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- All of the Stoics at some point have mentioned the importance of keeping the body healthy. The body is the vessel which we inhabit and so it only makes sense that we would want it to be clean and healthy.
- Musonius Rufus talks about how virtue and a healthy body walk hand in hand. Proper training leads to better health, and temperance in our desires of food, drugs and exercise will lead to a well-rounded health approach.
The Stoics also taught that a sick or unhealthy body would be bad for us because it would inevitably lead to a lowered capacity to do our various duties.
- Seneca discussed the idea that there are certain exercises that are brief and intense that will wear your body out in a short amount of time. This is basically HIIT training (High Intensity Interval Training) or HIT training (High Intensity Training). Seneca said that we should engage in these types of exercises and then return to what is ultimately important - the mind and virtuous living.
- Epictetus references Milo of Croton (a famous Greek wrestler known for lifting a bull) and says that just because he cannot be a Milo does not mean that he shouldn’t take care of his body.
- Epictetus also teaches that our training must match our goal. So we should aim at matching the right kinds of exercises to the right kinds of physical needs. For example, a marathon runner will require different training to that of an olympic lifter.
- The example used by Epictetus which contrasts a sprinter’s training versus a long distance runner’s training has also been used to discuss the benefits of modern training. We now know that someone who needs explosive strength, power or speed should train differently to someone who needs endurance.
- Stoics also emphasised results over posturing. For example, Epictetus would say “show me your shoulders” and explain that it was not the weights he wanted to see, but what the weights have done for you and your body.
- ‘Suppose, for example, that in talking to an athlete, I said, “Show me your shoulders,” and then he answered, “Look at my jumping weights.” Go to, you and your jumping weights! What I want to see is the effect of the jumping weights.’ –  Epictetus, Discourses, I, 4
- ‘Now there are short and simple exercises which tire the body rapidly, and so save our time; and time is something of which we ought to keep strict account. These exercises are running, brandishing weights, and jumping…But whatever you do, come back quickly from body to mind.’ –  Seneca, Epistle 15
- ‘And if you form the habit of taking such exercises, you will see what mighty shoulders you develop, what sinews, what vigour…’ –  Epictetus, Discourses, II, 19
- 'Since a human being happens to be neither soul alone nor body alone, but a composite of these two things, someone in training must pay attention to both. He should, rightly pay more attention to the better part, namely the soul, but he should also take care of the other parts, or part of him will become defective. The philosopher’s body also must be well prepared for work because often virtues use it as a necessary tool for the activities of life.’ - Musonius Rufus
- ‘The athletes first decide what kind of athletes they want to be, and then they act accordingly. If a man wants to be a long-distance runner, he adopts a suitable diet, walking, rubbing, and exercise; if he wants to be a sprinter, all these details are different; if he wants to contend in the pentathlon, they are still more different.’ - Epictetus

Dr. Kevin Vost is the author of more than a dozen books with more in press, bringing his knowledge of classical Greco-Roman and medieval scholastic philosophy, modern cognitive psychology, and High Intensity Strength Training to bear on issues of Catholic catechetics, apologetics, saint’s biographies, spiritual growth, and physical fitness. He’s also written about the links between Stoicism and Christianity in his book, The Porch and the Cross.

Dr Vost holds a Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology (Psy.D.) degree from the Adler School of Professional Psychology in Chicago with internship and dissertation work at the SIU School of Medicine’s Alzheimer Center’s Memory and Aging Clinic. He has taught psychology and gerontology (the scientific study of old age) at Aquinas College, the University of Illinois, MacMurray College, and Lincoln Land Community College. Kevin has also served as a research review committee member for American Mensa, a society promoting the scientific study of human intelligence, and as an advisory board member for the International Association of Resistance Trainers, an organization that certifies personal fitness trainers.