Strength training was not considered in the mid-20th century due to a fear that it was dangerous stemming from George Winship's death in the late 1880s.

“No one has thought anything about strength training and here's why. In the late 1880s, there was a very famous physician named-- George Winship, I think was his name, who was a big proponent of strength training. Well, he died in the age of 50 something of a heart attack. And that terrified people of strength training for 70 years because they're like, whoa, whoa, whoa. That stuff will kill you because he was a doctor, he was trying-- he was running around the country, doing these exhibitions and reporting it, and then he died.”