probably as old as there are historical records. The

writings of the classic Greek physicians Herodicus, Hippocrates,

and Galen are replete with references to fitness, and

each believed that a healthy body was a prerequisite for

conscious of the importance of fitness. Benjamin Franklin

advocated 15 minutes of brisk stair climbing at intervals

throughout the day, along with swimming and the use of

the need for fitness, although perhaps to an extreme, when he

wrote, “Not less than 2 hours a day should be devoted to

exercise and the weather shall be little regarded. If the body

these historical icons was cognizant that we would one day

routinely measure an individual’s maximal physiological response

to maximal exertion under controlled circumstances. Nor

could they have imagined that the exercise test would be a

valuable tool to predict the consequences of diseases related to

21st-century lifestyles.