Was Socrates Even Shredded?

“No man has the right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training. It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable” — Socrates

This is a quote you often seen thrown around fitness Facebook and Instagram as a way to motivate people to work out. Other than absolutely fucking inspiring me to get big as shit, it makes me wonder; was the father of Western philosophy even fucking shredded?

Almost all of what we know about Socrates and his teachings comes from the writings of his students; namely Plato and Xenophon. These two students wrote what became known as the Socratic Dialogues, which are a series of discussions between Socrates and other people of his time period. Through these conversations we learn his views on things such as the human soul, politics, and the pursuit of virtue over material wealth, just to name a few.

There are definitely a lot of gems in these writings. I have to admit that throughout my research for this article which had me scouring these dense philosophical texts for fitness information, I may have gained some perspective or something. Which is nice, I guess.

However, one thing I did not gain was any knowledge on what kind of exercises this guy was doing to blast his delts at the Athen’s gyms. You think there would’ve been some sort of workout routine included in Plato’s Symposium if he was really as passionate about physical fitness as the quote would suggest. I’m telling you, I read every single one of these things just looking for one line from the guy where he says something about wrapping up their discussion on platonic love so he could head out and do his meal prep for the week.

It brings up the question of whether or not Socrates could wrap his mind around what this fit life is all about. What we do isn’t sitting around and shooting the shit with people we know. This is a personal choice that requires a lifelong devotion of both mind and body. Something that he clearly wouldn’t understand or might not even be capable of.

I hesitate to call one of history’s greatest thinkers a fucking fraud, but I’ve got absolutely no evidence of this guy bulking up. For example:

This is the famous painting of Socrates drinking the hemlock after he was sentenced to death. He doesn’t look bad, but would I say this is a guy who is seeing the beauty and strength his body is capable of? No, I wouldn’t.

So to correct one of your most famous quotes:

One thing only I know, and that is that I know nothing about lifting.

Don’t let me see this man’s nonsense on the gram one more time.