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Reviews
Let's Get Physical: How Women Discovered Exercise and Reshaped the World by Danielle Friedman
lspargo's review
4.0
Fun history of how women started exercising, and the various trends throughout the last 70 years. It's ridiculous, but not surprising, how misunderstood women's bodies have historically been, the epitome of which is the belief that women's uteruses would fall out with too much vigorous exercise. I especially enjoyed the chapter on running, and liked learning about the backstory of both the Jane Fonda workout and the Buns of Steel videos, both of which we had around when I was growing up. Fascinating, well researched, and well rounded book.
asurges's review
4.0
As someone who likes to exercise but struggles, like the author, with the ways that exercise and fitness have placed expectations on women's bodies, being "in shape" is complicated. Friedman gives a comprehensive history of women's exercise in the 20th and 21st centuries, but I wish the book had a bit more of a through line and conclusion about what fitness means to us now and what it might mean in the future.
ncrozier's review
3.0
As a non-fiction book, the author writes in a way that is clear and entertaining. However, I wasn't as interested in the content as I expected. Most of the book focused on a few specific people rather than the trends themselves, and overall focused on the positives, not the negatives of trends (and people).
juliesinstaricelife's review
3.0
This was interesting but not what I was expecting. I thought it would cover more in depth of how the exercise reshaped the world (like the title says) rather than just mini biographies of key players in exercise. It skimmed some of the changes but not in any new or exciting way for me.