of exercising that can be carried out at home.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40'Invented and demonstrated by Senor Gabriel Alcova from Spain,
0:23:40 > 0:23:44'Las Picas, as the device is called, are used all over the continent
0:23:44 > 0:23:47'in ballet schools, for remedial exercises,
0:23:47 > 0:23:50'and most important, for slimming.
0:23:50 > 0:23:53'Charmin Boucher exercises her shoulders and back,
0:23:53 > 0:23:54'but there is virtually no limit
0:23:54 > 0:23:57'to the variations that can be performed with these steel rods.'
0:23:57 > 0:24:00'Even with back bends, there's no danger of hurting yourself,
0:24:00 > 0:24:03'because although Las Picas weighs only 2.5 pounds,
0:24:03 > 0:24:05'it can take a strain of 900 pounds in weight.'
0:24:09 > 0:24:13Within a few years it was clear we'd buy literally anything.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17A job lot of knackered old camp beds? Oh, I'll take one!
0:24:47 > 0:24:49Eventually the whole concept of home fitness
0:24:49 > 0:24:52had been reduced to an enormous rubber band.
0:24:57 > 0:24:59It was so simple. Any fool could use it.
0:25:01 > 0:25:02Here are some fools using it.
0:25:02 > 0:25:07I want you to lift that leg as high as you can off the floor.
0:25:07 > 0:25:08Stretch it right up.
0:25:09 > 0:25:11No! Up, not over.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13It's the elastic band!
0:25:14 > 0:25:18Now, swing it right up and down as high as you can. That's it.
0:25:18 > 0:25:20Really pull it up. Good.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23That's wonderful exercise for the hips and thighs.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26- Can you feel it pull, Valerie?- Yeah.
0:25:26 > 0:25:30- And how.- It's not too bad, actually. - It's not so difficult, is it?- Yes!
0:25:30 > 0:25:33No, it isn't!
0:25:33 > 0:25:36Then it all got horribly complicated again.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39Take a chair, not any chair. A chair like this.
0:25:39 > 0:25:42- Remove seat of said chair, place it down.- Right.
0:25:42 > 0:25:44Fumble with the catch, drop that down.
0:25:44 > 0:25:48- OK.- Place the hook through the loop, remove that, remove that,
0:25:48 > 0:25:50drop that down, pull that up,
0:25:50 > 0:25:54put the catch down, put the catch down...
0:25:54 > 0:25:59- Right, yes.- Take seat.- Oh, it's a... - Check that it's in position.- Right!
0:25:59 > 0:26:03- Sit in the middle of the seat, put your feet on here and...- Right.
0:26:03 > 0:26:06Wish I had written that down.
0:26:15 > 0:26:19Sometimes a run or a cycle just won't cut it.
0:26:19 > 0:26:25You want to exercise bits of yourself that normal human activity cannot reach.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28Why you want to exercise those bits remains a mystery. But nevermind.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31Somebody's built a machine for it.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37You don't want to be left looking stupid, do you? Course you don't.
0:26:37 > 0:26:39Come on. Strap yourself in.
0:26:50 > 0:26:54Unfortunately, the only calories you lose with these things
0:26:54 > 0:26:56are the ones you've just eaten.
0:26:58 > 0:27:00But the idea wouldn't go away.
0:27:00 > 0:27:05Are you bored with all that dreary joggling and cycling to get fit?
0:27:05 > 0:27:09Well, here's the exercise that will put the fun back into fitness.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12That is actually bigger than a Gymanasticon,
0:27:12 > 0:27:15and you can't use it while wearing a wig.
0:27:16 > 0:27:20They think that should help you tone up those muscles you never even knew you had
0:27:20 > 0:27:23and they even believe it could be a cure for motion sickness.
0:27:23 > 0:27:27I can tell you it's got to be either a kill or cure on this one.
0:27:28 > 0:27:32This thing wasn't so much kill or cure as kill or maim.
0:27:36 > 0:27:37Oh, dear.
0:27:39 > 0:27:41Ah, I think he's stuck.
0:27:41 > 0:27:43Oh, for crying out loud!
0:27:43 > 0:27:45Will someone help him off?
0:27:46 > 0:27:49Oh, thank God for that.
0:27:52 > 0:27:57And of course the punching flapper hat ball was big in the '20s.
0:27:59 > 0:28:01You can't see it from this angle,
0:28:01 > 0:28:03but those have actually got pictures of Ramsay McDonald on.
0:28:08 > 0:28:10Or maybe sir would like a...
0:28:10 > 0:28:12pumpy bike?
0:28:14 > 0:28:17All right, you're as fit as a fiddle, but let's face it,
0:28:17 > 0:28:21you haven't spoken to another human being for a month.
