On Exercise - St. Nektarios of Aegina

The towering figure of St. Nektarios offers a speech at the opening of a gymnasium in 1893, showing forth the purpose of a fit physique and the relationship between soul and body. St. Nektarios published this speech in 1894.

Reading from "For Mind and Heart: St. Nektarios as Teacher" by Newrome Press, pp. 45-52.

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St. Nektarios teaches:

Wherefore, as all know well, the training and exercise of both body and soul are inborn duties set upon man by both his very nature and his calling since a healthy body serves the soul willingly and readily, while a soul which has cultivated its faculties is sound, healthy, and governs the body prudently.

Although great care and concern is required in order is to cultivate these two, one should not fall into extremes, and the care for the body of he who exercises ought to be especially measured. On the one hand, according to Aristotle, the extreme cultivation of the soul undermines the body through excessive strain, while on the other hand, the extreme cultivation of the body undermines the soul through unceasing exertion — the second is the greater evil, on account of it amounting to the corruption of what is more excellent. Very rightly, then, it is said that prudence is found in the mean: "Everything in moderation," and, "Nothing in excess."

Immoderate concern for the body, excessive exercise, doubly damages the soul: it damages it indirectly through subsequent illness, and directly through the body's gaining excessive strength. The excessive strength of the body arising out of unceasing concern for it renders it wild, difficult to manage, independently-minded, bold, and unyielding in the face of the soul's dictates. The soul, having become weak, deprived of power, compromised by inactivity, gives the body boldness to rebel against the spirit and prompts it to try and completely subjugate it, to bring it under the dominion of its strength. It renders the enslaved soul an instrument by means of which the body's irrational impulses are fulfilled, corrupting it and causing whatever may be found in it that is noble to vanish. Therefore, neither the attainment of athleticism nor unrivaled muscular strength should be the aim of exercise, but rather the building of bodily strength for the sake of ready satisfaction of the demands of the spirit and the fulfillment of those duties set upon it. The aim of exercise is not to produce athletes for the games, but, rather, perfectly formed men capable of any undertaking, for it is well-known that exercise by means of habit renders one more ready for struggles, and more industrious through a familiarity with hard work.

Our ancient ancestors became noble and good men through measured bodily exercise and the parallel development of the soul's powers; they became great, all-beautiful, and glorious; they proved themselves most beneficial to the nation and humanity through the degree of civility they attained, and the memory they left behind is holy and unforgettable.

Gentlemen, bodily exercise and spiritual development are the axes around which perfect education and perfect formation revolve, and from these follow happiness, glory, and greatness. The man who is cultivated on both planes will be happy, a man who stands out, who thinks big, who accomplishes big things, who is strong and capable of every undertaking, who is beneficial in all situations.
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Orthodox Wisdom is dedicated to sharing the writings and lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!

[AlexanderSzurkus]

What would it be like to run an exercise club and receive such a glowing endorsement from Saint Nektarios?—Glory to God!

From now on, I’ll be listening to this every time I drive to the gym. Not only will it, Lord-Willing, help me approach my workouts with the proper mindset, but it’s also the best gym motivation I could ask for.

[luchador]

Wrestling/Grappling are great forms of exercise, minimalistic, and are also a great analogy for the daily spiritual struggle. Highly recommend.

[marksilva]

Exercise helps me fight chronic pain, lower my weight and blood pressure. It keeps me from drinking and gives me energy.

[andresgalindo]

Greetings from Colombia 🇨🇴☦️
All Glory to our Lord JesusChrist
Χριστόσ Ανέστη

[robinsteendam]

I am Orthodox and I must admit, that I like to train with weights and other exercises. I agree that exercise is good. I also agree that we must stay moderated, something I have problem with sometimes. I tend to train very hard and I like to challenge myself by extending my limitations and becoming stronger. I use fitness in order to counteract passions as lust, etc. I think it is better to train, than to smoke, fornicate and or drink. Fitness is good when it supports your spiritual Orthodox life. But it is not good, if it would lead to sins.. As along as you train with moderation, without hurting yourself, and as long as it does not lead to sinful behavior like, pride, fornication, etc, then it is good. I personally need distraction in life and I use fitness in order to distract myself and it is also a healthy way to release dopamine! At the same time, I keep the commandments, I fast, live a chaste life, go to liturgy, etc. Stay strong in Christ my Orthodox brothers!

