There is a difference in feeling smugly superior and realising people are not equal. He comes across like being physically fit is the only thing in life to strive for, his life script: "I'm ok, cos I'm not a fatty". A rather insecure position to be in, in my opinion.
Why do you keep fit?
- Thread starter cyborg
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Stag said:
Realising people aren't equal?
The point he is making is that most people will sit around, eating their chocolate, drinking beer and smoking cigarettes instead of keeping fit. That's nothing to do with people being unequal - it's to do with some people being lazy and others being comitted to a goal.
Skull said:
Keeping fit isn't the be all and end all for most people though. Fair play if it is to you, but it's like someone preaching a different religion. People are different, with varied values and goals.
It's a fair point he puts across, but a limited one that is aimed at the kind of people who read t-mag. People with whome physical fitness is up there at primary importance, who value physical fitness above other attributes.
Personally I am not fit, and admire people who have the dedication to stick to plans. However defining yourself as being a better person than someone just because you are physically fitter is what I didn't like about the article. Maybe I interpreted it in a way the author didn't intend, but that's how it came across.
Associate
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- To be attractive to women.
- For my own self-confidance.
- To be healthy and maximise my lifes enjoyment of activities and reduce my chances of suffering disease's / problems that a healthy lifestyle could have prevented or put off.
- As above, to serve as an example to my own kids if/when I have them
- To be able to climb flights of stairs or run for a bus without drowning in sweat, nearly strangling myself to control my breathing or going as red as a tomato in embarrassment.
To me, being fit is part of being a human being wanted to maximise lifes experiences and pleasures. A side effect of not being fit is that for some people and me included; it is unattractive. Physically and by the fact that people do not take care of themselves.
I used to be very over weight, bordering into plain fat. I was unatractive to women, I had lesser confidance due to this and many doors in life appeared shut. Ive been working hard the last two years or so to lose the fat and gain the muscle I need in order to enjoy life.
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Mr.Stu said:
I appreciate the point he is making but as Stag says he does come across as being rather smug and condescending. While I've given a variety of reasons why I try to keep fit I wouldn't say I define myself by it or 'grade' people as the author of that article appears to - what I do is primarily for me and it has to be accepted that other people will have different goals which doesn't make them better or worse except perhaps in the limited sphere of personal fitness.