0:28:21 > 0:28:24Hardly surprising if you're riding around on that thing.
0:28:27 > 0:28:30Come on, Britain. Leave that pumpy bike alone!
0:28:30 > 0:28:33Let's all get fit together.
0:28:38 > 0:28:42After the grinding misery of the Industrial Revolution
0:28:42 > 0:28:45and the First World War, Europe wanted to put on a vest,
0:28:45 > 0:28:49stand in a field and have a bloody good workout.
0:28:52 > 0:28:53The mass fitness movement was born.
0:28:53 > 0:28:57Thousands of people waved their arms in unison.
0:28:57 > 0:29:01Shares in vest companies went through the roof.
0:29:01 > 0:29:03It was fun for a while.
0:29:03 > 0:29:07But gradually, it started to warp into something darker.
0:29:10 > 0:29:14What started with the idea of getting people to stretch their legs
0:29:14 > 0:29:15had begun to turn a bit, well...
0:29:15 > 0:29:17Fascist.
0:29:18 > 0:29:20The fields turned into stadiums,
0:29:20 > 0:29:24the arm stretches became salutes.
0:29:26 > 0:29:29Oh, dear. It was the master race in plimmies and shorts.
0:29:36 > 0:29:39Back in Blighty, we never went for that dictator saluting nonsense.
0:29:39 > 0:29:40# Keep fit
0:29:40 > 0:29:41# Take exercise
0:29:41 > 0:29:42# Keep fit
0:29:42 > 0:29:44# And you'll be wise
0:29:44 > 0:29:45# That's it
0:29:45 > 0:29:46# Look twice your size
0:29:46 > 0:29:48# Whatever you do, keep fit. #
0:29:48 > 0:29:52We loved the whole mass fitness thing, and we went mad for vests.
0:29:52 > 0:29:57But frankly, we preferred to do it our way. Up yours, Fuhrer.
0:29:57 > 0:30:00'Physical training, known by everybody as PT
0:30:00 > 0:30:03'but often referred to by less complimentary titles,
0:30:03 > 0:30:08'was considered a type of hard labour to be borne and finished as quickly as possible.
0:30:08 > 0:30:11'Some years ago, a wealthy patriot, Sir Robert Lucas-Tooth,
0:30:11 > 0:30:14'gave a fortune to encourage the physical and moral training of our youth.
0:30:14 > 0:30:18'His idea was not merely to make them fit, but to train them
0:30:18 > 0:30:22'as leaders so they could act as instructors to other organisations.
0:30:22 > 0:30:26'This fine institute and system of training is the result,
0:30:26 > 0:30:29'for today the Lucas Tooth institute has eliminated all the monotony
0:30:29 > 0:30:34'and dullness from PT, which has become a bodybuilding and wit sharpening frolic.'
0:30:42 > 0:30:45But why should boys have all the wit-sharpening frolics?
0:30:45 > 0:30:49This sounded like fun. The ladies wanted some too.
0:30:52 > 0:30:55And so, a new fitness movement was born:
0:30:55 > 0:30:57The Women's League of Health and Beauty.
0:30:59 > 0:31:02Here's their smiley leader, Prunella Stack.
0:31:02 > 0:31:06I needn't stress the fact that physical fitness today is a matter
0:31:06 > 0:31:11of national importance and effects the life of every individual.
0:31:11 > 0:31:15'5,000 members of the famous Women's League of Health and Beauty
0:31:15 > 0:31:17'march into Wembley Stadium, headed by their leader,
0:31:17 > 0:31:21'Lady Prunella Stack. As she takes her place, the show is on!'
0:31:23 > 0:31:26This was mass fitness as a spectator sport.
0:31:28 > 0:31:29Here we are at Wembley.
0:31:29 > 0:31:31I'm not sure all these blokes are here for the footie.
0:31:33 > 0:31:35'From every corner of Britain,
0:31:35 > 0:31:39'come 2,000 girls propounding health and beauty.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42'Banded together 20 years ago by Britain's first perfect woman,
0:31:42 > 0:31:46'Prunella Stack, they've come to town for a special festival display.'
0:31:47 > 0:31:51In the 1940s, this was the only way you could see women in their pants.
0:31:51 > 0:31:53Even your wife.
0:31:53 > 0:31:54'Poise and elegance,
0:31:54 > 0:31:58'the poetry of motion expressed by splendid specimens of British womanhood.'
0:32:01 > 0:32:03While the men were away at war,
0:32:03 > 0:32:05women's fitness groups were sharing church halls
0:32:05 > 0:32:07up and down the country with Dad's Army.
0:32:09 > 0:32:11Everyone joins in and if you're a bit late,
0:32:11 > 0:32:13you find a place wherever you fit in.
