WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.060 Think about the last time you queued up a fitness 00:00:03.060 --> 00:00:05.980 app. Maybe you threw a yoga video on YouTube 00:00:05.980 --> 00:00:09.220 or popped in your earbuds for a guided run. Or 00:00:09.220 --> 00:00:11.519 clipped into a stationary bike. Right. You hit 00:00:11.519 --> 00:00:13.939 play, a voice jumps into your ears, and suddenly 00:00:13.939 --> 00:00:16.640 your living room or your local sidewalk is completely 00:00:16.640 --> 00:00:20.059 transformed into a private fitness studio. It's 00:00:20.059 --> 00:00:22.260 basically magic. It really is. And it feels like 00:00:22.260 --> 00:00:26.039 a very modern, hyper tech -driven phenomenon, 00:00:26.239 --> 00:00:28.559 right? Definitely. We tend to think this kind 00:00:28.559 --> 00:00:31.519 of on -demand virtual instruction only exists 00:00:31.519 --> 00:00:33.799 because we have smartphones and high -speed internet. 00:00:33.939 --> 00:00:36.259 Exactly. I mean, it feels intrinsically tied 00:00:36.259 --> 00:00:38.899 to the digital age. Yeah. If you ask most people, 00:00:39.280 --> 00:00:41.719 we assume that the concept of on -demand fitness 00:00:41.719 --> 00:00:45.640 was cooked up in a Silicon Valley boardroom somewhere 00:00:45.640 --> 00:00:47.659 around the mid -2000s. Like it's just a software 00:00:47.659 --> 00:00:50.000 innovation. Right. We view it as a tech thing. 00:00:50.060 --> 00:00:52.240 Well, for today's deep dive, we are going to 00:00:52.240 --> 00:00:54.359 completely shatter that assumption. Oh, totally. 00:00:54.509 --> 00:00:57.009 We're exploring the forgotten origins of the 00:00:57.009 --> 00:01:00.070 at -home fitness industry. And to do that, we're 00:01:00.070 --> 00:01:03.630 looking at a single, incredibly fascinating Wikipedia 00:01:03.630 --> 00:01:06.430 article. Such a good one, too. It's about a man 00:01:06.430 --> 00:01:09.209 who essentially invented the home workout over 00:01:09.209 --> 00:01:11.870 a century ago. It really is a remarkable piece 00:01:11.870 --> 00:01:14.569 of hidden history. Yeah. The biographical page 00:01:14.569 --> 00:01:17.329 we are diving into today belongs to a man named 00:01:17.329 --> 00:01:19.950 Wallace M. Rogerson. Wallace M. Rogerson. And 00:01:19.950 --> 00:01:23.790 through the very specific details of his life 00:01:23.790 --> 00:01:27.069 and his business, we get a front row seat to 00:01:27.069 --> 00:01:30.069 a massive cultural shift, one that most of us 00:01:30.069 --> 00:01:32.370 completely take for granted today. OK, let's 00:01:32.370 --> 00:01:34.430 unpack this, because to understand where the 00:01:34.430 --> 00:01:37.310 modern fitness empire actually comes from, we 00:01:37.310 --> 00:01:40.209 have to go back to a time way before spandex. 00:01:40.329 --> 00:01:42.750 Or smartwatches. Or heart rate monitors, right? 00:01:42.909 --> 00:01:45.010 We have to go back to Malene Rock, Illinois. 00:01:45.489 --> 00:01:48.200 A very different world. Very different. That 00:01:48.200 --> 00:01:50.719 is where Wallace M. Rogerson was born on November 00:01:50.719 --> 00:01:55.920 29th, 1880. Wow, 1880. So right off the bat, 00:01:56.019 --> 00:01:58.519 we are talking about a guy born squarely in the 00:01:58.519 --> 00:02:00.739 Victorian era. Right, the late 19th century. 00:02:00.760 --> 00:02:03.459 Yeah. And this is a time when the concept of 00:02:03.459 --> 00:02:05.640 working out for general health was, you know, 00:02:06.019 --> 00:02:08.159 still very much in its infancy for the average 00:02:08.159 --> 00:02:10.120 person. It wasn't really a thing. Not at all. 00:02:10.659 --> 00:02:13.039 But by the time Rogerson reaches adulthood... 