[pepejimenez]

I'm a new convert in the Orthodox Church, thanks you for teaching me i'm learning a lot in this Orthodox channel

[rusty]

Thank you. I have struggled with the value of exercise because it felt like a battle between two extremes:
1. Vanity through excess.
2. Laziness covered by a thin layer of virtue.

[ThaElMongo]

We all need to be ready to be warriors and peacemakers for Christ ❤☦️

[fathermosesmcpherson]

People would be surprised, but I only lift about 6 hours a week, maybe sometimes as much as 9, but that’s for the whole week.

And I strongly encourage a home gym, and to avoid the local gyms that are a cesspool of immodesty.

[southj]

Immoderation with exercise is something I struggled with. I was heavily into powerlifting and bodybuilding, lifting as heavy as I could and eating a shameful excess of food. When I became orthodox, I realised that innately this is imbalanced. But it was very hard to let go of my identity as “the guy who lifts big” and I was vain and concerned with the size of my muscles.

I also realised that although I was unnecessarily strong, I was also overweight, had high blood pressure and was not as physically fit and healthy as I convinced myself I was.

This dissonance between the spiritual life and my life of excess and vanity, combined with the near-pornographic outfits of many young women at gyms caused me to take up running and simple calisthenics. I now feel like I have resolved the conflict between enjoying exercise and also fasting and attempting a more ascetic life. Doing an exercise discipline I and not very good at is humbling, and there’s no one around for me to try and “impress” with a huge plate-rattling squat. I just don’t care anymore, and now I’ve dropped what essentially amounted to a second full-time job, in exchange for more moderate exercise, I have more time to focus on what’s important.

Also, considering I never had the potential to be elite, I was literally just harming my health in order to achieve fairly mediocre results anyway.

This is not to knock lifting, it’s a great thing to do, but for me it had become something of an idol.

[FailedStateSoul]

This was very enlightening. I struggle a lot with depression, but find that a good work out clears those thoughts away and I actually feel glad to be alive.

It's easy for me to sometimes think that the only real "Orthodox" approach is just to fast until you're a walking skeleton (which, thankfully I don't follow through on or else I'd definitely wind up in major pride and delusion).

[lady]

Exercise is so important nowadays to keep people sane than any other time and age! With the move of workforce into the homes of people, this had brought unnecessary stress that doesn't leave the home unless it's vented out through exercise outside of the house. As stated, everything in moderation as this is also part of staying sane.

[Simeonf]

I don't know if anyone else in the world do this but i praise the Lord in every rep i do lifting weights
Praise our Lord and God Jesus Christ of Nazareth ✝️🙏❤️🛐

[jensenjason]

this is exactly what i needed. thank you. praise be to God

[vattavattaveese]

This is beautiful, I use the gym as a means of spiritual warfare.

[MichaelK.-xlqk]

Possibly the royal path of moderate exercise for grown men is to pursue simple body weight calesthenics with minimal equipment at home and of course to rest and eat adequately to support growth. The situation of exercise clubs fifty years after this was written could not have been forseen by the elder, but in our day they may be sources of temptation which outweight the benefits which may be achieved by access to sophisticated training equipment.

[fernandoxavier]

Brother, if every channel was so careful as yours, including the bibliographic sources — and even the text itself which is being read! —, this world would be better and there would be a little less confusion out there. Congratulations for the good work!

[WORKOUTSOLUTIONS]

❤✌⛪🙏☦MAY GOD GIVE US STRENGTH IN OUR FIGHT AGAINST EVIL ☦🙏🕊🌟💪

[JadednTired]

It’s okay to train & diet to increase strength, anaerobic capacity, stamina, endurance . Especially if you’re an athlete, I think Westerners tend to forget there are amateur & professional Orthodox athletes. I don’t think lifting weights is extreme & neither is working out daily when you have 24 hrs in a day. The why is more important than what workout you do or how you do it.

[D_R]

Some of my best prayer happens between sets of squats and deadlifts