Russia’s FIRST fitness club was opened by… 2 classic writers! 

It was conceived by famous journalist and writer Vladimir Gilyarovsky and physician Pyotr Postnikov, while medical student and aspiring writer Anton Chekhov was also invited to participate.

This is what the fitness club looked like in 1883: “…two Swedish masts, several poles and ropes. In the middle… was a horizontal bar, closer to the wall hung two pairs of rings and a trapeze. <…> The gym ended in a large, open round arch, behind which, in a small room, was a locker room with wooden boxes for storing gymnastics suits and a number of foils, iron masks and other fencing equipment.”

Visitors admitted that the interior wasn't particularly clean, smelled of sewage and was lit by kerosene lamps that smoked mercilessly and sometimes burst. But, an annual membership was inexpensive – just 12 rubles (approx. 18,000 rubles or $224 today).

The gym also offered individual or group workouts, as well as fencing lessons. City authorities were, however, suspicious of the idea: What if these “gymnasts” were up to no good? So, detectives often entered the gym disguised as club members. Security agents were stationed nearby on Strastnoy Boulevard and a police post was set up on the corner of Bolshaya Dmitrovka Street.

Chekhov visited the gym regularly, but "…he practiced sloppily, often threw down one or another apparatus and liked to watch others doing gymnastics." Compared to the powerfully built Gilyarovsky, he looked frail and joked, "What kind of gymnast am I? I'm a weak, modern man!"