Old Wisdom for a New Fight

"It is more than a personal matter, it is a sacred duty owed to society for us to bring ourselves to the highest degree of physical and mental efficiency."

The above statement could have easily been said by any celebrity trainer on TV over the past few years.    However, this statement was said by Eugen Sandow in 1897, the father of modern bodybuilding and physical fitness.  With the rampant rise of obesity, we have seen a more moral reason to help others.  I feel it is my obligation to help others reach their mental and physical peaks.

Mr. Sandow was as far ahead of his time in athletics as Stephen Hawking is in Astro-Physics.  I have been recently reading his books, all published before 1900, and he approaches the body just as my system does.  He did not have lots of fancy machines and treadmills, he just had Dumbbells and Barbells.  But he utilized compound movements and "real world" workouts.   Just look at his picture below and see for yourself if he knew what he was doing.

He was the first to publish the ideal measurements for a man, started the first health clubs, proponent of women sports, fought for the inclusion of physical education in schools, and even created the British Military Training System (which principles are still in use to this day).  He is so revered in Bodybuilding that his image is the statue for the Mr. Olympia Award.

His philosophy on the wellness of both mind and body can be surmised as a state of mind where the impossible becomes possible and you set your own limits.  Eugen Sandow's belief was that once you see these benefits you are less likely to do things that will harm this balance.  I know this first hand.  I look at everything in life in terms of does this "help or hurt" my goals.  If it will hurt my goal, I walkaway.  And that is true strength.

"Health is a divine gift, and the care of the body is a sacred duty, to neglect is to sin.  But while this may be termed a sin of omission, it is also true that a great deal of the sins of commission are due to an unhealthy state of body and mind." -Eugen Sandow