PicoBlog

If you’re a subscriber here, then chances are you’re interested in getting jacked, both mentally and physically. So today, I wanted to take a look at the links between fitness, specifically bodybuilding, and philosophy, looking at what renowned philosophers of the past believed about the topic.

I’m sure you’ve heard the quote,

“No man has the right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training. It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.”

So, just from this, we can see that Socrates was in favour of working out.

We can see more of his motivations behind this view in Xenophon’s Memorabilia, where in Book 3 Part 12 he tells one of his friends, Epigenes, that he needs to hit the gym, “You looks as if you needs exercise”

Epigenes responds with the excuse, “I’m not an athlete, Socrates”

Socrates argues that regardless of the fact he is not a professional athlete, he should look after his body as “many, thanks to their bad condition, lose their life in the perils of war or save it disgracefully”

He even goes so far as to say that because of poor shape, some are taken as prisoners and slaves, and become infamous for being a coward.

He also goes on to explain how getting into fitness can create a positive snowball effect in the rest of your life,

“The fit are healthy and strong; and many, as a consequence, save themselves decorously on the battle-field and escape all the dangers of war; many help friends and do good to their country and for this cause earn gratitude; get great glory and gain very high honours, and for this cause live henceforth a pleasanter and better life, and leave to their children better means of winning a livelihood”

The TLDR is that Socrates argues here that it’s necessary to train the body so it is strong and able, so that in a scenario where our lives are on the line (warfare referenced here, but we can interpret this as a life-or-death scenario for those readers who aren’t in the military) we have a better chance of saving ourselves and our friends.

Not only that, but he also suggests that with a good body comes also prestige and respect from others, a better life and more prosperity for you and your children to enjoy. It’s often quite common online to hear stories of people getting into the gym, and suddenly transforming their entire life for the better in every dimension.

Socrates explains that because you use your body for just about everything, you must try to keep it as best as possible. He believes this so much so, that “even in the process of thinking, in which the use of the body seems to be reduced to a minimum, it is matter of common knowledge that grave mistakes may often be traced to bad health.”

It’s safe to say that Socrates was a big believer in exercise and building a strong body. He argues that it will help you build a strong mind also, as well as giving you many benefits in the rest of your life, as you use your body for everything you do.

A Stoic philosopher, Seneca had very different views to Socrates on exercise and how it relates to the mind.

In his 15th letter in Letters from a Stoic, he first begins by drawing a distinction between mental and physical health and how they are intertwined with one another,

“Without wisdom the mind is sick, and the body itself, however physically powerful, can only have the kind of strength that is found in persons in a demented or delirious state. So this is the sort of healthiness you must make your principal concern. You must attend to the other sort as well, but see that it takes second place”

Here he encourages that you focus on training the mind primarily over the body, because physical strength does not determine your mental state. He states that “without wisdom the mind is sick” - and so if you are strong but not wise, then you pose a risk to yourself and others. After all, with great power comes great responsibility.

Seneca argues that the concept of bodybuilding is “silly”, and that it is “no way for an educated man to behave, to spend one’s time exercising the biceps, broadening the neck and shoulders and developing the lungs.”

He goes on to explain that exercise requires a lot of time and effort, exhausting you physically which can reduce your ability to focus on mentally demanding tasks and taking up time that could be spent studying,

“There are the exercises, in the first place, the toil involved in which drains the vitality and renders it unfit for concentration or the more demanding sort of studies.”

“Then there is the taking on as coaches of the worst brand of slave, persons who divide their time between putting on lotion and putting down liquor, whose idea of a well spent day consists of getting up a good sweat and then replacing the fluid lost with plenty of drink, all the better to be absorbed on a dry stomach. Drinking and perspiring – it’s the life of a dyspeptic!”

He states that we should focus on efficient exercises, like “running, swinging weights about and jumping” rather than training like athletes, which he believes is a zero-sum game.

However, he does clarify that “I’m not telling you to be always bent over book or writing-tablets.”

Ultimately, we can see that Seneca believes that training the mind should be the primary pursuit, and physical second, as a strong body is nothing without a strong mind. He encourages taking a minimalistic approach to exercise, and instead of bodybuilding, to do enough general exercise to keep you in good health to optimize for your mind rather than body.

What I find most interesting is how Seneca’s views on exercise differ to the general perception that Stoics are big on bodybuilding; since Stoicism places all value on things you can control, and your body is one of those things, and so it can come as a surprise to have Seneca reject the idea of professional athleticism and bodybuilding, especially as Stoicism tends to be tied into self-improvement quite a lot online. This is obviously the divider between individual interpretations and skews versus the original texts.

I’d personally disagree with Seneca on his view that training the body does not train the mind. I’d argue that physical training, particularly lifting weights, is one of the best ways to build your character, as it teaches you patience and discipline, and greatly improves your mental health. However, I don’t necessarily believe that his view on minimalistic training is necessarily wrong - if you struggle to find time for exercise, compound exercises (that we can safely assume he’s suggesting) are a great way to get an effective workout in with less time.

I’d agree wholeheartedly with Socrates’ views. From my own experience alone I know that weightlifting has changed my entire life for the better, giving me mental benefits as well as physical, and influencing all the activities in my day to day life.

Do you agree with Socrates or Seneca here? Maybe you have a totally different view? Let know what your thoughts are in the comments, or reach out to me on Instagram. A like is always appreciated too to help the blog grow!

Check out some of my other posts for some more content like this on bodybuilding and philosophy, and do yourself a favour and subscribe to the Substack - you’ll get content like this multiple times a week, totally for free. It’s a win-win for both of us.

Thanks for reading, and I hope to see you soon!

- Tom

Image Sources:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%CE%A3%CF%89%CE%BA%CF%81%CE%AC%CF%84%CE%B7%CF%82,_%CE%91%CE%BA%CE%B1%CE%B4%CE%B7%CE%BC%CE%AF%CE%B1_%CE%91%CE%B8%CE%B7%CE%BD%CF%8E%CE%BD_6616.jpg
Leonidas DrosisC messier, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
This file has not been altered in any way.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Duble_herma_of_Socrates_and_Seneca_Antikensammlung_Berlin_07.jpg
I, Calidius, CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons
This file has not been altered in any way.

Inspiration/Wider Reading:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sI0VZWPD92A
https://youtu.be/4PeWLYefILE

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