00:02:13.080 --> 00:02:15.780 Right around the turn of the 20th century, he 00:02:15.780 --> 00:02:18.280 is fully immersed in physical training. He makes 00:02:18.280 --> 00:02:20.680 it his whole life. He does. He ends up founding 00:02:20.680 --> 00:02:23.159 the Wallace Institute in Chicago. Oh, and just 00:02:23.159 --> 00:02:25.780 a quick historical housekeeping note here, because, 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:28.099 well, this is the Internet and things get tangled 00:02:28.099 --> 00:02:30.740 so easily. Good point. If you go searching for 00:02:30.740 --> 00:02:34.460 this later, this 1918 Wallace Institute in Chicago. 00:02:34.810 --> 00:02:37.569 is not to be confused with a totally different 00:02:37.569 --> 00:02:39.789 organization called the Wallace Institute. Right, 00:02:39.909 --> 00:02:41.849 the one that closed recently. Exactly, the one 00:02:41.849 --> 00:02:44.830 that ceased operating on September 1st, 2002. 00:02:45.409 --> 00:02:47.050 Totally different things. Completely different. 00:02:47.229 --> 00:02:51.469 Our guy is the early 1900s fitness pioneer. A 00:02:51.469 --> 00:02:53.509 crucial distinction to make. So picture the scene. 00:02:53.590 --> 00:02:57.270 It's 1918. Okay. Rodgerson is in Chicago running 00:02:57.270 --> 00:03:01.150 this physical institute, and he is offering in 00:03:01.150 --> 00:03:04.289 -person physical training. Like a modern gym. 00:03:04.669 --> 00:03:07.550 Basically, yeah. He is essentially an early 20th 00:03:07.550 --> 00:03:09.930 century personal trainer. People are coming to 00:03:09.930 --> 00:03:12.750 him in his building to get in shape. Which is 00:03:12.750 --> 00:03:14.990 a highly successful business model. Oh, absolutely. 00:03:15.199 --> 00:03:17.560 But here is where he makes a leap that I just 00:03:17.560 --> 00:03:20.719 find absolutely staggering. It's so wild. Imagine 00:03:20.719 --> 00:03:23.900 you have a really popular high -end boutique 00:03:23.900 --> 00:03:27.039 gym in Chicago today. The owner is doing great. 00:03:27.099 --> 00:03:29.460 The classes are packed. There's a waiting list. 00:03:29.560 --> 00:03:32.159 The traditional business move is to just open 00:03:32.159 --> 00:03:34.879 another physical location, maybe franchise it. 00:03:34.939 --> 00:03:37.900 Right. You scale the real estate. Exactly. But 00:03:37.900 --> 00:03:39.960 instead of doing that, this gym owner decides 00:03:39.960 --> 00:03:43.080 to build a massive tech platform. They decide 00:03:43.080 --> 00:03:46.270 to build the very first Peloton or the first 00:03:46.270 --> 00:03:49.319 interactive fitness app. It's a huge pivot. That 00:03:49.319 --> 00:03:52.099 is basically what Rogerson did in the early 1920s. 00:03:52.300 --> 00:03:55.860 He took a localized in -person business and translated 00:03:55.860 --> 00:03:58.939 it to the absolute cutting edge consumer technology 00:03:58.939 --> 00:04:01.400 of his day. The phonograph. The phonograph. He 00:04:01.400 --> 00:04:03.580 developed something called Wallace records or 00:04:03.580 --> 00:04:06.020 Wallace reducing records. It is an incredible 00:04:06.020 --> 00:04:08.240 pivot. I mean, he isn't just scaling his business. 00:04:08.560 --> 00:04:11.680 He is inventing a completely new way for humans 00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:14.099 to interact with a machine. But I have to push 00:04:14.099 --> 00:04:16.339 back on the logistics of this because I'm trying 00:04:16.339 --> 00:04:19.839 to picture how this actually works. Why would 00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:23.139 a successful in -person trainer take the massive 00:04:23.139 --> 00:04:26.160 financial risk of putting his voice on a piece 00:04:26.160 --> 00:04:29.019 of heavy, fragile vinyl? It does seem crazy. 