Where does Fitness come from?

Hey EVERYONE! So, I am been learning a lot about the history of physical activity and education in a class I am taking. Over the course of the semester we have been looking at the ancient history and going through the years that leads up until now. It has been cool to see how being "fit" has evolved to what it is today. With fitness and living healthy becoming a growing industry it's interesting to me to learn the history because really all these things go back to the ancient times starting with Greece and Rome, which  we all seem to know about, but I myself didn't realize how much of physical education had developed from Renaissance, Enlightenment and Reformation. We see people start to wonder and challenge the body and see what it could do. We saw the first physical educators explore different exercise in the 1800s, which then got brought into the United States. An interesting part to this history is the fact of how much American fitness developed during the late 1800s and early 1900s. A huge part of the thinking was bettering yourself and to be "fit" and promote better health and living conditions. This was the first time period we started to see women getting active; it was socially okay. Women danced and lifted, strong women was beginning to be popular. Isn't that what we are looking for today? To feel good in our own body? As women aren't we just as strong as men? There is so much more I could go into and look into on the history of fitness, but I just feel that the coolest connections of a healthy life is in how we feel and what we want to be. We are in control of our bodies no one else is. In our history we see these questions asked and answered through being active. Personally doing something active and having fun outdoors: running, playing soccer or simply taking a walk is where I feel the best. My challenge this semester and the rest of school is to find that time to do something I love. I challenge all of the readers to do the same.

Try to answer this: What is something you feel in control of your body and simply love to do?

                               Where does your feeling of "fit" come from?

Keep Running and Explore

- Sara