Fit for Eternal Life

by Kevin Vost

Is your spirit faithful but your flesh flabby? Has your Temple of the Holy Spirit begun to creak and crumble? Then let Fit for Eternal Life show you how to build it up again. Most any workout book can help you bulk up or slim down, but only here will you find a truly Christian approach to physical fitness. As Catholic psychologist and veteran bodybuilder Kevin Vost (author of Memorize the Faith! ) reveals, God's command to be perfect applies not only to our moral life, but also to our bodies. By Him we were wonderfully made as creatures corporal and spiritual. The stronger and more enduring we make our bodies, the better we imitate Christ in whom perfect physical strength, endurance, and beauty were incarnated. Best of it doesn't take a lot of time, special knowledge, or fancy equipment to do it. Dr. Vost explains the basic principles of strength and endurance training in a way you can understand (even if you haven't been in a gym for years or ever), and then helps you assemble an effective, personalized workout program that can be performed in as little as twenty minutes per week, leaving you plenty of time (and energy) to be an active Christian parent, spouse, and disciple.

Genres: Health, Christianity, Theology, Christian, Catholic, Inspirational

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Kevin Vost, Psy. D. (b. 1961) has taught psychology at the University of Illinois at Springfield, Lincoln Land Community College, and MacMurray College. He is a Research Review Committee Member for American Mensa, which promotes the scientific study of human intelligence.

He enjoys reading the Classics (especially Aristotle and the Stoics) and St. Thomas Aquinas in his spare time.

Reviews

[Ray Moss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Literally devoured this book in a day and if I had an opportunity I could've ended it in a single sitting. Similar to Kevin, I am too a proponent of Less is More when it comes to most things in life, including fitness regimens... and eating habits obviously... I'm a little skeptical of a one-day-a-week 20-minute weight lifting session involving only one set of each exercise. Nevertheless, I am excited to give this routine a try. It also involves three weekly 20-minute aerobic sessions. I'm not a big fan of cardio/aerobic exercises. But for the sake of trying Kevin's fitness regimen, I'll give the advice a try. I may be coming back sometime after to do a follow-up review on the results and feedback.

[Steven R. McEvoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though I love reading and books dearly, few books capture a spirit or goal in my own life as closely as this book does. For years now I have been struggling to achieve an inner and outer balance in my life - balance between mind, body and spirit. In attempting to do so, I have tried various tools, and methods, and strategies. Yet inevitably I find myself off kilter. Now this book seems to be a resource that will help to achieve that balance.

The main reason for that is the person that Dr. Kevin Vost is. He has been a lifelong enthusiast of both academic learning and of physical fitness. He has written and published extensively in the realm of physical fitness and in cognitive and memory mechanics. Dr. Vost does not just write about these topics he also practices them, which makes him an authority not just theoretically but also practically. Dr. Vost has done graduate work and post- graduate work academically and he also has competed in power lifting.

The book flows nicely from topic to topic. It is designed to help you find balance in your life - to be neither a gym rat, nor a book worm, but to have the best of both worlds. It combines wisdom from classical authors down to current competitive athletes. He states: "Intensity and duration of effort, you see, are inversely proportional. How's that? A well-known saying in HIT circles is that 'you can train hard, or you can train long, but you can't do both.' The more demanding the exercise, the shorter the time you're able to sustain it. The harder you work, the sooner you must stop. We all know this from experience. And the kind of exercise that maximizes physical strength is not only intense but also brief." He will teach you to get more results from less time in the gym, and thus have more time for family, friends, leisure and your favorite 'books'.

Each chapter begins with a set of quotes - one spiritual and the other from the classics. Dr. Vost draws from a very wide range of sources to support his arguments, with examples from Pope Pius XII, Aristotle, Seneca, St. Thomas Aquinas, Hesiod, Mike Mentzer and many more. These motivational and inspirational quotes help to draw you into the material. Robert Wolff in his book Bodybuilding 101 states: "There is nothing so constant as change. Meet it. Embrace it. Enjoy it. Learn from it. The one thing you can be absolutely sure of in your life is change. It's the only thing that never changes. The law of nature is that you either grow or you die; there's no in-between. So, what have you chosen so far? Are you growing in every area of your life? Hey, it's not enough to be growing and looking great just because you work out. That's only a small part of your life. What about your emotions, spiritual life, family, friends, career, hobbies? Are they growing as your body does? Become a complete person and not an in-shape and great-looking version of an incomplete person. There's way more to life than just working out. Go with the flow and embrace changes in all areas of your life. The change will do you good." This book will help you to achieve that lasting change and growth. It will help you develop physically, and through that, develop all areas of your life. Or as a different philosopher Montaigne declared: "To strengthen the mind you must harden the muscles." Vost will give you the tools to work both. He will teach you how to Pump Iron and to Pump Ions!