0:32:32 > 0:32:34After this first limber up, there's some quiet walking
0:32:34 > 0:32:37to give you time to get back control of your breath.
0:32:37 > 0:32:39Some of the newcomers who have only just joined
0:32:39 > 0:32:40are a bit out of condition
0:32:40 > 0:32:43and this chance of a rest is very welcome.
0:32:43 > 0:32:46The work of the class is adapted to the age of its members.
0:32:46 > 0:32:48No-one is asked to do anything too strenuous.
0:32:51 > 0:32:54When the men came back from the challenges of beating the Nazis,
0:32:54 > 0:32:58the last thing they wanted was more bloody exercise.
0:32:59 > 0:33:02They wanted to go down the pub
0:33:02 > 0:33:04and spend the next 30 years getting unfit.
0:33:04 > 0:33:06Fair dos.
0:33:06 > 0:33:11One and two and three...
0:33:11 > 0:33:14It was women who kept the mass fitness movement going.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17In the days before the NHS, it wasn't just to stay trim,
0:33:17 > 0:33:18it was to stay alive.
0:33:20 > 0:33:24One and two and clap! And down.
0:33:24 > 0:33:26If you couldn't afford to go to the doctor,
0:33:26 > 0:33:29you'd better make sure you didn't need to.
0:33:40 > 0:33:43Women of all ages were having fun.
0:33:43 > 0:33:45Soon, there was nothing for men to do,
0:33:45 > 0:33:48except stand around outside and patronise them.
0:33:48 > 0:33:52You don't think there is a more convenient way of keeping fit?
0:33:52 > 0:33:54No, I think it's a lovely hobby too.
0:33:54 > 0:33:57You make friends with everybody, wonderful evenings out,
0:33:57 > 0:33:59twice a week actually.
0:33:59 > 0:34:00It's very nice.
0:34:04 > 0:34:06'Don't you think it's a bit late to be keeping fit?'
0:34:06 > 0:34:09No. I've been doing it for about 14 years.
0:34:09 > 0:34:11You feel all the better for it?
0:34:11 > 0:34:14I do. I never have any rheumatism or anything.
0:34:14 > 0:34:17- Best of luck to you anyway. - No aches and pains.
0:34:17 > 0:34:23Men pretended to define the mysterious secrets of lady fitness.
0:34:23 > 0:34:27They're trying to find out which of our muscles do the most work.
0:34:27 > 0:34:29Electrodes attached to this attractive volunteer
0:34:29 > 0:34:33are picking up electrical variations from her muscles.
0:34:33 > 0:34:36The signals are fed through amplifiers to recording equipment.
0:34:36 > 0:34:38None of these blokes are real scientists.
0:34:40 > 0:34:43That's not strictly necessary.
0:34:45 > 0:34:46That's fake.
0:34:48 > 0:34:50Those are bus tickets.
0:34:50 > 0:34:54This experiment was to determine which exercises are most effective
0:34:54 > 0:34:56for tightening the tummy muscles.
0:34:56 > 0:34:59The new technique can help to evaluate how much effort
0:34:59 > 0:35:01a typist uses during a normal day's work,
0:35:01 > 0:35:04the fatiguing effect of wearing high- heeled shoes
0:35:04 > 0:35:06or the most suitable working positions
0:35:06 > 0:35:07for people in business or industry.
0:35:12 > 0:35:14By the time men started trying to join in,
0:35:14 > 0:35:16they felt a little out of place.
0:35:17 > 0:35:20This wasn't working out, this was dancing!
0:35:20 > 0:35:24Phew! So, why do I come to dancercise?
0:35:24 > 0:35:26Basically, because I enjoy it,
0:35:26 > 0:35:28but also when you get to 40 several, as I have,
0:35:28 > 0:35:30you have to keep moving,
0:35:30 > 0:35:33putting your joints through their full range of movements,
0:35:33 > 0:35:35keeping the stamina going and the strength.
0:35:38 > 0:35:40I've joined a professionally run class
0:35:40 > 0:35:42under the instruction of dancer Jackie Hands.
0:35:44 > 0:35:47Reach up against it. Right, left.
0:35:47 > 0:35:48Right leg up...
0:35:48 > 0:35:51stretch it...hang onto it.
0:35:51 > 0:35:55Tonight I am one of two men amongst 30 women.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58Jackie and I both agree more men would benefit from dance.
0:35:58 > 0:36:01'It is very essential for men to exercise,
0:36:01 > 0:36:03'but unfortunately, in the past,
0:36:03 > 0:36:05'I think dancers had the wrong image.
0:36:05 > 0:36:08'Nowadays, I think it is getting to be more accepted for men to dance.
0:36:08 > 0:36:11'It's meant to be a very virile thing anyway, dancing.
