The Origin and Popularity of the Expander
by Syd Devis, from his book 'All About Strand Pulling'
(vintage)
The expander, chest expander, or elastic strand exerciser, is an apparatus for physical exercise that is second to none in popularity. Many reasons have been advanced to explain this, but none appears to be satisfactory in itself—the probable truth being that the expander is universally approved for a variety of reasons.
In its portability, the expander possesses no rival, and this valuable factor in part explains its wide use. It may be comfortably carried in a pocket and conveniently called into use in the most confined of spaces. Any increase to its power can be made without necessarily increasing its bulk. It is the ideal apparatus for exercise for the man who travels about from place to place. It is the perfect answer to the problem of exercising in the restricted space of a small home. The neatness of its appearance, and the facility with which it can be made to range over any and every degree of strength, make the expander both an efficient and a pleasant form of apparatus. The mere addition or subtraction of a strand or two, or the employment or discard of strands of " heavy " caliber, make the expander fit for the use of an infant, an athlete, an invalid, or a young girl. Despite this easy and happy adaptability, the expander is capable of fully testing the prowess of the strongest man alive. Is it any wonder that this unique apparatus should enjoy world-wide esteem?
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There are yet other aspects that enhance the value of this exerciser. No apparatus would be popular if it were not efficient—if it could not do the job required of it—but the expander is satisfactory in every way. It is capable of exercising the human frame in an infinite number of ways. No muscular group need be neglected. Its use tones the whole body up to an excellent state of fitness. Whether the desire be for strength, increase of body-bulk, or the attainment of physical proportions approaching perfection, the employment of the expander can supply the answer. It is also extremely valuable as an apparatus for the removal of physical disabilities, as it lends itself admirably to curative exercises.
The construction and nature of the strand itself closely approximates that of the human muscle. Muscle consists of a great number of muscular fibers that have the property of contraction and extension. The elastic " base " of a strand is fundamentally similar. In using strands for exercise, it follows that muscles are being exercised against the resistance of "muscle-like" apparatus; in other words, the employment of an expander is the closest approach that can be made to applying one man's strength against another's. This means that strand-pulling is a natural form of exercise, and as such has an immediate appeal that other forms of apparatus must lack. To use an expander is like pitting one's strength against another's, and almost engenders a feeling of rivalry!
The many points I have outlined above should make it obvious why the expander has so great an appeal for strand-pullers and athletes, but perhaps does not account for the popularity it attains with the ordinary un-initiated man— even upon his first encounter with it. There is a deeper reason for this, and a far more intangible one. The truth is that the expander has " grown-up " with the human race and is almost a part of our sub-consciousness. The history of this apparatus is extraordinarily vague, and it can be said with safety that no one man will be revealed as its discoverer or any particular spot as its birth place. We can trace the expander back to Victorian years, when it was very similar to that employed to-day, but it has existed for many hundreds of years before that—if in cruder form! Its true age will never be determined, for the expander is a natural development from the use of the bow in archery! Once this is realized, it will be readily appreciated that the expander is indeed a very ancient form of apparatus.
Medieval Archer
The use of the bow can be traced back to Stone-Age man in the days when history was not recorded. As a favored weapon, the bow was employed right from these early days to comparatively recent times—and is still employed in the by no means dead or dying sport of archery. This long association of the human race with the bow has made an indelible mark on our sub-conscious minds, and is a part of what scientists call our " racial experience." This—in short—means that we all have a sneaking fancy and fondness for archery without perhaps knowing it. What child has not played with a home-made bow and arrow ? The bow, as a weapon for the hunt, is still employed by certain tribes in primitive parts of the world. The action of stretching a bow is precisely similar to that of extending an expander; it ought to be for there can be little doubt that the expander has developed from the bow.
Any bow demands a certain degree of strength to extend it and dispatch an arrow, and some of the more powerful types of bow demanded almost super-human strength. The extension of some bows became a trial of strength, and men would pride themselves on their prowess when they successfully extended a famous bow. Perhaps one of the strongest of all bows was the English long-bow which annihilated the armored-pride of France at the Battle of Crecy, and which is familiar to us in the stories about the legendary Robin Hood. The stronger the bow, and the stronger the archer, the further an arrow could be sent, and the thicker the amour it could penetrate. There is no doubt that bowmen exercised continually to increase their power, and it is reasonable to suppose that they employed a range of bows enabling them to increase the strength and resistance afforded until they were ultimately able fully to stretch a most powerful bow. In other words, they were using an elementary form of expander. It would not be too fanciful a stretch of imagination to conceive that some man fastened bow strings to the floor or wall and practiced pulling at them to increase his strength as an archer, and that in this way the expander slowly came into being in a form closely approaching that in which we know it to-day. The bow as an apparatus for muscular exercise would permit of a fairly large variety of exercises in itself. The natives of Patagonia, even to this day, employ a powerful type of bow which they extend by lying on their backs, pulling at the cord with two hands and simultaneously extending the bow by pushing it out with the feet. This particular action would naturally employ nearly every major muscular group in the human anatomy. It is to the schools for the ancient bowmen, therefore, that we must attribute the emergence of the elastic cable exerciser—even in its use as a wall-exerciser; and, because the bow is wrapped up in our sub-conscious minds, the expander is a natural part of our beings.
Alfred Danks
Historical and practical reasons form a picture from which the popularity of the expander is readily understandable; the efficiency it presents in use as an exerciser is the final word.
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