00:04:29.259 --> 00:04:31.519 Right. And maybe more importantly, how do people 00:04:31.519 --> 00:04:33.939 even react to their record player suddenly giving 00:04:33.939 --> 00:04:36.160 them orders? That's the best part. I mean, a 00:04:36.160 --> 00:04:38.060 record player was strictly for music. It was 00:04:38.060 --> 00:04:40.100 for entertainment. What's fascinating here is 00:04:40.100 --> 00:04:42.060 that Rodgersson recognized the... Thonograph 00:04:42.060 --> 00:04:44.420 wasn't just a passive medium for listening to 00:04:44.420 --> 00:04:48.120 jazz or whatever. OK. It was a tool for unprecedented 00:04:48.120 --> 00:04:51.139 scale. Oh, I see. In a physical room in Chicago, 00:04:51.660 --> 00:04:55.000 he is bound by the laws of physics. He could 00:04:55.000 --> 00:04:57.779 only train the 30 or 40 people standing directly 00:04:57.779 --> 00:04:59.660 in front of him. Right. There's a cap on his 00:04:59.660 --> 00:05:02.889 income. Exactly. But by pressing his routines 00:05:02.889 --> 00:05:07.449 into a 78 RPM record, he is untethering his expertise 00:05:07.449 --> 00:05:10.490 from his physical presence. Wow. He realized 00:05:10.490 --> 00:05:12.889 that this technology could deliver his presence, 00:05:13.290 --> 00:05:15.689 like his authority, directly into the consumer's 00:05:15.689 --> 00:05:18.310 most private space, their living room. OK, but 00:05:18.310 --> 00:05:20.470 physically, how do you follow a workout from 00:05:20.470 --> 00:05:22.800 a record player? It's tricky, right? Because 00:05:22.800 --> 00:05:24.939 if I'm doing a yoga video on my TV right now, 00:05:25.220 --> 00:05:27.879 I am constantly craning my neck to look at the 00:05:27.879 --> 00:05:29.680 screen. Just to make sure you're doing it right. 00:05:29.800 --> 00:05:31.899 Yeah. To see if my posture matches the instructor. 00:05:32.639 --> 00:05:35.699 If it is just pure audio, how do you not just 00:05:35.699 --> 00:05:39.019 completely lose your place? Or just injure yourself? 00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:41.259 That is where the genius of the audio formatting 00:05:41.259 --> 00:05:43.839 comes in. You have to remember, these were the 00:05:43.839 --> 00:05:45.939 first exercise records marketed in the United 00:05:45.939 --> 00:05:49.329 States. He had no blueprint. None. He had to 00:05:49.329 --> 00:05:52.790 invent the mechanism of audio -only biomechanical 00:05:52.790 --> 00:05:55.509 instruction. Which is wild. And he did this by 00:05:55.509 --> 00:05:58.009 combining verbal lessons with music. Okay, music. 00:05:58.110 --> 00:06:00.110 But the music isn't just background noise to 00:06:00.110 --> 00:06:04.410 make it fun. It acts as a metronome. Yeah, Rogerson 00:06:04.410 --> 00:06:08.250 had to precisely time his vocal cues to the tempo 00:06:08.250 --> 00:06:10.550 of the music and the physical constraints of 00:06:10.550 --> 00:06:13.629 a 78 rpm record to ensure the listener was moving 00:06:13.629 --> 00:06:16.709 at the exact right pace. Oh wow, it's like when 00:06:16.709 --> 00:06:18.910 you're driving and using a modern navigation 00:06:18.910 --> 00:06:21.470 app. Yes. The app doesn't just show you a map, 00:06:21.629 --> 00:06:23.949 right? The audio voice says in 500 feet turn 00:06:23.949 --> 00:06:27.040 right. It gives you the audio cue exactly when 00:06:27.040 --> 00:06:29.199 your body needs to execute the physical movement 00:06:29.199 --> 00:06:31.439 without you having to look at a screen. That 00:06:31.439 --> 00:06:33.500 is a perfect analogy. He was doing that with 00:06:33.500 --> 00:06:36.720 jumping jacks and stretches in 1920. The music 00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:39.019 provides the pace and the verbal instruction 00:06:39.019 --> 00:06:41.680 provides the structure. He was engineering a 00:06:41.680 --> 00:06:44.879 highly specific user experience. That is so smart. 