Importance is that they had to survive and they had to run after animals and carry meat back to their camp but if they were to kill something really large like a mammoth the tribe or group would go to the mammoth. so they couldn't be fat
They also maintained good physical condition and be prepared for the draft people ages 17 to 60 trained to run throwing jumping and marching they started winning wars and they stopped training as hard and they got defeated
They passed on physical fitness and educational fitness. gymnastics gained popularity. Archibald Maclaren developed Great Britain's National Systems of Bodily Exercise and Training.
Technology replaced labor intensive jobs. Rural life gave way to city life
Dioclesian Lewis introduced The New Gymnastics. Development of anthropometric measurements to assess fitness, first studies on fitness instruction and creation of organized fitness teaching methodologies.
Many draftees were unfit for combat during WWI. Government passed legislation that physical education programs be improved.
Fitness levels declined in the roaring 20s
WWII showed low fitness levels of Americans serving. This helped focus the country's attention on the importance of fitness.
Early years of Cold War focus of fitness shifted from adults to children. Educating the public about consequences of low fitness levels became a goal.
1960s and beyond. President Kennedy was a major proponent of fitness and prompted the government to promote fitness. Dr. Ken Cooper advocated disease prevention instead of treatment. His programs and ideas established the model from which fitness has proliferated through modern times.