A Historical Study of the Role of Exercise and Physical Activity in Medicine from Perspective of Galenian Medicine

Historical reports indicate that concepts such as health, well-being, personal and social development are closely related to physical activity, and the civilized nations of the world have always considered the importance of physical activity in the field of health and wellness. Among the ancient nations, the Greeks were most interested in exercise and physical activity, as it was an important part of ancient Greek medicine, and ancient Greek physicians, especially Hippocrates and Galen, focused on physical activity and proper diet as important components of a healthy lifestyle. Therefore, much of the basic information about the relationship between exercise and health was presented in the findings and medical texts of ancient Greece, which was comprehensively and practically proposed by Galen in the form of the theory of nature and the unnatural. The present study uses a descriptive-analytical method based on library information to answer the question of when humans with scientific and principled method found that exercise and physical activity have played a role in body health and the result of ancient Greek medicine, especially theory. Galen on the relationship between exercise and health in the form of abnormalities in ancient Greece, the Middle Ages, then the Renaissance to the present day, can play an important and effective role of exercise and physical activity in maintaining body health and disease prevention in different eras of human life.