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6 Aesthetics Training result in stress on the knee joint while stepping up and Achilles tendon or toe stress while stepping backward. The bench should be about four inches off the ground for beginners and able to hold the weight of the participant (most benches are designed to hold up to 200 pounds). The bench should also have a surface that prevents slippage and should not slide while being used. Otherwise, it is helpful to remove items on the floor that aerobics participants could trip over (e.g., water bottle, hand weights, sweatshirt) and to keep floors clean and dry. Christina Girod and R. K. Devlin See also: Cardiovascular Exercise Fonda, Jane Jazzercise Simmons, Richard Zumba. FURTHER READING Brown, Dawn. Complete Guide to Step Aerobics. Jones and Bartlett Series in Health Sciences. Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 1992. Pahmeier, Iris, and Corinna Niederbaumer. Step Aerobics: Fitness Training for Schools, Clubs and Studios. Aachen, Germany: Meyer & Meyer Sport, 2000. Aesthetics Training Aesthetics training is exercise that is intended to maximize physical attractiveness rather than health, fitness, or strength. This type of activity is most visible in aes- thetic bodybuilding, which has figure development as an ultimate goal rather than strength building or athletic endurance. Some competitive aesthetic bodybuilders use the term figure athletes to describe themselves, and they use their physiques to earn money by competing in figure competitions, serving as spokesmodels for fitness-related products, and working as personal trainers, fitness center owners, or media personalities. Aesthetics training has its roots in anthropometry, which is the classification of ideal human physical proportions. Anthropometry began with the sculptors of ancient Greece. These artists were strongly influenced by the philosophy at the time, which included the belief that divine perfection was hidden in nature and could be discovered through mathematics. This idea gained further trac- tion during the Italian Renaissance, when movable type and printable paper brought the ancient Greek philosophical ideas to a larger number of people, while the discoveries of Pompeii and Herculaneum unearthed caches of classi- cal artwork. Anthropometry defines physical perfection in terms of ideal proportions and symmetry rather than specific sizes or weights. Proportion refers to the relative lengths of various parts of the body in comparison with one another, particularly of different bones and the ratio of muscle to tendon. Symmetry refers to the match in size and shape between the left and right sides of the body. In 1893, the artistic study of the ideal physical form met showmanship for the first time. Circus performer Eugen Sandow (born Friedrich Wilhelm Müller) became the first aesthetic bodybuilder. Like figure models, circus strongmen trace their roots to the classical era, when gladiators—physically trained slaves or prisoners of war—competed in public arenas, often to the death. Following the