Gymnastics Gymnastics came to be at the YMCA in 1869. Three YMCAs, those in Boston, San Francisco, and the 23rd Street Branch in New York City, each constructed buildings with gyms inside. These gyms then allowed men to train on the sport of gymnastics. Most of the men who knew gymnastics, however, were circus performers and did not fit the ideas and values of the YMCA. Robert J. Roberts was one of the original circus performers at the Boston YMCA in the 1870s and 1880s, but he was hurt in a fall and could not perform or teach gymnastics. This led him to start the group exercises that exist currently at YMCAs. Even though Robert stopped teaching gymnastics in Boston, the YMCA in Salem, Massachusetts was creating the sport of gymnastics, holding boy/men classes as far back as 1895, where they learned parallel and horizontal bars, German horse, mat exercises, juggling, and weight lifting. They would then train to perform for an audience.
Gymnastics Gymnastics came to be at the YMCA in 1869. Three YMCAs, those in Boston, San Francisco, and the 23rd Street Branch in New York City, each constructed buildings with gyms inside. These gyms then allowed men to train on the sport o,f gymnastics. Most of the men who knew gymnastics, however, were circus performers and did not fit the ideas and values of the YMCA. Robert J. Roberts was one of the original circus performers at the Boston YMCA in the 1870s and 1880s, but he was hurt in a fall and could not perform or teach gymnastics. This led him to start the group exercises that exist currently at YMCAs. Even though Robert stopped teaching gymnastics in Boston, the YMCA in Salem, Massachusetts was creating the sport of gymnastics, holding boy/men classes as far back as 1895, where they learned parallel and horizontal bars, German horse, mat exercises juggling, and weight lifting. They would then train to perform for an audience.