00:06:45.120 --> 00:06:47.399 And he didn't just make one novelty record and 00:06:47.399 --> 00:06:50.360 call it a day. He created a series of five or 00:06:50.360 --> 00:06:53.160 more records. Which implies a curriculum. Right. 00:06:53.360 --> 00:06:55.920 It isn't just a gimmick to play at a party. It's 00:06:55.920 --> 00:06:58.459 a progressive program. You are meant to build 00:06:58.459 --> 00:07:01.399 a habit. Yes. And the titles of these records 00:07:01.399 --> 00:07:04.620 were incredibly direct. One of the primary titles 00:07:04.620 --> 00:07:08.139 was Get Thin to Music. And that title Get Thin 00:07:08.139 --> 00:07:10.500 to Music, along with the advertising materials 00:07:10.500 --> 00:07:13.420 we have from 1920, tells us exactly what the 00:07:13.420 --> 00:07:16.579 product was. And who it was for. Crucially, yes. 00:07:17.060 --> 00:07:19.180 The records were explicitly targeted mostly to 00:07:19.180 --> 00:07:21.680 women for the proposed use of weight reduction. 00:07:22.019 --> 00:07:24.660 Here's where it gets really interesting and honestly 00:07:24.660 --> 00:07:26.980 a little thorny. Yeah, we have to talk about 00:07:26.980 --> 00:07:29.300 this. Because when I read that he was targeting 00:07:29.300 --> 00:07:31.220 mostly women for weight reduction as far back 00:07:31.220 --> 00:07:34.579 as 1920, my modern alarm bells start ringing 00:07:34.579 --> 00:07:37.160 loudly. It's hard not to feel that way. It feels 00:07:37.160 --> 00:07:39.680 a bit predatory to my modern ears, like it's 00:07:39.680 --> 00:07:42.439 the absolute ground zero of the fitness industry 00:07:42.439 --> 00:07:45.680 monetizing societal pressure. Weaponizing body 00:07:45.680 --> 00:07:48.600 image to sell a product. Yeah, exactly. It is 00:07:48.600 --> 00:07:50.920 entirely fair. to view it through that lens, 00:07:51.079 --> 00:07:53.259 and we absolutely have to acknowledge that tension. 00:07:53.439 --> 00:07:56.939 It's just so blatant. It is. The monetization 00:07:56.939 --> 00:08:00.019 of a physical ideal is baked right into the title. 00:08:00.740 --> 00:08:03.980 Get Thin is a directive based on a societal standard 00:08:03.980 --> 00:08:06.920 of beauty. Right. But if we only look at the 00:08:06.920 --> 00:08:09.800 marketing hook, we miss the radical nature of 00:08:09.800 --> 00:08:11.860 what the product actually allowed women to do 00:08:11.860 --> 00:08:14.060 in practice. Wait, you think a record telling 00:08:14.060 --> 00:08:17.129 women to get thin was actually radical? In a 00:08:17.129 --> 00:08:19.689 way, yes. How is that empowering? Because of 00:08:19.689 --> 00:08:21.329 where and how they were finally allowed to do 00:08:21.329 --> 00:08:24.370 it. Think about the public spaces of 1920. Okay. 00:08:24.910 --> 00:08:28.170 Where exactly does a woman go to sweat? Oh, nowhere 00:08:28.170 --> 00:08:31.670 really. Exactly. Gymnasiums and physical culture 00:08:31.670 --> 00:08:34.190 clubs of that era were heavily male -dominated, 00:08:34.629 --> 00:08:37.169 often aggressive, and culturally stigmatized 00:08:37.169 --> 00:08:39.940 spaces for women. That makes sense. Societal 00:08:39.940 --> 00:08:43.299 norms regarding modesty and behavior made vigorous 00:08:43.299 --> 00:08:46.279 public