(First published in Imprint 2008-02-15)

[J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a most helpful book for those who wish to know what the Catholic Faith thinks of the culture of healthy living and where the points of contact and pitfalls maybe in the larger secular culture. The book does a superb job of using the 4 Cardinal Virtues [Prudence - Temperance - Fortitude - Justice] throughout most of the book, giving some theological insights through.

In the Virtue of Fortitude, the author proposes Anaerobic and Aerobic insights that are quite helpful and liberating. In the Virtue of Temperance he then deals primarily with Diet and Food/Nutritional Intake which are again wonderfully insightful. He then orders the prior Virtues together perfectly together through the Virtue of Prudence. Only by the end of the book in the appendix does he deal with the Virtue of Justice by addressing certain populations who ought to have some special pointers regarding his health program (i.e. elderly, women, and teens).

By the end of the book to give a wonderful summary that really puts the purpose of human development and perfection in the greater light and living of the Faith via the 3 Theological Virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity.

This book definitely has a high level of re-readability, and the author himself banks on the insights of this book in both its spiritual and physical dimensions: Physically because, he has been an avid athlete for about 20 years and Spiritually because, not only was he once an atheist but he is also a psychologist who knows the value of Virtue Theory in psychology.

[Caitlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a masterpiece. It fulfills its promises of both solid advice for fitness and an engagingly Catholic perspective. The Christian virtues are used as the structure for discussing how best to approach a healthy lifestyle, and they make perfect sense. Prudence, fortitude, temperance, and justice are compared to the progression of strength and aerobic training so that both are much easier to understand! The health information was well-researched, but made digestible and easy to understand.

The last chapter talks about charity. Vost says the vital part about this workout approach is how changing small things about your life like eating moderate portions and focusing on what chores around your home can help you get your cardio allows you to make the biggest health impact with the lowest cost to your loved ones. What a beautiful message! What a wholistic and life-affirming attitude to have toward fitness! It is, dare I say, virtuous.

I highly recommend this book. Who's not looking for tips for a healthier lifestyle? And while the perspective is that of a Catholic, I think anyone spiritually inclined will find wisdom and comfort in Vost's attitude and advice. The terminology and scripture passages are Christian, but the virtues are universal!

[Josh · Rating 1 out of 5]

I appreciate and support the author's efforts to synthesize the physical and the spiritual, but this book is filled with some of the worst lifting advice I've ever read, built on a foundation of Mentzerism taken to a ludicrous extreme.

You're going to reach your natural potential in 1 to 2 years? Training once a week for 20 minutes? Good luck with that.

There's plenty more egregiousness, from the author's pearl-clutching about overtraining to his suggestion that he got injured because he took creatine, but to suffice it to say that if you're looking for a resource to help you start lifting, nearly anything is better than this.

[Ted Hinkle · Rating 5 out of 5]

FIT FOR ETERNAL LIFE caught my eye a few years back as I entered the Celtic Cross Catholic Gift Shop in Indianapolis. The intriguing cover piqued my interest. As an active senior (76 then, 80 now) I purchased a copy of Dr. Vost's book anticipating tips to maintain physically and grow spiritually. This book is complete with fitness tips, plans, psychological studies, wisdom from Popes and classical philosophers, Scripture passages, meditations, strategies and goals to do just what the title maintains: Be "Fit of Eternal Life", spiritually and physically. An excellent manual for all ages.

[Katarzyna Balutowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book for men getting into fitness. Lots of great references. Just okay regarding the chapter attempting to convince women to strength train. Chapters are short and easy to skim or return to. However it is written like a textbook... So the writing is not great.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Years of using convention wisdom in workouts yielded ok results. Months of this method yielded excellent results. The discussion on virtues in relation to the gym is excellent as well.

[Rob Fipps · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent assessment of exercise and diet from a biblical and religious perspective. This helps put these items in a new category of the spiritual and virtues.

[Ben Valentine · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author is an expert in fitness and his common sense/ Christian approach to staying in shape and being fit is refreshing after all the craze diets promising extreme weight loss and such. He calls upon Greek philosophers, St Thomas Aquinas, St. Paul, and others. The book describes in detail a workout regimen that is time efficient and effective. A good motivator for developing good HABITS and not simply a fad diet and exercise routine. He also goes through some very important virtues in which we should emulate in fitness and in our moral life: temperance, prudence, etc. Solid book with good tips and a quick read.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting book in that the author attempts to link physical fitness with the four cardinal virtues (temperance, justice, prudence and fortitude). He does a fair job at that attempt and uses papal quotes, quotes from St. Thomas Aquinas as well as substantial quotes from the secular, ancient philosophers (e.g. Cicero, Seneca and Aristotle). The advice given on strength training, aerobics and good nutrition is fairly up to date and he does not seem to go overboard in any one direction. Overall, a good introduction to the subject of physical/mental/spiritual fitness.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good reaffirmation of fitness basics. The quotes from saints and Greek philosophers were an interesting way of tying together the tips and encouraging truly all around health.