The Two Muscle Beaches

If the Totem Pole is our 3 mile turnaround, Muscle Beach is our 5 mile turnaround. But which Muscle Beach?

The original Muscle Beach wasn’t way down in Venice (2.5 miles south of our Leggers clubhouse at 1450 Ocean), but just about two blocks south of the pier in Santa Monica right across from Chess Park. It was founded in 1934 and is credited with being the birthplace of the modern fitness craze in the U.S. Those are bold words, but given the thousands of photos and films shot there it certainly can lay claim to being an icon of American fitness. It was the meeting place of dozens of famous bodybuilders back in the day (Jack LaLanne and Steve Reeves, for example). The original 1934 equipment (including a platform for tumbling and another with weights) were actually installed by the Works Progress Administration during the Depression, an origin this site shares with the stature of Santa Monica at the end of Wilshire up on Ocean (but more about her in a future post).

The original Muscle Beach was more about gymnastics than dumbells, and the modern equipment on that site carries forward the tradition: with a lawn and mats for floor work as well rings and other apparatus for lifting and swinging the park recalls the days when strongmen stuck poses with graceful and strong gymnasts (as in this 1951 movie -- https://youtu.be/UneohSkvNFg).

Muscle Beach Venice was established in the mid-50’s, and it’s really all about the weights and bodybuilding. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny Trejo are two of the more famous muscle men who worked out between 18th and 19th Avenues at Venice’s famous outdoor gym. The facility we turn around at was built in 1990, and on a sunny afternoon the tourists still come to gawk at competitions like this one: https://youtu.be/4YxtLCVsRkk

Oh -- and you can get your picture taken with AHHHNOLD and his Mr. Universe body. You just have to cut over one block on to Speedway and look up when you hit the corner of 18th and Speedway. Selfie opportunity!

Want a deeper dive? Try this site!

http://theironwitness.com/muscle-beach-history-part-1/