0:36:11 > 0:36:12'Gradually, they're filtering in, now.
0:36:21 > 0:36:24After an hour and a quarter of this
0:36:24 > 0:36:27I really do feel I've had my workout for the week.
0:36:31 > 0:36:34But the women were still running the show.
0:36:34 > 0:36:37They even organised military-style rallies.
0:36:37 > 0:36:40The Albert Hall sees some wonderful sights during the year,
0:36:40 > 0:36:43none more wonderful than the annual rally of the Keep Fit Association,
0:36:43 > 0:36:45where hundreds of ladies
0:36:45 > 0:36:48squeeze themselves into pink, peppermint and puce leotards
0:36:48 > 0:36:50and rehearse for the last night of the tums.
0:37:04 > 0:37:05This is the Welsh contingent.
0:37:05 > 0:37:08There are groups from the Midlands, the North, the West,
0:37:08 > 0:37:12the East, all over the United Kingdom, cells of dedicated women
0:37:12 > 0:37:16have been working up in church halls routines of astonishing precision.
0:37:16 > 0:37:20Today, they bring those routines to the Albert Hall to show them off.
0:37:22 > 0:37:25APPLAUSE
0:37:25 > 0:37:27Beneath the nymphs and shepherd's exterior,
0:37:27 > 0:37:32there is a steely dedication as if this were the military wing of the Women's Institute.
0:37:34 > 0:37:36Some of them are even armed.
0:37:43 > 0:37:47Altogether, 800 ladies joined this Catherine wheel at the end.
0:37:47 > 0:37:49They had travelled from all over the country
0:37:49 > 0:37:53and have been jumping about the Albert Hall all day and they never flagged.
0:37:53 > 0:37:55I was left with a complete sense of awe.
0:37:55 > 0:37:58Here was yet another thing that men just could not do.
0:38:01 > 0:38:05By the 1980s, it was starting to feel more like a discotheque than a gym.
0:38:05 > 0:38:10Pumping music, people shouting and blowing whistles.
0:38:10 > 0:38:14It was all getting a bit too much. It was time for a change.
0:38:14 > 0:38:19Maybe something a bit more mellow and bendy.
0:38:25 > 0:38:29Yoga was invented many thousands of years ago in India
0:38:29 > 0:38:33as a party piece by a double-jointed bloke who wanted to impress girls.
0:38:35 > 0:38:38It worked a treat and eventually, it caught on.
0:38:38 > 0:38:42Soon there were thousands of yogis all over the subcontinent.
0:38:42 > 0:38:44Those boys were bendy.
0:38:44 > 0:38:46The ladies couldn't get enough of it.
0:38:49 > 0:38:52In Britain though, we didn't do "bendy".
0:38:52 > 0:38:56Up until the '60s, yoga was seen as a bit weird, out there.
0:38:56 > 0:38:59Something to do with snake charmers and beds of nails.
0:39:03 > 0:39:06Then four lovable mop-tops from Liverpool went to India
0:39:06 > 0:39:11and overnight, yoga's image was upgraded from bizarre to acceptable.
0:39:11 > 0:39:15Britain gave it a go and quite liked it.
0:39:15 > 0:39:21# Turn off your mind relax and float downstream
0:39:22 > 0:39:26# It is not dying
0:39:26 > 0:39:29# It is not dying. #
0:39:29 > 0:39:36Here at last was a form of exercise that involved a lot of sitting down.
0:39:36 > 0:39:41Not doing very much at all was one of yoga's core values. It was a no-brainer.
0:39:44 > 0:39:46Sitting like this calms the mind,
0:39:46 > 0:39:48so say those who take part in yoga exercise.
0:39:48 > 0:39:51The way I feel these days decided me to look in
0:39:51 > 0:39:54and see for myself what goes on with this science of self-mastery.
0:39:56 > 0:40:00Edward Hain demonstrates the headstand which,
0:40:00 > 0:40:03after a determined effort, he now performs perfectly.
0:40:03 > 0:40:05To remain in this posture for a time tones up
0:40:05 > 0:40:08the whole of the nervous system and it is said to preserve one's youth.
0:40:08 > 0:40:10Oddly enough, I'm too far gone myself.
0:40:19 > 0:40:22This is the locked lotus, a traditional form of meditation.
0:40:22 > 0:40:25It is not easy to do, but when performed perfectly,
0:40:25 > 0:40:27gives steadiness and balance.
0:40:30 > 0:40:33For weight reducing, this exercise is recommended.
0:40:33 > 0:40:36It also helps you to learn to stand properly.
0:40:38 > 0:40:41Edward Hain recently returned from a three-month stay in India
0:40:41 > 0:40:43perfecting his knowledge of yoga.
0:40:43 > 0:40:46He watches an attempt at a yoga noose by one of the students.