physical exertion incredibly difficult 00:08:46.279 --> 00:08:49.100 for a typical woman to access. Okay, I see where 00:08:49.100 --> 00:08:50.879 you are going. So by putting this instruction 00:08:50.879 --> 00:08:53.720 on a piece of vinyl... By putting it on a record, 00:08:54.120 --> 00:08:56.080 he gave women the privacy to close their living 00:08:56.080 --> 00:08:58.820 room doors, put on comfortable, unrestrictive 00:08:58.820 --> 00:09:01.940 clothing, and engage in vigorous cardiovascular 00:09:01.940 --> 00:09:05.639 activity entirely on their own terms. Wow. The 00:09:05.639 --> 00:09:08.059 marketing hook was undoubtedly weight loss, but 00:09:08.059 --> 00:09:10.559 the physical reality of the product was giving 00:09:10.559 --> 00:09:13.419 women a tool for bodily autonomy in their own 00:09:13.419 --> 00:09:15.799 homes. It's almost like a Trojan horse. That's 00:09:15.799 --> 00:09:17.879 a great way to put it. You buy it because the 00:09:17.879 --> 00:09:19.679 advertising card promises you will meet a beauty 00:09:19.679 --> 00:09:22.460 standard, but what you actually get is a daily 00:09:22.460 --> 00:09:24.440 cardiovascular habit. And physical strength. 00:09:24.720 --> 00:09:27.740 Right. and a dedicated hour of private space 00:09:27.740 --> 00:09:30.259 that is just for you. That is a really complex 00:09:30.259 --> 00:09:33.159 dynamic. It is. We can recognize both sides of 00:09:33.159 --> 00:09:36.179 it. And regardless of the sociological implications, 00:09:36.379 --> 00:09:38.620 if we look purely at the mechanics of the business 00:09:38.620 --> 00:09:42.019 he built, we have to marvel at the formula. Oh, 00:09:42.159 --> 00:09:44.679 the formula is bulletproof. Music plus verbal 00:09:44.679 --> 00:09:48.299 instruction. It is the formula. It is the exact 00:09:48.299 --> 00:09:51.299 formula used in every spin class, every aerobics 00:09:51.299 --> 00:09:54.039 video, and every guided running app today. And 00:09:54.039 --> 00:09:56.379 he nailed that synthesis over a hundred years 00:09:56.379 --> 00:09:58.299 ago. You really did. And he didn't just stop 00:09:58.299 --> 00:10:00.720 at the records. The guy was a media mogul in 00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:02.879 the making. Completely. He didn't just understand 00:10:02.879 --> 00:10:06.120 product. He understood distribution. He expanded 00:10:06.120 --> 00:10:09.200 his reach by conducting a radio program on WGN. 00:10:09.279 --> 00:10:11.320 Keep Fit to Music. Keep Fit to Music. He did 00:10:11.320 --> 00:10:14.519 this for years. That detail about the WGN radio 00:10:14.519 --> 00:10:17.149 program... is crucial because it elevates him 00:10:17.149 --> 00:10:20.629 from just an inventor to a master marketer. How 00:10:20.629 --> 00:10:23.590 so? It shows a highly sophisticated understanding 00:10:23.590 --> 00:10:26.570 of what we would now call cross platform or omni 00:10:26.570 --> 00:10:28.769 -channel marketing. Break that down for me because 00:10:28.769 --> 00:10:30.490 omni -channel marketing sounds like something 00:10:30.490 --> 00:10:32.870 a tech CEO pitches on a conference call today. 00:10:32.950 --> 00:10:36.090 Right. How was a guy in 1920 doing this? Think 00:10:36.090 --> 00:10:39.460 about his funnel. First, he has the physical 00:10:39.460 --> 00:10:42.639 Wallace Institute in Chicago. The premium in 00:10:42.639 --> 00:10:45.100 -person service. Exactly, the high -touch option. 