An icon for fitness since the 1930's, Muscle Beach is a favorite of the fitness buff. Not to be confused with the Muscle Beach Venice, where bodybuilding and weightlifting are the prime activities, Muscle Beach is focused on gymnastics.
Muscle Beach began in the 1930s when some friends gathered to workout on the beach in Santa Monica. The group was mixture of athletes, performers, wrestlers, and movie stunt people. The size of the group grew and the size of the spectators exploded into the thousands. The popularity of Muscle Beach grew until the war and Muscle Beach went too. Upon the end of the war, the men came back and so did the spectators. The size continued to grow until the City closed down the beach for various reasons.
In the late 1980s, Muscle Beach was back. It was officially rededicated to being Muscle Beach serving gymnastics and acrobatics.
Many well known fitness icons frequented Muscle Beach. Some of them were:
- Buster Crabbe, 1932 Olympic gold-medal swimmer and movie star
- Vic Tanny, founder of Tanny Gyms
- Jack LaLanne
- Joe Gold, founder of Gold's Gym and World Gym
- Mr. Universe John Grimek and Mr. Universe George Eiferman
- Pudgy Stockton, female bodybuilder
Today, you can see a variety of gymnastics and exercise equipment. There are rings, parallel bars, ropes,m chinning bars and jungle gyms of all sizes. There is a padded area for exercise mats were classes or just friends can gather and exercise together.
Visit the Original Muscle Beach, a part of fitness history.
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