Exercise

Palaestra
Before stepping into a series of baths, you and other visitors—young and old, male and female—exercised in open courtyards.

The exercise was usually neither extremely vigorous nor competitive. It was done, instead, to maintain health, as was recommended by the Roman medical profession. Doctors believed that bathing, exercise, massage, and a good diet—all things that a bath provided—were the basic ingredients of good health.