0:40:46 > 0:40:49He tells me this is good for almost anything that ails you.
0:40:49 > 0:40:51So it should be!
0:40:54 > 0:40:58To increase resistance to illness, this is the exercise to do.
0:40:58 > 0:40:59Talk about tying oneself in knots!
0:40:59 > 0:41:02But yoga exercises are scientifically thought out.
0:41:02 > 0:41:06The basis is complete relaxation and calmness of mind.
0:41:10 > 0:41:14Traditional country pursuits started to go out of fashion as yoga
0:41:14 > 0:41:17invaded every corner of this sceptred isle.
0:41:17 > 0:41:20Egyptian yoga at dawn in the Cotswolds.
0:41:27 > 0:41:33Six weeks earlier, this lot were shooting partridge with a 12 bore.
0:41:33 > 0:41:36A year ago, the Sufis bought Swyre Farm in Gloucestershire
0:41:36 > 0:41:39and renamed it Beshara.
0:41:41 > 0:41:43Since then, they have had 1,500 visitors.
0:41:43 > 0:41:47Usually, people use it as a weekend retreat.
0:41:47 > 0:41:48Some stay for several weeks.
0:41:52 > 0:41:54Eventually, yoga went mainstream.
0:41:57 > 0:42:01Somewhere in the process, it had its exotic edges knocked off.
0:42:01 > 0:42:04Like a Vesta curry, it became blind and palatable
0:42:04 > 0:42:06and had sultanas in.
0:42:08 > 0:42:09You can tell when something is becoming
0:42:09 > 0:42:12part of the fabric of British life.
0:42:14 > 0:42:15It's when it's on the telly.
0:42:17 > 0:42:21The great British workout had really arrived.
0:42:27 > 0:42:30The national past time of Britain is, of course, fishing.
0:42:30 > 0:42:34Do you know what the national past time of Great Britain is?
0:42:34 > 0:42:38Fishing? Uh-uh. Football? Nope. Bingo? No.
0:42:38 > 0:42:40It's what you're doing at this very minute -
0:42:40 > 0:42:42sitting in front of a television set.
0:42:42 > 0:42:44Are you sure it's not fishing?
0:42:46 > 0:42:50Back in the 1950s, we were the fittest nation on Earth.
0:42:51 > 0:42:53We'd vaulted and squatted
0:42:53 > 0:42:56and star jumped our way to complete physical perfection.
0:42:56 > 0:43:00We reached a point where we couldn't actually get any fitter.
0:43:02 > 0:43:05Unfortunately, this coincided precisely
0:43:05 > 0:43:07with the arrival of television.
0:43:07 > 0:43:09Once again, like the Romans,
0:43:09 > 0:43:14we all just lounged around and ate lovely cakes.
0:43:15 > 0:43:18Within hours, the national waistline began to expand.
0:43:20 > 0:43:22Ooh, blimey!
0:43:22 > 0:43:25It wasn't long before telly realised what was going on,
0:43:25 > 0:43:28joined the dots and started giving us this kind of thing.
0:43:28 > 0:43:30Hello. Here are some exercises
0:43:30 > 0:43:34which are very good for the health and the figure.
0:43:34 > 0:43:37- PIANO PLAYS - Relax and forward...
0:43:37 > 0:43:39At first, it was all quite tame.
0:43:39 > 0:43:41Using just a chair and a man,
0:43:41 > 0:43:45Eileen Fowler very politely suggested we might perhaps benefit
0:43:45 > 0:43:47from a little bit of a stretch.
0:43:47 > 0:43:50Foot down. Now the other one up.
0:43:50 > 0:43:52Again. Relax, forward,
0:43:52 > 0:43:54press, press.
0:43:54 > 0:43:56And again.
0:43:56 > 0:44:00You're getting that double press, over the knee.
0:44:00 > 0:44:02And press and press...
0:44:02 > 0:44:05But eventually, the gods of television realised
0:44:05 > 0:44:06that calm didn't sell.
0:44:06 > 0:44:08You must be joking!
0:44:08 > 0:44:10Boomph?!
0:44:12 > 0:44:15Britain wanted brash, and boy, did we get it.
0:44:16 > 0:44:19Stand back, it's Becker.
0:44:19 > 0:44:22Everybody, come along!
0:44:22 > 0:44:24Keep fit.
0:44:24 > 0:44:28They can't wait to start, can you? Let's go, Edwin.
0:44:28 > 0:44:30MUSIC PLAYS
0:44:30 > 0:44:33Isn't it divine music? Watch.
0:44:33 > 0:44:35One, two,
0:44:35 > 0:44:37three, uncurl.
0:44:37 > 0:44:40Push back for three.
0:44:40 > 0:44:42Everybody ready.
