10 Things You Didn’t Know About the Famous Muscle Beach

It’s a historic site for athletes, but with two nearby workout pens carrying the name, sorting out the Muscle Beach exercise scene can be tricky.

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Complex Original

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No trip to Los Angeles is complete without some beach time. The cities of Venice and Santa Monica have beautiful coastline to enjoy, but they also contain important sporting landmarks. The original Muscle Beach, located in Santa Monica, carries a name that invokes images of massively built men flexing in tiny bathing suits while the California sun bronzes their well-oiled muscles. That may be what goes down at the newer Muscle Beach, located in Venice, but the original was home to gymnastics, aerobics, and overall fitness. It’s a historic site for athletes and fans alike, but with two nearby workout pens carrying the name “Muscle Beach,” sorting out the beach exercise scene can be tricky. 

Sift through the confusion in 10 Things You Didn’t Know About the Famous Muscle Beach

It was built out of the government’s “New Deal” during the Great Depression.

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At first, Muscle Beach was used mostly as a site for people to play volleyball, ping pong, and even chess.

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The 1933 Long Beach earthquake served as the catalyst for gymnasts flocking to Muscle Beach.

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In the 1950s, crowds of over 10,000 would gather on weekends to see athletes put on exhibitions at Muscle Beach.

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The athletes and gymnasts who gathered at Muscle Beach were serious about their craft. Toward the end of the Great Depression, enthusiasts of physical culture (these people would be known as sports fans today) hit up Muscle Beach to admire its stars. 

WWII served as a period of transition for Muscle Beach. Pudgy and Les Stockton, two of Muscle Beach’s original stars, took up jobs working for the government, along with everyone else in the scene. WWII was a time for work, not exercise. 

The equipment didn’t go to rust, though. Servicemen stationed in Los Angeles began training at Muscle Beach, and once WWII ended, the workout scene had become even more hardcore. 

At its height, Muscle Beach not only evolved into a place for dedicated gymnasts and bodybuilders to workout, but also into a source of local entertainment. Before professional sports existed out in Los Angeles (the Dodgers didn’t move to California until 1958), Muscle Beach was the place to see freakish feats of athletic achievement. Like this dude doing a crazy bar-handstand in 1955:

Fitness pioneers Jack LaLanne, Steve “Hercules” Reeves, Armand Tanny, and Joe Gold all got their starts in the spotlight at Muscle Beach.

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During the peak of Muscle Beach, Muscle House was opened to house and feed bodybuilders for only $100 a month.

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Muscle Beach was shut down in the middle of the night in 1959 without any warning.

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Santa Monica’s refurbishment of Muscle Beach in 1989 made it a fitness destination for toddlers.

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When Muscle Beach reopened in 1999, it was constructed to exactly replicate the original.

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“Muscle Beach Venice” wasn’t named until the City of Los Angeles got the blessing to do so from Armand Tanny.

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