Art of preserving health: studies on the medical supervision of physical exercise

Abstract

To the ancient Greeks, physical exercise was an essential part of life, especially during adolescence and young adulthood. Long after the end of the Classical Greek era, Roman conquest brought a shift towards martial training, increased professionalism in athletic competition and a weak strand of restorative gymnastics kept barely intact by the likes of Galen. While the crux of these teachings was the use of exercise, among other things, to promote and maintain health, the emphasis began to shift to concerns about the health of athletes and the medical problems brought about by exercise. Fashions in athletic training began to change in the mid-nineteenth century, but the mystique associated with athletic training pervaded much of the thinking and still persists today where, in this modern scientific period of exercise and health, physiologists, physical educators and physicians have become involved in seeking to apply the scientific method to what has become known as exercise science. The modern concept of sports medicine tends to emphasize the training and welfare of the elite athlete.