Acclaimed writer and photographer Bill Hayes chats with Trey Elling about SWEAT: A HISTORY OF EXERCISE. Questions include:

  • When did the word ‘exercise’ come to be? (2:03)
  • The ancient Greeks literally collected the sweat of their best athletes. How did they do so, and what did they use the perspiration for? (7:54)
  • Why was the book DE ARTE GYMNASTICA, originally written in the 1500s, the centerpiece of the story Bill told in SWEAT? (10:43)
  • Why did GYMNASTICA not consider sports to be exercise? (17:17)
  • What caused humans to evolve to sweat emotionally, as well as thermally? (20:58)
  • How did GYMNASTICA justify ‘laughter’ as exercise? (29:19)
  • What contribution did Harriet Beecher Stowe’s sister make to exercise in the mid-1800s? (35:54)
  • When did yoga come to be, and at what point did it shed mysticism in focusing on the physical body as a way to reach enlightenment? (42:44)
  • Why are the 1970s so crucial for modern exercise? (49:00)
  • How did Jane Fonda end up providing praise for SWEAT that ended up on the back cover? (50:20)