> that these exercises are the most effective way to improve someone's overall health and fitness.
This doesn't explain anything, however. It's tautological... he wants to increase his fitness, to increase his fitness?
> Now, I'm not going to argue with you about whether humans need exercise to be healthy or if so,
To what end? To eke out another 3 years at the end of his life, probably in a nursing home?
If he was trying to avoid diabetes, that makes sense to me, that affects anywhere from 10-40 years of your life, and is a very extreme quality-of-life factor.
This doesn't explain the ever-present fitness craze.
>If he was trying to avoid diabetes, that makes sense to me, that affects anywhere from 10-40 years of your life, and is a very extreme quality-of-life factor.
Sure and two of the biggest factors in preventing/treating diabetes are exercise and weight maintenance.
>This doesn't explain anything, however. It's tautological... he wants to increase his fitness, to increase his fitness?
Nope. He is performing weight bearing exercise to, not only become better at performing those exercises, but also with the goal of achieving better body composition, bone density, stamina, mental well being, etc. These have huge impacts on quality of life. You've established that you don't value longevity and quality of life, but it shouldn't be hard to understand why others seek that out.
> Sure and two of the biggest factors in preventing/treating diabetes are exercise and weight maintenance.
60 years ago, your grandfather's generation had no problems with this at all. They didn't go to the gym.
While exercise is a factor, these people have taken the required level of exercise and kicked it up 10,000%.
> Nope. He is performing weight bearing exercise to, not only become better at performing those exercises, but also with the goal of achieving better body composition,
Better in what sense?
Again, you're being tautological.
> mental well being
Huh? The only way it increases his mental well being is that he believes that if he doesn't meet some abstract ideal he'll have failed... an ideal which he chose in the first place.
The hamster doesn't run on the wheel because it thinks that being a fatty is deplorable, but because it's become mentally ill trapped in its cage.
> You've established that you don't value longevity
My maternal grandfather weighs 300 pounds. He turns 81 this year.
How much longevity would it buy me? Any number of years (realistically more like months) that I'd get will be at the end of my life, when it matters little.
> and quality of life,
My life's quality is already pretty high. What is it that I'm missing? Being able to hike up a mountain?
If your body is healthy, you're going to avoid that nursing home. My father was in such a home in his seventies, yet family friends of the same age who stayed active and fit were going on kayaking vacations around the world. If you disagree that someone who keeps their body in great shape is going to be healthier than someone whose body is out of shape, then I suspect you're either trolling or you're not old enough to recognize the ill-effects of a sedentary lifestyle.
Also, the article calls it a craze but what, objectively, is a craze? Google tells me it's a widespread but short-lived activity; a fad. This is certainly true of specific fitness programs, but the general desire for people to not be out of shape is anything but short-lived.
This doesn't explain anything, however. It's tautological... he wants to increase his fitness, to increase his fitness?
> Now, I'm not going to argue with you about whether humans need exercise to be healthy or if so,
To what end? To eke out another 3 years at the end of his life, probably in a nursing home?
If he was trying to avoid diabetes, that makes sense to me, that affects anywhere from 10-40 years of your life, and is a very extreme quality-of-life factor.
This doesn't explain the ever-present fitness craze.