View source for Engineering:Halteres (ancient Greece)

[[Image:Halteres from ancient Greece.JPG|thumb|200px|Halteres used in athletic games in ancient Greece, National Archaeological Museum, Athens.]]
'''Halteres''' ({{IPAc-en|h|æ|l|ˈ|t|ər|iː|z}}; {{lang-el|ἁλτῆρες}},<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Da%28lth%3Dres ἁλτῆρες], 
Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus Digital Library</ref> from "ἅλλομαι" - ''hallomai'', "leap, spring";<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Da%28%2Fllomai ἅλλομαι], Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus Digital Library</ref> cf. "ἅλμα" - ''halma'', "leaping"<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Da%28%2Flma ἅλμα], Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus Digital Library</ref>) were a type of dumbbells used in {{wipe|Ancient Greece}}. In Ancient Greek sports, halteres were used as lifting weights,<ref name=":3">Norman Gardiner, ''Athletics in the Ancient World'', Dover, 2002, on [https://books.google.com/books?id=UdRZkKCHoXoC&dq=halteres+galen&pg=PA153 Google books]</ref><ref>Bill Pearl, ''Getting Stronger: Weight Training for Sports'', Shelter, 2005, on [https://books.google.com/books?id=wQD2PgD85O8C&dq=halteres+galen&pg=PA388 Google books]</ref> and also as weights in their version of the long jump.<ref>Stephen G. Miller, ''Ancient Greek Athletics'', Yale University Press, 2006, on [https://books.google.com/books?id=3Wdh6YGXOxMC&dq=halteres+halter&pg=PA64 Google books]</ref> Halteres were held in both hands to allow an athlete to jump a greater distance; they may have been dropped after the first or second jump.

The athlete would swing the weights backwards and forwards just before take-off, thrust them forwards during take-off, and swing them backwards just before releasing them and landing. Halteres were made of stone or metal, and weighed between {{convert|2|and|9|kg|0|abbr=on}}. They added about {{convert|17|cm|0|abbr=on}} to a {{convert|3|m|0|abbr=on}} long jump.<ref>{{cite journal|author= Minetti, Alberto E |journal= Nature |volume=420 | doi=10.1038/420141a  |pages=141–142 |date= 14 November 2002|title=Biomechanics: Halteres used in ancient Olympic long jump|issue= 6912 |pmid= 12432378 |bibcode= 2002Natur.420..141M |s2cid= 4342831 }}</ref>

== History ==
Recognized as the Greek equivalent of modern-day dumbbells, the halteres served multiple uses from training to competition. Ancient Greek records shows the evidence of the halteres dating to as far back as 700 BC. In Ancient Greece, exercise and training was highly valued. By the 5th Century BC, halteres were of common use in Ancient Greek training regimes. Popularity of the halteres grew globally as by the 2nd Century BC, famous Greek physician, [[Biography:Galen|Galen]], came up with a variety of exercises that required the use of halteres.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|date=2023-03-27|title=Dumbbells, The Origin |url=https://mysportsshop.ca/dumbbells-the-origin/|language=en}}</ref> Galen insisted halteres as a necessity for physical fitness as it trained the body for war.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Senex|first=Perseus Americanus|date=2017-09-01|title=Old School Strength: The Roman Origins [LONG]|url=https://theolderavocado.wordpress.com/2017/09/01/old-school-strength-part-i-the-roman-origin/|access-date=2020-12-08|website=The Older² Avocado|language=en}}</ref>  

The Romans, who also had a strong concern on physical fitness as a civic virtue, adopted the use of halteres in their exercises as a means to strengthen their armies.<ref name=":1" /> In his book ''Description Of Greece'', Greek geographer Pausanias defined halteres as “half of a circle, but elliptical and made so that the fingers pass through as they do through the handle of a shield.”<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|last=Heffernan|first=Conor|date=2015-01-19|title=Halteres: The Dumbbell of Ancient Greece|url=https://physicalculturestudy.com/2015/01/19/halteres-the-dumbbell-of-ancient-greece/|access-date=2020-12-08|website=Physical Culture Study|language=en-US}}</ref>

Regarding the Greeks, specifically Greek pentathletes, halteres were most popularly used to train for specific sporting events in the [[Social:Ancient Olympic Games|Ancient Olympic Games]], most notably the long jumping events.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=2019-08-12|title=How the Ancient World Lifted Weights|url=https://barbend.com/history-of-strength-training/|access-date=2020-12-08|website=BarBend|language=en-US}}</ref> The use of halteres built strength and allowed for stronger athletic performances from Ancient Greek athletes.

== As exercise equipment ==
According to Greek surgeon Antyllus, the use of halteres in workouts consisted of three main exercises:{{Citation needed|date=November 2021}} 
* '''Curls''' – similar to modern bicep curls, halteres were curled up from the waist to the shoulders with the forearm held straight.
* '''Lunges''' – whereas modern day lunges are mainly focused to train the lower body, the Ancient Greeks used halteres in lunging form to train the shoulders. While lunging, halteres were held out front with both arms stretched at full length. (Modern lunges are performed with the dumbbells hanging at the side of the body.)
* '''Deadlifts''' – similar to modern deadlifts, though instead of a using a bar, users picked up each haltere with the respective hand while bending the lower back and then straightening it. Bending and straightening was repeated while lifting the halteres.

== Use in long-jumping ==
To gain maximum distance in jumping, Ancient Greek athletes held the halteres in both hands, swinging them outward during takeoff and then behind during landing. According to physiologists, the halteres distributed a shift in the body's center of gravity, thus increasing a jumpers arc by at least a few centimeters during an event.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Powell|first=Kendall|date=2002-11-14|title=Weights gave Olympian long-jumpers a hand|url=http://www.nature.com/articles/news021111-8|journal=Nature|language=en|pages=news021111–8|doi=10.1038/news021111-8|issn=0028-0836}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
The Akmatidas Haltere.jpg|A halter belonged to Spartan athlete, Akmatidas, the winner of a pentathlon competition in the Ancient Olympic Games. [http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/1/eh151.jsp?obj_id=3488 Museum of the History of the Olympic Games of antiquity] in Olympia, Greece
Ancient Greek jumping weights Nationalmuseet.jpg|Ancient Greek jumping weights
Jumping weights BM GR1837-6.9-83.jpg|A different design of the weights
Jumper with weights and aulos player Staatliche Antikensammlungen 1892.jpg|Athlete holding halteres. {{wipe|Ancient Greece}} Attic black-figure lekythos, 525–500 BC, from [[Place:Sicily|Sicily]]. Staatliche Antikensammlungen, Munich.
Jumper with weights Staatliche Antikensammlungen 2635.jpg|Young athlete with jumping weights, used to maintain equilibrium during the jump
</gallery>

==See also==
*Vertical jump
*History of physical training and fitness

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Sports equipment]]

{{Sourceattribution|Halteres (ancient Greece)}}