Are Accomplished Intellectuals Ever In Amazing Physical Condition?

[Guest]

I have noticed that among Nobel Laureates, Fields Medalists, Pulitzer Prize Winners, and historical intellectuals, you just don't see people with outstanding physiques.

Are the two somehow incompatible? Is it simply a matter of allocating a huge amount to one aspect of personal growth at the expense of the other?  Is it possible for someone to be a leading intellectual figure and have absolutely superb fitness, or is mediocrity in one area a necessary cost of devoting oneself to the other?

[Simon Zackrisson]

Probably No

Probably Yes

Probably Yes

This one may be a possible scenario, however I don't think it's a set one.

 

[Guest]

It's probably a matter of what you are focused on in life. The people you are referring to usually concentrate their life's work on this one thing they want to figure out, achieve or do profound research on. In the fields they are working it takes a huge amount of time to make a difference. The further you step down that ladder of a person being exceptionally strong in one area, you'll more likely find people who are evenly balanced between different professions and special fields.   

[Phocus]

To be successful, to the point of being an outlier, is to be an extremist.  Most people achieve those levels of success as a product of life imbalance.  I mean... how else do you achieve that much in that little time?

Is that the optimal way to live?  No.  But that is the fastest way to achieve extreme levels of success.  When I think of people with exceptional mental prowess, chess comes to mind.  Magnus Carlson, and the higher ranks of the professional chess community, generally correlate physical fitness with mental fitness.  Below is a quote from Grand Master Alexandra Kosteniuk (2008 Women's World Champion) which seems to be representative of the communities sentiment:

I cannot stress enough how important physical preparation is before chess tournaments. Chess competition is tough, requires many hours spent at the chess board, with maximum concentration. You need all your strength and nerves to be in top form. Nothing will prepare you better than being in best physical form. All you need for that is to do some kind of sport regularly….

I try to start every day with a 5K run. …

[Thomas]

@Saitama
You have limited amount of time You can spend, so You cannot get it all.

While everything in life has its price - a sacrifice You have to make in order to master certain craft or just become more than average.

What's a better thing to choose? - Grinding 400 more hours digging, thinking, veryfing claims about one concept or theory nobody is willing to work on and potentially discovering a milestone or be just all around decent astrophysicist, but with athletic physique? 

It is Your decision to make what areas are worth investing into, as You're the one to pay for it.

Similar thing is with most fitness models that have nothing to do with actual fitness as they're injecting exogenous hormones into their body, taking diuretics and drugs to function with bodyfat levels so low, carrying amounts of muscle mass they wouldn't be normally able to carry while they're risking liver shutdown and heart disease.
It is the price they are willing to pay. 

It is not in my judgement to decide whether it's worth it or not since that's not me paying the price.

As @Phocus said You can obtain extraordinary results by focusing on one subject at the expense of other areas of life and it is very true.

 

Edited February 12, 2016 by Thomas

[Black Flag]

I have a university professor who is shredded as fuck - its definitely possible.

[Guest]

Re-did my post below. Strange error occurred.

Edited February 12, 2016 by Saitama

[Guest]

@Thomas

 

This is my suspicion, but I enjoy searching for evidence to the contrary.  Perhaps, stumbling upon lesser known efficient methods. But of course, there is no free lunch, so perhaps the opportunity cost truly does make it impossible. Do you think it is at least possible to be very healthy and a great intellectual?   

[SmokeAndMirrors]

Hey,

I do agree, often times it is either one way or the other, but it is certainly possible. There is a Junior (chemistry) Prof. at my university who looks like he is going to the gym at least every other day lifting heavy (!!!) weights. So he certainly is investing a good deal of time into sports AND progresses really fast on the academic (junior means he is way under the age of "normal" prof's).

Edited February 13, 2016 by SmokeAndMirrors
gramma

[Rito]

There is absolutely no correlation.I know lots of intellectuals with great physique.Yes those at the top may not have it ,and that it is because they are highly specialized and they think of it as a waste of time.Chances are that they lack in a lot of other aspects other than having a ripped body.Lot of them have dysfunctional relationships,money problems etc.But I think that is not the case with the majority,tons of lawyers,doctors,mathematicians practice lots of sports.Maybe they are not into hardcore body building.

 

[JevinR]

This is one of my fears, although sacrifices must be made

[Blessed81]

IMO i really think life is like a pie chart for everyone.  We all get to make each slice of each part of life as big as we want it, however it does come with making other slices and parts of life smaller.  Someone who is extremely successful AND fit, has a great balance in life.  Perhaps many of the unfit people simply do not care to spent their time in the gym.  We all only have 24 hours in a day.  Some people get so focused on their career that they dont care about other areas in life.  It is very hard for me to keep things in balance, however i am a very fit fella and the gym is just so normal to me now after 13 years.  I couldnt imagine life without it, i am now getting very much into my purpose and the gym is slacking a little.  I need to keep that balance on the pie chart.  Think about it, every person has a pie chart.  Even a homeless person, they may not have anything financially but the experience and adventure and freedom on their pie chart would be a much bigger slice then mine.  

[Systemic]

Its hard to be world class at more than one thing.  There are many intellectuals that are healthy, as in, not fat and eat a health diet.  But you are not going to find brilliant intellectuals who are also ripped like fitness models because you can only focus on so much.

[Markus]

Fitness, at least physique wise (which can be a fairly shitty indicator of fitness), doesn't take much time at all. Staying lean doesn't require any time, technically. To talk about muscle mass, one could work out for 45 minutes 3x/week and be really bulky. 

So why aren't the intellectuals fit? Because most people in general aren't. They're no exception. Being an intellectual hardly means one is doing personal development.

[Clay]

@Saitama What constitutes "amazing physical condition"? Being noticeably muscular does not correlate to being in optimally healthy shape. Barack Obama, the current U.S. president and a Nobel laureate, starts every morning with a 45 minute exercise. I may consider that as having superb fitness, especially considering his other day-to-day responsibilities. However, the appearance of his physique may not seem above average.

This same lack of correlation between muscularity and fitness applies to a fictional character named Saitama.

Edited February 20, 2016 by Clay Curl

[Guest]

@Clay Curl Thank you for the case study with Obama. Although, I am specifically interested in academic achievements. Do you have any such examples? Not doubting you, but merely curious. 

[Clay]

@Saitama I don't know of any other examples right now, and you are probably right that it is a rarity in the academic achievement world. The more talents and achievements you seek in a person, the rarer that person becomes. However, I don't think the two achievements are incompatible. Devoting 30 minutes to an hour of exercise per day doesn't seem unacceptably time consuming for these individuals.

[Aldo Marchand]

You have to eat less and practice 1 hour of exercises on daily basis to have health.

It's crazyness to sacrifice your body as young, for me it's matter of health not appearence !

 

[Franz]

I work out with a few university doctors  and engineers who are in outstanding 

physical condition, appearance- or strength wise. They all struggle to find a balance 

and are either very, very busy or have almost no social life (+unhappy single at age 40).

Its hard to do but not impossible.

Edited February 23, 2016 by Franz