Aristotle was a weightlifter

The internet is saturated with fitness advice. Too many people with too many opinions are giving their two cents worth and the quality of the information is incredibly hit and miss. There are some very high quality bloggers out there who give great advice for free. To balance them out there are some really misinformed people who, unintentionally or not, are hindering progress in the industry by confusing people and bringing us all down. Thankfully it is becoming more common for people to reference their opinions so their advice comes with context. What is important to remember is that even though opinions are referenced and qualifications are boasted, it is only ever an opinion. I guarantee that whatever advice you have heard there will be a qualified someone out there who disagrees. Some of it is down to ulterior motives, but for the most part it is simply honest debate.

Which I am all for.



What I would like to do is to simply promote exercise. I am not referencing weightlifting, intervals or endurance training . I also am not going to mention the tremendous health benefits it provides, it has been done to death.

I am a firm believer that health is equally weighted into two qualities; mental and physical. These are both equally important and exercise offers so much more than simply looking good. I believe it gives a solid base on which to train your mind, allowing you to achieve your potential.

Aristotle theorised that for a person to be truly happy they needed to fulfil their potential, be successful in life, be valued in society but also they needed to value themselves. They would achieve these things through virtuous behaviour.

He said virtues are not innate, they need to be worked on . First we were encouraged by our parents not to tell lies/steal/cheat etc. and so we didn’t. But as we grew we realised the intrinsic value of these behaviours and only then truly understood our own morality. I think what qualifies someone as virtuous does somewhat vary. For me a non exhaustive list includes: diligence, honesty, self control, self esteem, patience, ambition and focus.

I believe these are tested in the pursuit of physical fitness. Working against an extrinsic force such as exercise encourages people to be virtuous. Fitness training forces you to constantly reassess your core values to continue improving. This state of mind and constant focus on improvement builds the confidence necessary to achieve your full potential in every aspect of life. Which ultimately leads to the greatest good, true happiness and the sense of being all that you can be.

Happiness through achieving your potential is the ultimate reason for action. All other activities have a motivation leading us to this greatest goal. Choosing activities in which you develop yourself will result in the greatest return and fulfilment. I personally believe that there is no better activity to choose than exercise for self improvement. Whether it be sport, gym work or going walking on weekends. As long as there is some quantifiable means of improvement to judge yourself against, you can’t really go wrong.


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