i read once the YMCA[pre-village people] was founded in 1841,because with the advent of the Steam Engine,that people were atrophying and getting out of shape. the thought just occured to me as i write this,sports for the common man as opposed to nobility may have became possible. if they had became couch potatos by 1841, their grandfathers who were in wellingtons army must have been formidable. i have also read doc hollidays decline came with the railroads,one author said commuted like a modern urban dweller,where formally he had to take care of the horse and endure hard living on the trail.