0:44:42 > 0:44:45Drop and bounce.
0:44:45 > 0:44:49Phyllis, dear, you're cheating. Your knees are bent.
0:44:50 > 0:44:53Drop! One, two,
0:44:53 > 0:44:55three, uncurl.
0:44:55 > 0:44:58Men, give us an... Arms up, Keith, lovey!
0:44:59 > 0:45:01Drop!
0:45:02 > 0:45:04Come on!
0:45:04 > 0:45:07Tum-tums in!
0:45:07 > 0:45:10Once more. Down!
0:45:10 > 0:45:13Come on, Jimmy. Push!
0:45:13 > 0:45:15You're not bad, you know.
0:45:15 > 0:45:17That's got to be in.
0:45:17 > 0:45:19Jolly good!
0:45:19 > 0:45:21Don't stop.
0:45:23 > 0:45:27And this is Becker being sensual and erotic.
0:45:28 > 0:45:32So, if you've ever fantasised about Fanny Craddock
0:45:32 > 0:45:35doing a candle dance in a swimsuit, fill your boots!
0:45:35 > 0:45:37SENSUAL MUSIC PLAYS
0:45:47 > 0:45:51In the early '80s, the Great British Morning changed forever.
0:45:54 > 0:45:58We wanted more telly and we got more telly.
0:45:58 > 0:46:01Breakfast TV arrived, thrusting its Lycra-clad crotch in our face.
0:46:01 > 0:46:04Come on, Britain. Wake up!
0:46:04 > 0:46:07Shape up and stretch up.
0:46:10 > 0:46:11With the Green Goddess,
0:46:11 > 0:46:14you could work of your breakfast as you are eating it.
0:46:14 > 0:46:17And down we go. Slow.
0:46:17 > 0:46:21Up and stretch...out.
0:46:21 > 0:46:23Down again. Right down.
0:46:24 > 0:46:27Stretch up...and out.
0:46:27 > 0:46:30Now, sir, right down this time.
0:46:30 > 0:46:32Well done!
0:46:32 > 0:46:35And stretch...and down.
0:46:35 > 0:46:37And who could forget Mr Motivator?
0:46:37 > 0:46:40Or as his friends called him...
0:46:40 > 0:46:42Derrick Motivator.
0:46:42 > 0:46:44Hey. Good morning, gang!
0:46:44 > 0:46:47- We're here having a party. Everybody say yeah.- ALL: Yeah!
0:46:47 > 0:46:50We've got the make-up crew, everybody's out here,
0:46:50 > 0:46:52letting themselves go. March it up and down.
0:46:52 > 0:46:55Now push up to the ceiling. Here we go. All right.
0:46:55 > 0:46:57Happy birthday to our oldest viewer.
0:46:57 > 0:47:00Margaret Duncan from the West End of Glasgow.
0:47:00 > 0:47:02You're 106 today...
0:47:02 > 0:47:05The great thing about fitness on TV
0:47:05 > 0:47:07was you could sit on the sofa and watch it.
0:47:07 > 0:47:11Remote in one hand, cake in the other. Brilliant!
0:47:11 > 0:47:14Ooh, hang on a minute, this isn't right. Cake, telly?
0:47:14 > 0:47:18Ooh, we're back where we started. Right, where's me trainers?
0:47:18 > 0:47:20I'm going jogging.
0:47:25 > 0:47:29You know when you're running for a bus that you'd rather get,
0:47:29 > 0:47:33even though you know there'll be another one along in ten minutes,
0:47:33 > 0:47:35so it's not quite worth sprinting for,
0:47:35 > 0:47:37but the bus shelter gets used as a urinal,
0:47:37 > 0:47:40so you don't want to hang around there if you can help it,
0:47:40 > 0:47:43so you might want to keep going? Well that,
0:47:43 > 0:47:46in a nutshell, is jogging.
0:47:49 > 0:47:51Jogging caught on in Britain in the 1970s,
0:47:51 > 0:47:55despite the drag created by excessive facial hair.
0:47:59 > 0:48:01'We are here today to jog. What's that?
0:48:01 > 0:48:05'Well, jogging started in New Zealand as a safe, enjoyable workout
0:48:05 > 0:48:06'for all age groups.
0:48:06 > 0:48:09'Then President Kennedy urged Americans to take it up.
0:48:09 > 0:48:12'The Scandinavians and Germans rate it
0:48:12 > 0:48:14'as important as eating or sleeping.
0:48:14 > 0:48:18'But here in Britain it's just starting, as Malcolm is today.'
0:48:18 > 0:48:20It looks just like running, to me, Frank.
0:48:20 > 0:48:23That's exactly what it is, Malcolm. It's not the hard stuff
0:48:23 > 0:48:26you'd expect from an Olympic athlete. It's very gentle.
