Health club

A health club (also known as a fitness club, fitness center, health spa, and commonly referred to as a gym) is a place which houses exercise equipment for the purpose of physical exercise.

Facilities and services

Main workout area

Most health clubs have a main workout area, which primarily consists of free weights including dumbbells, barbells and exercise machines. This area often includes mirrors so that exercisers can monitor and maintain correct posture during their workout.

A gym that predominantly or exclusively consists of free weights (dumbbells and barbells), as opposed to exercise machines, is sometimes referred to as a black-iron gym, after the traditional color of weight plates.

Cardio area/Theatre

A cardio theater or cardio area includes many types of cardiovascular training-related equipment such as rowing machines, stationary exercise bikes, elliptical trainers and treadmills. These areas often include a number of audio-visual displays (either integrated into the equipment, or placed on walls around the area itself) in order to keep exercisers entertained during long cardio workout sessions.

Health Club (TV series)

Health Club is an Australian television series which aired from 1957 to 1959, also known as Health and Happiness. A daytime series aired on Melbourne station HSV-7, very little information is available on the series, however it is notable as an early example of an Australian television series aimed at women. A 15-minute series, it was hosted by Beryl Wright and aired weekly on Wednesdays.

For much of its run, it aired as part of a programming block called Home, which also included The Jean Bowring Show. For example, on 13 November 1957 the Home Programme consisted of Cooking (with Jean Bowring), Home Decoration (with Joyce Turner), Beauty (with Bambi Smith), Shopping Guide (with Brenda Marshall) and Health Club, with the programming block running from 2:30PM to 4:00PM, and followed by the station signing-off for 75 minutes.

Under the Health and Happiness title during 1959, the series was preceded on the HSV schedule by My Fair Lady and followed by Drama (which typically consisted of selections of American anthology series Four Star Playhouse).