The History of Aerobics (50 Years and Still Counting).

Looking back over the 50 years since Aerobics was published, I could never have expected for there to have been a major change in physicians' attitudes toward the value of exercise in the practice of medicine. In my lifetime, I never thought I would see a stress test be considered a mandatory component of a complete examination, inactivity classified as importantly as high blood pressure and high cholesterol, and cigarette smoking considered a coronary risk factor. I have tried in this Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport (RQES) Lecture presentation to document how this slow but gradual transition took place due to my work and the work of many of my colleagues in this field, along with the important work of The Cooper Institute. In June 1970, I chartered the institute 6 months before I saw my first patient at the Cooper Clinic, but now with the Cooper Center Longitudinal Study being the largest database in the world comparing measured levels of fitness, instead of relying only on questionnaires and correlating fitness and health in our more than 700 published peer-review articles, we have proven and can safely say that "exercise is medicine." In greater detail, I want this lecture to present what we and others have done in this scientific endeavor, and even the harshest critics are now saying that "these results are too impressive to be ignored."

Supple bodies, healthy minds: yoga, psychedelics and American mental health.

Much discussion about mental health has revolved around treatment models. As interdisciplinary scholarship has shown, mental health knowledge, far from being a neutral product detached from the society that generated it, was shaped by politics, economics and culture. By drawing on case studies of yoga, religion and fitness, this article will examine the ways in which mental health practices-sometimes scientific, sometimes spiritual-have been conceived, debated and applied by researchers and the public. More specifically, it will interrogate the relationship between yoga, psychedelics, South Asian and Eastern religion (as understood and practiced in the USA) and mental health.

Secular Trends in the Physical Fitness of United States Army Infantry Units and Infantry Soldiers, 1976-2015.

Introduction: The purpose of this investigation was to examine changes over time in the physical fitness of the United States (US) Army infantry. A systematic review was conducted to identify and analyze articles and databases that reported on physical characteristics (height, weight, and body mass index) and/or Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT) scores of male infantrymen or men in infantry units. Materials and Methods: The National Library of Medicine's PubMed and the Defense Technical Information Center were searched using specific keywords. Reference lists of obtained articles, specific author searches, contact with authors, and secondary analysis of available databases enhanced the search. Studies and databases were selected if they involved infantry soldiers or soldiers in infantry units and provided a quantitative assessment of at least one physical characteristic or APFT measure. Average values for each measure were obtained, plotted by the year of data collection, and fitted to linear regression models. Results: Thirty-one articles and five available databases met the review criteria encompassing years 1976-2015. Regression analysis suggested a small temporal increase in height for infantry soldiers (2%) and soldiers in infantry units (1%). Body weight and body mass index increased over the period (9-15%) in both groups. APFT performance of infantry soldiers was generally higher than that of infantry units. There was little change in APFT performance over the period for infantry soldiers. For soldiers in infantry units, push-up performance changed little over time, whereas sit-up performance increased (8%) and two-mile run performance decreased (8%). Conclusion: Over the surveyed period, body weight and body mass index increased in US Army infantry soldiers and soldier in infantry units. Infantry soldier performance on the APFT appears to have been maintained over the period. For soldiers in infantry units, there has been a small improvement in sit-up performance, but lower two-mile run performance.

Effects of Exercise on Arrhythmia (and Viceversa): Lesson from the Greek Mythology.

Exercise represents an important lifestyle factor in all human ages when felt in harmony with other psycho-physical and environmental variables that affect individual life (e. g. quality of interest, affections, environment, diet and food). Consequently, in addition to the training level, the amount, intensity and modality of exercise (ana-/aerobic, isometric/isotonic), need to be personalized, considering the underlying diseases, which may benefit from it or worsening.Greek mythology gives us good examples of the exercise concept's evolution.From Discus-thrower to Spear-carrier the idea of physical activity is more effectively expressed. The Myron Discobolus displays the enduring pattern of athletic energy translated into the dynamic force given by the exercise. In Doryphoros instead, the physical activity is oriented to the achievement of the required psyco-physical harmony, who's the concept is aimed of being expressed by the sculpture.As outlined below, even in the field of arrhythmia, scientific evidence as well as clinical experience, supports the same concept: physical activity may be important while safely managed and personalized.

