Awkward and Candid Photos of Presidents and Their Families

Silent Cal wasn’t so silent in the gym. Here, President Calvin Coolidge joins a workout session that looks more like circus training than fitness. With resistance bands strapped to the wall and hefty Indian clubs in hand, Coolidge gamely tried his best to keep up with the era’s exercise trends.

The photo is a time capsule of early 20th-century wellness—when staying fit meant swinging wooden clubs and pulling on contraptions that resembled medieval torture devices. Coolidge’s stoic expression makes it even funnier, as if he’s treating this like a serious presidential duty. Fitness, 1920s-style, was no joke.