217As a teacher of fitness， I spend much time rescuing people in a sea<br >of Confusion. This book is， in part， a response to that confusion. It<br >intends to answer the questions most commonly asked and simplify<br >the issues most often misunderstood. I propose to do this， not by<br >directly confronting these questions and issues， not by wading<br >through the controversy; instead， by wiping the slate clean and<br >starting again. This means going back to the basics and considering<br >the proper principles of exercise. There aren t that many of them<br >and the logic behind them isn t that difficult to grasp. But they re<br >crucial. They serve as the foundation ~or all Rtness actlvlt-les.<br > Donald Pruden， in Around Town Cycling， said， "One of the<br >beauties o[ teaching is that the teue]aer o[ten learas as muck as he<br >imparts." With experience， he also learns how much fo impart. This<br >is important in an age of fitness overeducation where information<br >seems overlapping and sometimes contradictory. There s an impor-<br >tant difference between what is necessary and what is merely in-<br >teresting. You need the basics to start. Details can wait. Entire<br >books have been written on various activities， but this is a starter<br >book and， try as I might， I just couldn t think of anything else that<br >needed to be included.<br > As a book for beginners， Every<br >the shortcomings of some of its<br >field follow a recipe， "test tube，"<br >Body s Fitness Book aims to avoid<br >predecessors. Many books in the<br >do-this-and-you-get-this approach.<br >That s fine in the laboratory and works well with rats but it s not<br >~ha~ simple our in fhe world of people. There may be l n~ur/es， se~-<br >"o~cks， and boredom， but much joy. These issues must be dealt<br >411o<br ><br >