Nutrition and Fitness from the First Olympiad in 776 BC to the 21 st Century and the Concept of Positive Health

摘要

All parts of the body which have a function, if used in moderation and exercised in labors in which each is accustomed, become thereby healthy, well developed, and age more slowly, but if unused and left idle they become liable to disease, defective in growth, and age quickly. Greek civilization is credited with giving the world the idea of excellence, or 'arete'. Greek men were expected to demonstrate excellence in a number of venues: on the battlefield, in politics, and in sports. Your position inGreek society was determined by what other people thought of you. It was a very competitive world. The Olympic games were an opportunity to demonstrate excellence in public, not only for personal glory, but to please the Gods, in this case, Zeus. As partof a major religious celebration, the games took place in the Altis, the sacred grove of Zeus, and featured the sacrifice of 100 oxen on the middle day of the Festival. Since the earliest times, athletics have been an integral part of man's life and culture. Originally a part of the basic requirements for survival either for gathering food or protecting oneself and family, eventually athletics developed into contests of speed, strength and skill. With further passage of time, these contests were transformed into more complicated forms of exercise because of a lessening of the need for basic survival skills, the advent of more leisure time, and the ingenuity of man himself.