0:48:26 > 0:48:29Jogging didn't need much in the way of equipment.
0:48:29 > 0:48:32It was something you could do between the pub and the chippy,
0:48:32 > 0:48:37and it helped to cool down the pie you'd just bought in the bakers.
0:48:37 > 0:48:39'The human frame needs careful maintaining,
0:48:39 > 0:48:42'just like a high-powered machine.
0:48:42 > 0:48:45'And the cult of fitness is the obsession of our age.
0:48:45 > 0:48:50'It may be too far for the brain train commuters to walk to work,
0:48:50 > 0:48:53'but in London's streets and parks, those who can, jog.'
0:48:59 > 0:49:02'Perhaps it isn't surprising that people like Madge Sharples
0:49:02 > 0:49:06'have found that the aerobic benefits of marathon running
0:49:06 > 0:49:09'make them feel healthier and full of vitality.'
0:49:10 > 0:49:16I started running, Judith, four years ago when I was 62.
0:49:16 > 0:49:23And I'm convinced that running is the most wonderful thing in my life.
0:49:23 > 0:49:29Feel fitter, feel happier, fewer infections...
0:49:29 > 0:49:34No infections, I could say, and fewer colds, more energy.
0:49:34 > 0:49:35What more could you want?
0:49:37 > 0:49:40She'd have agreed with Edward Stanley, Earl of Derby.
0:49:42 > 0:49:44He said:
0:49:52 > 0:49:55Maybe what we need here is a doctor.
0:49:55 > 0:49:59I joined a group of early-morning joggers from Burnham near Slough,
0:49:59 > 0:50:03led by their GP, Dr Bob Green.
0:50:03 > 0:50:07Since I've been jogging, I know I'm a lot fitter physically.
0:50:07 > 0:50:12And mentally, I think that the whole exercise business
0:50:12 > 0:50:15really makes one feel good.
0:50:15 > 0:50:19As far as managing patients is concerned, I find that
0:50:19 > 0:50:25I tend now to prescribe more exercise than I do tranquillisers
0:50:25 > 0:50:29and I'm sure that in the long-term this is more beneficial to patients.
0:50:29 > 0:50:32There's a downside to everything, of course.
0:50:32 > 0:50:35And in the case of jogging, it was this song by Richard Stilgoe.
0:50:35 > 0:50:38GUITAR MUSIC PLAYS
0:50:38 > 0:50:41# Off for their daily fix, they go
0:50:41 > 0:50:44# To the spare tyres they shout out, "no"
0:50:44 > 0:50:47# We shall fight you in the beaches
0:50:47 > 0:50:50# Why don't doctors go back to leeches?
0:50:50 > 0:50:53# Through the Burnham trees they lark
0:50:53 > 0:50:55# Listen, you can hear the bark
0:50:55 > 0:51:01# Come on, Burnham, put on speed Let your doggy take the lead
0:51:01 > 0:51:04# Burn 'em up, Burnham Jog, jog, jog
0:51:04 > 0:51:07# Gonna show you how to walk the dog
0:51:07 > 0:51:10# Burn 'em up, Burnham Where the dogs say, "please"
0:51:10 > 0:51:12# Take me to a heaven where there's nothing but trees
0:51:12 > 0:51:16# Take me to a heaven where there's nothing but trees. #
0:51:18 > 0:51:23We're running eight, ten miles a day and training up for marathons
0:51:23 > 0:51:28and now we find that the marathon distance isn't perhaps enough for us
0:51:28 > 0:51:30and we're looking forward next year to perhaps
0:51:30 > 0:51:33doing the London to Brighton, which is 54 miles.
0:51:34 > 0:51:38Fair dos, mate. That's a long drive with the kids in the back.
0:51:38 > 0:51:41You... You are driving, aren't you?
0:51:43 > 0:51:46Oh, listen. You don't have to put all that effort in.
0:51:46 > 0:51:48You do realise that, don't you?
0:51:48 > 0:51:51There are other slightly more devious ways of doing it.
0:51:55 > 0:51:59If only you could get exercised without actually doing any exercise.
0:51:59 > 0:52:01Then keeping fit and getting into condition
0:52:01 > 0:52:04could be a truly wonderful experience.
0:52:05 > 0:52:06That's right, Chris.
0:52:06 > 0:52:08You can gussy it up with minor celebs
0:52:08 > 0:52:11and gaudy pants all you like but it's hard, damn it.
0:52:11 > 0:52:14MUSIC: "Lazy" by X-Press 2 ft David Byrne
0:52:14 > 0:52:18I've already done a day's work, I just want to sit down.
0:52:18 > 0:52:24Or better still, LIE down and BE exercised, by someone else.