00:10:45.659 --> 00:10:48.460 Then, he has the physical advertising cards being 00:10:48.460 --> 00:10:51.039 distributed to build awareness. Okay, step two. 00:10:51.240 --> 00:10:54.080 Then, he has the mass broadcast radio program 00:10:54.080 --> 00:10:57.399 Keep Fit to Music. Which is free. The radio show 00:10:57.399 --> 00:11:00.100 is free over the airwaves. It acts as a standalone 00:11:00.100 --> 00:11:03.399 service, but it's also a massive daily marketing 00:11:03.399 --> 00:11:05.789 funnel. Oh, I get it. You listen to him on the 00:11:05.789 --> 00:11:07.950 radio, you realize you like his instruction, 00:11:08.289 --> 00:11:12.809 and suddenly you are primed to buy the premium 00:11:12.809 --> 00:11:15.669 consumer product. The records. The five -part 00:11:15.669 --> 00:11:17.750 Wallace Reducing Records set so you can do it 00:11:17.750 --> 00:11:20.190 whenever you want, not just when the radio show 00:11:20.190 --> 00:11:22.370 is airing. It's brilliant. It's the exact model 00:11:22.370 --> 00:11:24.730 of giving away free content on YouTube channel 00:11:24.730 --> 00:11:27.929 today so that people will buy your app subscription. 00:11:28.070 --> 00:11:30.659 It's identical. You listen on the radio for free. 00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:33.500 You buy the records to get the permanent curriculum 00:11:33.500 --> 00:11:35.480 at home. And if you live in Chicago, maybe you 00:11:35.480 --> 00:11:37.519 eventually walk into the Institute. It's an entire 00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:40.799 ecosystem. It really is. But despite all of this 00:11:40.799 --> 00:11:43.720 innovation, I mean, despite literally inventing 00:11:43.720 --> 00:11:45.879 the at -home exercise record and building this 00:11:45.879 --> 00:11:49.000 massive media funnel, his name isn't exactly 00:11:49.000 --> 00:11:52.019 a household word today. No, it's not. Rodgerson 00:11:52.019 --> 00:11:56.639 died on February 24th, 1943 in Chicago. And for 00:11:56.639 --> 00:11:58.799 a long time, it seems like his exact place in 00:11:58.799 --> 00:12:01.620 history was completely murky. Or just outright 00:12:01.620 --> 00:12:04.519 stolen. Yeah. History is rarely a clean, straight 00:12:04.519 --> 00:12:07.500 line. And that brings us to one of the most compelling 00:12:07.500 --> 00:12:10.309 parts of his story. I love this part. It involves 00:12:10.309 --> 00:12:13.230 a PBS broadcast from over half a century after 00:12:13.230 --> 00:12:17.409 his death. Yes. On September 6, 2011, the PBS 00:12:17.409 --> 00:12:20.529 show History Detectives actually aired an investigation 00:12:20.529 --> 00:12:22.509 into Wallace Rogerson's legacy. It's a great 00:12:22.509 --> 00:12:25.690 episode. It turns out there was a massive historical 00:12:25.690 --> 00:12:28.129 dispute over who really started this whole industry. 00:12:28.289 --> 00:12:30.350 The dispute centered around another historical 00:12:30.350 --> 00:12:33.000 figure named Walter Camp. Right. For a very long 00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:34.799 time, there was a serious question of who actually 00:12:34.799 --> 00:12:37.379 got there first in terms of marketing these weight 00:12:37.379 --> 00:12:39.740 reduction exercise records. Particularly to the 00:12:39.740 --> 00:12:42.519 female demographic. Exactly. Camp was often the 00:12:42.519 --> 00:12:46.059 one getting the credit. It's like a 1920s fitness 00:12:46.059 --> 00:12:49.720 influencer rivalry, Rodgerson versus Camp. Basically, 00:12:49.879 --> 00:12:52.720 yeah. But why does that happen? If Rogerson literally 00:12:52.720 --> 00:12:55.600 invented the category and had this massive radio 00:12:55.600 --> 00:12:58.179 and record empire, how does he get bumped to 00:12:58.179 --> 00:13:01.159 the footnotes in favor of someone else for decades? 00:13:01.460 --> 00:13:03.639 Because being first doesn't always guarantee 00:13:03.639 --> 00:13:06.100 you get the credit in the history books. Often, 00:13:06.500 --> 00:13:08.600 history favors whoever comes along with a slightly 00:13:08.600 --> 00:13:11.419 louder megaphone later or whoever happens to 00:13:11.419 --> 00:13:14.279 have their physical records survive in a museum 00:13:14.279 --> 00:13:16.580 archive. While the actual pioneers work gets 00:13:16.580 --> 00:13:19.259 scratched or thrown away. Exactly. History is 00:13:19.259 --> 00:13:22.460 notoriously messy that way. But the 2011 PBS 00:13:22.460 --> 00:13:25.259 investigation finally settled the score. They 00:13:25.259 --> 00:13:27.799 proved definitively that Wallace records actually 00:13:27.799 --> 00:13:30.139 preceded Walter Camp's efforts. Rodgerson really 00:13:30.139 --> 00:13:31.980 was the first. He finally got his crown back. 00:13:31.980 --> 00:13:34.600 He did. But there is another massive connection 00:13:34.600 --> 00:13:37.600 in his legacy. The Wikipedia article states that 00:13:37.600 --> 00:13:40.340 Rodgerson's work directly presaged the work of 00:13:40.340 --> 00:13:43.019 Jack LaLanne. Right. And if we connect this to 00:13:43.019 --> 00:13:46.620 the bigger picture, it highlights how true pioneers 00:13:47.080 --> 00:13:50.039 are often eclipsed when the medium they worked 00:13:50.039 --> 00:13:53.529 in gets superseded by new technology. So what 00:13:53.529 --> 00:13:56.549 does this all mean for how we view fitness history? 00:13:56.710 --> 00:13:59.149 I mean, everyone knows Jack LaLanne. Oh, absolutely. 00:13:59.350 --> 00:14:02.210 He is universally recognized as the godfather 00:14:02.210 --> 00:14:05.049 of modern fitness. He's the guy in the iconic 00:14:05.049 --> 00:14:07.730 jumpsuit on television doing jumping jacks and 00:14:07.730 --> 00:14:10.169 inspiring the nation. A total legend. Why do 00:14:10.169 --> 00:14:13.309 we remember the TV guy so vividly and almost 00:14:13.309 --> 00:14:16.169 completely forget the radio and record guy who 00:14:16.169 --> 00:14:19.389 came decades earlier? Because audio was eventually 00:14:19.389 --> 00:14:22.169 eclipsed by television. Makes sense. When Jack 00:14:22.169 --> 00:14:24.389 LaLanne came along and brought fitness to television, 00:14:24.929 --> 00:14:27.509 he was adding a visual component that was incredibly 00:14:27.509 --> 00:14:29.730 sticky for a mass audience. You could finally 00:14:29.730 --> 00:14:32.230 see the exercises. Exactly. Not just hear the 00:14:32.230 --> 00:14:35.750 audio cues and the music. The screen became the 00:14:35.750 --> 00:14:37.870 dominant interface for the American living room. 00:14:38.029 --> 00:14:40.129 It's easy to assume the revolution started with 00:14:40.129 --> 00:14:42.309 the screen, just because the screen is what we 00:14:42.309 --> 00:14:44.870 all ended up staring at. Precisely. We confuse 00:14:44.870 --> 00:14:46.809 the interface with the actual operating system. 00:14:46.850 --> 00:14:49.090 Oh, I like that. What Rodgerson's story makes 00:14:49.090 --> 00:14:51.529 crystal clear is that Jack LaLanne didn't invent 00:14:51.529 --> 00:14:54.590 the underlying concept of at -home media -guided 00:14:54.590 --> 00:14:57.690 fitness. Right? LaLanne simply changed the interface 00:14:57.690 --> 00:15:00.570 from an audio speaker to a glass screen. Wow. 00:15:00.879 --> 00:15:03.840 It was Wallace M. Rogerson who proved that the 00:15:03.840 --> 00:15:05.980 home audience appetite even existed in the first 00:15:05.980 --> 00:15:08.320 place. He took the risk. He took on the massive 00:15:08.320 --> 00:15:10.259 risk of proving that regular people were willing 00:15:10.259 --> 00:15:13.159 to buy a piece of media specifically to sweat 00:15:13.159 --> 00:15:15.000 to it in the privacy of their own living rooms. 00:15:15.320 --> 00:15:17.639 Rogerson wrote the original code. And everyone 00:15:17.639 --> 00:15:19.779 else since then has just been updating the software. 00:15:19.960 --> 00:15:22.519 It's just staggering to think about the timeline 00:15:22.519 --> 00:15:25.679 here from a physical grindmortar gym in Chicago 00:15:25.679 --> 00:15:29.559 in 1918 to pressing his commanding voice onto 00:15:29.559 --> 00:15:33.539 a 78 RPM record in 1920. To having his rightful 00:15:33.539 --> 00:15:36.299 place in history verified by PBS Detectives in 00:15:36.299 --> 00:15:38.919 2011. So for you, the listener, the next time 00:15:38.919 --> 00:15:41.000 you hit play on your smartwatch or open up that 00:15:41.000 --> 00:15:43.179 yoga app on your phone or start a guided run, 00:15:43.500 --> 00:15:46.120 just remember that you are participating in a 00:15:46.120 --> 00:15:48.519 century old tradition. A very long tradition. 00:15:48.779 --> 00:15:51.740 You are stepping right into a lineage of at -home 00:15:51.740 --> 00:15:55.259 fitness that started with Get Thin to Music and 00:15:55.259 --> 00:15:58.679 a guy named Wallace M. Rogerson, who had the 00:15:58.679 --> 00:16:01.320 crazy idea that he could train you from the inside 00:16:01.320 --> 00:16:05.659 of a record player. It really is a profound technological 00:16:05.659 --> 00:16:08.639 and cultural leap. It really is. And this raises 00:16:08.639 --> 00:16:10.899 an important question, actually, something I 00:16:10.899 --> 00:16:12.860 really want you to chew on as we wrap up this 00:16:12.860 --> 00:16:15.340 deep dive. OK, what is it? Well, we've talked 00:16:15.340 --> 00:16:17.419 a lot about the mechanism, right? How these records 00:16:17.419 --> 00:16:20.240 contain verbal lessons and music recorded by 00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:22.559 Rodgerson himself. Yeah. But I want you to think 00:16:22.559 --> 00:16:25.399 about the sheer psychological shift this required 00:16:25.399 --> 00:16:28.320 from the consumer in 1920. What do you mean? 00:16:28.899 --> 00:16:31.860 Before Wallace Rodgerson came along, the phonograph 00:16:31.860 --> 00:16:34.740 in your living room was a machine that played 00:16:34.740 --> 00:16:37.110 music for your entertainment. It was a completely 00:16:37.110 --> 00:16:39.889 subservient device. You turned it on to relax 00:16:39.889 --> 00:16:42.529 or to set the mood for a dinner party or to listen 00:16:42.529 --> 00:16:45.789 to a story. It served you. Okay. But Rogerson 00:16:45.789 --> 00:16:48.570 flipped that dynamic entirely by putting his 00:16:48.570 --> 00:16:51.590 verbal commands, his breathless pacing, and his 00:16:51.590 --> 00:16:53.730 physical expectations onto that piece of vinyl. 00:16:53.990 --> 00:16:56.649 He turned the machine into an authority figure 00:16:56.649 --> 00:16:59.480 in the home. That is so true. Did Wallace M. 00:16:59.600 --> 00:17:02.299 Rogerson not just invent the home workout, but 00:17:02.299 --> 00:17:05.160 fundamentally change the parasocial relationship 00:17:05.160 --> 00:17:07.660 between consumers and machines? I've never thought 00:17:07.660 --> 00:17:10.339 about it like that. He essentially took a passive, 00:17:10.700 --> 00:17:13.279 entertaining wooden box in the corner of the 00:17:13.279 --> 00:17:16.380 living room and turned it into a commanding presence 00:17:16.380 --> 00:17:19.039 that told you exactly what to do with your own 00:17:19.039 --> 00:17:21.500 body. And the wildest part is... You listened.