If you've ever felt frustrated with modern gym culture, it may be tempting to imagine a fitness utopia where your appearance doesn't matter, diets don't exist, and no one is trying to sell you anything. It may be even more tempting to yearn for a return to pre-social media fitness culture, before the fitspiration feeds and the Gymshark hauls and the "What I Eat in a Day" videos trying to convince you 1,200 calories is enough to sustain an adult woman. But what would we actually find if we scrolled up on the history of American fitness culture? Would it be any more inclusive and welcoming?