[Masculinity and Meat Consumption--Historical Approchaes to a Current Health Issue]. / Männlichkeit und Fleischkonsum--historische Annäherungen an eine gegenw rtige Gesundheitsthematik.

In current health debates meat is often discussed as a health risk. Statistically, men consume more meat than women. Therefore they often appear as an especially vulnerable risk group. Based on current discussions about an increased health risk for men because of an above-average consumption of meat, this paper outlines aspects of the historical development of the relationship between masculinity and meat consumption from the 19th to the 21st century and emphasizes the importance of cultural constructed gender expectations for the eating habits of many men.

History of United States Army physical fitness and physical readiness training.

This article traces the history of US Army physical fitness assessments from the first test developed for Cadets at the US Military Academy in 1858 through efforts to revise the current Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT). The first "Individual Efficiency Test" (1920) for all Soldiers consisted of a 100-yard run, running broad jump, wall climb, hand grenade throw, and obstacle course. The first scientific efforts involved testing of 400 Soldiers and a factor analysis of 25 individual test items. In 1944, this resulted in a 7-item test (pull-up, burpee, squat jump, push-up, man-carry, sit-up and 300-yard run) with a 100-point scoring system. In 1943, women were encouraged to take a "self-assessment" consisting of push-ups, bent knee sit-ups, wing lifts, squat thrusts, running, and a stork stand. In 1946, age-adjusted standards were introduced and in 1965 semiannual fitness assessments were mandated. The number of tests proliferated in the 1969-1973 period with 7 separate assessments. The current APFT consisting of push-ups, sit-ups, and a 2-mile run was introduced in 1980 and alternative tests for those with physical limitations in 1982. Current efforts to revise the assessment involve systematic literature reviews and validating the relationship between test items and common Soldiering tasks.

Origins of the physical profile.

This article examines how the U.S. Army came to adopt the physical profile. In 1945, the Army adopted the physical profile system that has, with some changes, survived to this day. Although the profile system does not always work smoothly, it replaced a system that was failing completely to deliver physically fit men to combat units. The World War II problems were the outgrowth of two World War I systems that had been adopted to speed mobilization by (1) accepting physically substandard men and (2) matching men to a noncombat job by their skills. By simply identifying a soldier as "General Service" or "Limited Service" it did not provide enough information about his limitations. In addition, the Army used an intelligence test to grade manpower, but because it lacked information on a man's physical abilities/limitations, that data were misused to allot manpower. These policies interacted with a societal disdain for the "handicapped" and "substandard" and made it hard to use Limited Service men. Adding detail to the information on physical abilities was the Army's solution.

Fat Christians and fit elites: negotiating class and status in Evangelical Christian weight-loss culture.

As American culture has become increasingly concerned about fatness, the fat body and weight loss have become salient symbols for other social tensions. This article uses the case of evangelical Christian weight-loss culture to argue that class is one of those tensions. Drawing on ethnographic work in a Christian weight-loss program as well as on recent theories of class, I argue that certain recurring concerns in Christians' weight-loss discourse, notably concerns about fat Christian leaders and appearing healthy, reflect tensions about class-based aspirations and class-based denigrations evangelicals face in negotiating their position in American society.

C. H. McCloy lecture: fifty years of advancements in fitness and activity research.

Over the past 50 years progress in fitness and activity research has been influenced by social events, technical innovations, and changes in the field of physical education and kinesiology. The conventional wisdom of the 1950s yielded to a new wisdom based on research evidence. The author's research, as well as the research of others, from 1960 to the present is discussed. The new wisdom focuses on health-related fitness and physical activity promotion based on health behavior change strategies.

Religiosity, psychological resources, and physical health.