0:52:27 > 0:52:32# I'm wicked and I'm lazy
0:52:32 > 0:52:39# Oh, don't you want to save me? #
0:52:52 > 0:52:55This is basically liposuction with a milking machine.
0:52:55 > 0:52:59Apparently not as much fun as it looks.
0:52:59 > 0:53:00POP
0:53:00 > 0:53:03FURTHER POPPING
0:53:06 > 0:53:08It's an extraordinary sensation.
0:53:08 > 0:53:13Ow! Is that supposed to make me beautiful?
0:53:13 > 0:53:16It breaks down your fat by bruising it. That's why it hurts so much.
0:53:23 > 0:53:25The vibrating belt worked on the theory
0:53:25 > 0:53:29that you could just wobble fat away.
0:53:31 > 0:53:35It was a bit like standing on the 7:32 from Manchester Piccadilly
0:53:35 > 0:53:39and had roughly the same effect on Britain's waistline.
0:53:39 > 0:53:43MUSIC: "Indian Boots" by The George Winters Orchestra
0:54:45 > 0:54:47ELECTRONIC MUSIC
0:54:47 > 0:54:51OK, wobbling didn't do it. How about cutting out the middleman
0:54:51 > 0:54:54and plugging yourself straight into the mains?
0:54:54 > 0:54:56That's got to work, right?
0:54:56 > 0:54:59Have you ever wanted to sing for the sheer joy of living
0:54:59 > 0:55:04because you felt so fit? The trouble of course is to find time to get fit and a living too.
0:55:04 > 0:55:06But here's one solution - the robot exerciser.
0:55:06 > 0:55:10It's a portable apparatus weighing about four pounds
0:55:10 > 0:55:14with a low-voltage battery and equipped with a pair of electric gloves and a reducing belt.
0:55:14 > 0:55:18Having switched on to the kind of action required, for slimming,
0:55:18 > 0:55:22exercising particular muscles or general muscular toning up,
0:55:22 > 0:55:25you put on the gloves and spar gently with yourself.
0:55:25 > 0:55:27In other words, wherever you land with the glove,
0:55:27 > 0:55:31that part of the body reacts, without any effort on your part.
0:55:31 > 0:55:33In yet other and more weighty words,
0:55:33 > 0:55:36the robot exerciser does your exercises for you.
0:55:38 > 0:55:42Inevitably, these were outlawed under Article Three of the Geneva Convention.
0:55:42 > 0:55:46MUSIC: "The Blue Danube Waltz" by Johann Strauss II
0:55:46 > 0:55:50But the best way of cheating was to get rid of gravity altogether
0:55:50 > 0:55:53and for that, you needed one of these.
0:55:53 > 0:55:58A spacecraft...vessel... ship...station.
0:56:04 > 0:56:08Hold on, hold on. How did we end up in outer space?
0:56:08 > 0:56:11This has got totally out of hand. Stop, stop!
0:56:11 > 0:56:14Let's get back down to earth.
0:56:18 > 0:56:20All you wanted to do was get a bit fitter.
0:56:23 > 0:56:28You don't need musclemen and Lycra and milking machines.
0:56:28 > 0:56:33You don't need sweatbands and pumpy bikes and that Becker woman.
0:56:35 > 0:56:37You really want to get fit? It's simple.
0:56:37 > 0:56:39Put that cake down.
0:56:39 > 0:56:42Go on, I know you haven't finished the middle bit yet,
0:56:42 > 0:56:43just put it down.
0:56:43 > 0:56:47Switch that rubbish off the telly and get out of your chair.
0:56:47 > 0:56:50Get a pair of these.
0:56:50 > 0:56:52One of these.
0:56:52 > 0:56:55And maybe even one of these.
0:56:57 > 0:57:03Now open the door. That's your warm-up done. Right, are you ready?
0:57:04 > 0:57:07Place one foot in front of the other.
0:57:09 > 0:57:12Repeat until you're out of the house, up the road
0:57:12 > 0:57:15and away from all that nonsense at the gym.
0:57:17 > 0:57:21Keep going till you get somewhere beautiful.
0:57:25 > 0:57:26Look at the view.
0:57:28 > 0:57:30Throw a stick - the dog loves it.
0:57:32 > 0:57:40This is it. You've finally found it. The Great British Workout.
0:57:40 > 0:57:43UPLIFTING MUSIC
0:57:44 > 0:57:46Feels fantastic, doesn't it?
0:57:46 > 0:57:47DOG BARKS
0:57:48 > 0:57:54And who knows? Next time, you might even break into a bit of a run.
0:58:29 > 0:58:34MUSIC: "The Peanut Vendor (Latin Lounge)" by Paraffin Jack Flash
0:58:50 > 0:58:52Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd