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Books

2,500 years of gyms (and you’re still better off walking the dog)

In a review of the Temple of Perfection by Eric Chaline, Mark Mason sees the gym as our modern place of worship

7 March 2015

9:00 AM

7 March 2015

9:00 AM

The Temple of Perfection: A History of the Gym Eric Chaline

Reaktion Books, pp.272, £20

My favourite fact about gyms before reading this book was that the average British gym member covers 468 miles per year and the average British dog walker 676. Eric Chaline’s history of the institution has offered up some competition on the fact front — but my cynicism remains undimmed.

Chaline, a personal trainer and weightlifting instructor, certainly shows that ‘gym-bunny’ doesn’t have to equal ‘numbskull’.

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