Various explanations have been given for the positive association between religiosity and physical health. Using data from two waves of the National Survey of Midlife in the United States (1995, 2005) and retrospective data on the importance of religion in the home in which respondents were raised we find that psychological resources, operationalized by measures of emotional and psychological well-being, mediate the effect of this early exposure to religion but only on self-rated health and physical symptomatology; chronic illnesses and health limitations on activities of daily living are unaffected.

Fit for purpose: Australia's National Fitness Campaign.

During a time of war, the federal government passed the National Fitness Act 1941 to improve the fitness of the youth of Australia and better prepare them for roles in the armed services and industry. Implementation of the National Fitness Act made federal funds available at a local level through state-based national fitness councils, which coordinated promotional campaigns, programs, education and infrastructure for physical fitness, with volunteers undertaking most of the work. Specifically focused on children and youth, national fitness councils supported the provision of children's playgrounds, youth clubs and school camping programs, as well as the development of physical education in schools and its teaching and research in universities. By the time the Act was repealed in 1994, fitness had become associated with leisure and recreation rather than being seen as equipping people for everyday life and work. The emergence of the Australian National Preventive Health Agency Act 2010 offers the opportunity to reflect on synergies with its historic precedent.

Physical activity patterns by campus housing status among African American female college students.

Physical activity protects against heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, and cancer. Fewer than 40% of African American women obtain recommended amounts of physical activity. Healthy Campus 2010 identifies physical activity as a top priority for improving the health of college students. However, during college, women tend to reduce their levels of physical activity. This study examines the relationship between campus housing and physical activity behaviors in a sample of African American female college students (N = 138). Participants who lived on campus were significantly more likely to meet the recommended amounts of both moderate and vigorous physical activity than students who lived off campus (44% vs. 19%). The results demonstrate the importance of campus fitness resources in explaining the role that the built environment can play in increased physical activity among this population. Recommendations for the use of the campus's built environment and fitness resources are provided.

Social mobility and reproduction among nineteenth-century Colorado silver prospectors.

Popular cultural convention holds that, for those with enough gumption, the American frontier was a land of unparalleled opportunity. However, careful research throws doubt on the universality of this convention. Thus, the authors explore factors that increase or decrease opportunities for upward mobility in frontier towns. The authors' longitudinal study of late nineteenth century silver prospectors in Gothic, Colorado, demonstrates that while enthusiastic prospecting in Gothic did not lead to upward social mobility, it did provide enhanced reproductive opportunities.

Seeing your way to health: the visual pedagogy of Bess Mensendieck's physical culture system.

This essay examines the images and looking practices central to Bess M. Mensendieck's (c.1866-1959) 'functional exercise' system, as documented in physical culture treatises published in Germany and the United States between 1906 and 1937. Believing that muscular realignment could not occur without seeing how the body worked, Mensendieck taught adult non-athletes to see skeletal alignment and muscular movement in their own and others' bodies. Three levels of looking practices are examined: didactic sequences; penetrating inspection and appreciation of physiological structures; and ideokinetic visual metaphors for guiding movement. With these techniques, Mensendieck's work bridged the body cultures of German Nacktkultur (nudism), American labour efficiency and the emerging physical education profession. This case study demonstrates how sport historians could expand their analyses to include practices of looking as well as questions of visual representation.

Liberation and containment: re-visualising the eugenic and evolutionary ideal of the "Fizkul'turnitsa" in 1944.

In July 1944 cross-country races and parades of physical culturists were prominently used to celebrate Soviet liberation from German occupation. While journalistic accounts stressed the manly health and vigour of the victorious Red Army, press photographs in Pravda and Red Sport, and Aleksandr Deneika's monumental painting 'Liberation', emphasised images of the young female physical culturist. This essay explores what a contextualised analysis of these images may have to tell historians about the connections between women, physical culture and liberation being projected. The argument suggests that, on one level, the images straightforwardly symbolised and celebrated the liberation of the Soviet 'Motherland'. On another, more complex level, the images represented a particularly nuanced notion of constricted liberation for Soviet women deriving from 1920s eugenic and evolutionary discourse, inscribed into the contemporary imperative for engagement with physical culture as a necessary stage of healthful body discipline on the path to hygienic and successful motherhood.