What can exercise do for us?
It can often seem like existence is split in two: body and mind, flesh and spirit, moving and thinking. In the office or at study we are ‘mind workers’, with superfluous bodies. In the gym we stretch, run and lift, but our minds are idle.
Damon Young challenges this idea, revealing how fitness can develop our bodies and minds, together. Exploring exercises and sports with the help of ancient and modern philosophy, he uncovers the pleasures, virtues and big ideas of fitness.
By exercising intelligently, we are committing to wholeness: enjoying and enhancing our full humanity.
How to Think About Exercise is out now with Pan Macmillan in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Singapore and other Commonwealth countries. It was published in the United States by Picador, and in translation Chinese, Turkish, Dutch, Romanian, Hungarian, Korean, and Farsi.
Praise for the book:
"In pithy, accessible prose, Young offers up a new mantra for intelligent exercise -- not 'just do it' but 'just become it'." - The Age
"Young argues that exercise isn't just a workout for heart, muscle and bone, but also a way to help the mind and the spirit thrive." - Sydney Morning Herald
"[Young's] basic line is that “intelligent exercise” is not an oxymoron."- Australian Financial Review
"...if, the next time you get stuck on a problem at work, you get up and move, you’ll be taking Young’s message to heart." - The Boston Globe (USA)
"Every page of Young's book combines personal fitness anecdotes with insightful discussions of philosophical concepts..." - Vox (USA)
"Not your standard exercise guru...Young dismisses Cartesian dualism, arguing that exercise develops the mind and body as one, improving them both." - Library Journal (USA)
"surprising, smart, and thoroughly enjoyable inquiry" - Booklist (USA)
"...in lively language, Young explains the intellectual and physical rewards of movement..." - City Journal (USA)
"a fresh and vibrant way of rethinking the meaning of sport" - Huffington Post (UK)
"...immensely readable and memorable..." - The Melbourne Review
"Damon Young’s clever, accessible book shows us how to do the right thing by our sometimes irritating limbs and lungs just because we want to, not just because we should." - Editor's Group
"Filosoferen over beweging en sport leest aangenaam. Young kan uitstekend vertellen en stopt veel afwisseling in zijn betoog." - De Morgen (Belgium)
"[A] wonderful new work... Though I’ve had glimpses of...wholeness, it’s taken this book to really draw it together for me." - Charlotte Wood, author of Animal People