Look at what these novus ordos think about bodybuilding:

http://brandonvogt.com/strength-for-the-kingdom/

Just appaling.

Why aren't more people "ganging up" on what I said?

Because if you think Pope St. Pius X was a vait-lifftuh like Ahhnold, and he was using exercise as a benefit to his body and not as a part of his overall SPIRITUAL dedication, you're sadly mistaken.

Re-read very carefully what I said in my other post.

Exercise that is DIVORCED FROM, that is, SEPARATE FROM, INDEPENDENT OF, NOT CONNECTED TO spiritual exercise/discipline, is vain and useless.

What BETTER TIME is there to pray the Holy Rosary then while walking? Using a treadmill? Doing bicep curls?

Why would anyone have a problem with what I said, when all I said was a rehash of the words of St. Paul?

1 Timothy 4:8
 For bodily exercise is profitable to little: but godliness is profitable to all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.

[27] But I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection: lest perhaps, when I have preached to others, I myself should become a castaway.

Exercise is good; exercise in holiness is better. Fitness is good; mortification is better.

St. John Vianney, St. Francis of Assisi and thousands of others weren't skinny because they used South Beach. Yes, they lived in more agrarian/agricultural societies, but there were fat people back then, too. Gluttony was a sin before the time of Our Lord.

Stop forcing a dichotomy between "secular" pursuits and spiritual ones.

27 Therefore, whether you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, do all for the glory of God.

St. John Vianney, pray for us.

St. Teresa of Avila, pray for us.

Immaculate Heart of Mary, triumph soon!

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.

TG20,  respectfully, I think we're talking past each other.

I TOTALLY AGREE with what you're saying; my wife runs almost daily. She and her best friend are committed to improving their health. They are in no wise "obsessed" or otherwise unChristian in their efforts. They simply want to be healthier than they have been in the past, and regular exercise, diet and mutual encouragement are ESSENTIAL to that process.

ALSO essential to the process is the discipline of daily prayer, humility before God in imitation of Our Lord Jesus Christ and Our Lady and a profound mistrust of our flesh, its desires and its potential to entangle us in temporal passions and appetites.

We're saying the same thing; we're just emphasizing the two different aspects of the topic.

How is there a way to combat the sins of the flesh?

It starts by asking the question: "What GOAL does going to this place (doing this activity/saying these words/thinking these thoughts, etc) have?

If, for instance, one were given overmuch to drink, it would be unwise to attend a party at a bar, because the INTENT of the owners of the bar is to sell alcoholic beverages. Their intent may not be to get you drunk; it may not be to help you sin, but their intent IS to offer freely those things which you KNOW you cannot manage responsibly.

Likewise, take the common (in the US, anyway) task of purchasing automobile insurance (I don't know if such a thing pertains everywhere in the world). When I was shopping for insurance, I found a VERY good rate, well below even some of the most well-known providers' rates, with a company that is newer on the national scene, yet VERY recognizable because of a series of trendy commercials with a familiar spokeswoman.

I would have jumped on that rate immediately and saved myself hundreds of dollars a year, but I first investigated what that corporation DOES with its profits. Some of the things they support include "right to choose" efforts, "marriage equality" efforts and programs which foster an overemphasis on "animal rights" over against those of humans.

I obviously could not give my money to a company that publicly aligns with so many non-Catholic agendas.

That's the long answer.

The short answer is: Pray to Our Lord daily. Ask the intercession of Our Lady and the saints daily. Call upon St. Michael, et al, to defend your soul in battle.

In all of that, simply ask yourself whether St. Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians is advice you're heeding daily:

"Whether you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, do all for the glory of God."

Don't think about spiritual warfare so much in terms of the "NOs" you have to tell yourself. That can lead to a Jansenist, up-by-the-bootstraps mentality that is offensive to God.

Rather, think about spiritual warfare as a PRIVILEGE Our Lord has won for your soul. Act like the action heroes in movies; they go into a closet or cabinet and arm themselves with every conceivable gun, bomb, knife, sword, whip, tank, helicopter and who-knows-what before they stride off into battle.

You have weapons at your disposal that are mightier than ANY earthly weapon, because earthly weapons can only kill the body. OUR weapons, says St. Paul, are mighty to the pulling down of SPIRITUAL strongholds in our lives and in the lives of others.

Our Lord's Cross is they KEY to an inexhaustible armory of meritorious weapons that, used devoutly and free from mortal sin, are the most powerful tools of exercise of the soul we could ever have.

Want to combat the sins of the flesh? Remember the acronym PRF:

PRAY without ceasing.

RESIST the Devil, and he will flee from you.

FLEE from temptation (occasions of sin).

St. Michael, Archangel, defend us in battle.

St. Paul, holy Apostle, pray for us.

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, pray for us.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.

Clearly there is a vast difference between mortifying the flesh and working towards "buns of steel".

Ladies can maintain normal body weight through fasting, housework, and wholesome exercise like riding a bike or walking.

No need to don spandex and do complicated aerobics dance moves.

    So, most of you are saying that moderns should workout in replacement of the exercise that ancients received during work? To remain healthy? To deny yourself?  
What if I said that if you didn't have a job that required strength you shouldn't work out. Would it be because that having a fit body would be too tempting for other people? For the ancients, it was a necessary evil to be fit?

 Also, if some people can play scrabble for recreation why cant someone lift weights, run marathons, or play sports? You can't pray while playing scrabble so that means we can't play it? It seems that is what some of you are getting at.

I enjoy walking and saying rosary.  I find that 40 minutes a day is good for me.  Sometimes I play Pickle which is  a lot of fun and a good sweat.

Boloki,

Yes, you're absolutely right; I have tunnel-vision. I'm far too concerned with sanctifying every area of my life, a life that was defined for more than 95% of my time on Earth by wanton sin and selfishness.

If someone dares to exercise to be fit, or strong, without any spiritual end in mind, is that a sin you say?

ANYTHING that is done without a spiritual end in mind is at BEST idle, at worst sin.

Show me a teaching of the Church that says otherwise. Our Lord Jesus Christ instructs us to guard against even unnecessary idle speech. How much more should our daily work/recreation schedules be guarded against idle/careless/POINTLESS efforts?

No, I was wrong. You're a paragon of holiness; this place holds its collective breath waiting for your wisdom. Mine, too.

Actually, instead of demanding that I "answer specifically", maybe threads like these could acknowledge our need to sanctify EVERY ASPECT of our lives instead of devolving into Protestant-style "you can't judge my motives" ad hominem attacks.

Oh, and St. Pius X? There's a REASON he was recognized as a SAINT. If there were evidence that his exercise habits or anything else were sources of vanity or idle pursuits, such notions would have been made public, and he would not have been said to practice the virtues heroically.

Forgive me for recognizing more temptations to sin, laziness and uncaring in my soul than I do reasons to excuse myself.

As far as whether what I said matters to anyone else, feel free to argue against a profound mistrust of the flesh and its power to distract and deceive. You'll eat that fruit without me.

If you think I'm accusing you or anyone else rather than just pointing out CONCEPTS, you'd have to see if that shoe fits. I would never suggest that any individual here is GUILTY of sin in their own particular lives and situations. That is insight and wisdom I don't have.

 "Lazy."  Okay we who exercise are "lazy."(?) Oh and exercise is "pointless."
I see exercise as denial of self with the added bonus of gaining bodily strength, but okay, we are lazy and it is entirely pointless.