physical culture movement

physical culture movement

A health movement founded by Bernarr MacFadden, a bodybuilder, health enthusiast and entrepreneur of the late 19th/early 20th centuries, based on his anti-medicine regimen, which incorporated rules for diet (primarily lacto-ovo vegetarian), eating (thorough chewing), sleeping (ideally nude), exercise (15 minutes or more each day), deep breathing, daily bathing, environment (exposure to fresh air), avoidance of crowded public transport and buildings, drinking (plenty of water, no alcohol), eliminating tobacco use and limiting sexual activity to procreative purpose.