Fit fight.

• Author: Wines, Michael
• Position: Russia - Physical fitness policy - Brief Article

Russian President Vladimir V. Putin has an answer to his country's woes: calisthenics.

A slothful population, he warns, is sapping not only Russia's health but also its potential to rebuild as a great power. Putin's advice may have failed to move the average sausage-and-potatoes Russian to exertion, but it has hit politicians like a cannon-fired medicine ball.

The scramble to fulfill Putin's will has resonated widely.

* The State Council proposed a five-year plan to build 1,000 sports and health centers.

* In the city of Nizhny Novgorod, top officials were commanded to take up volleyball and swimming.

* One regional governor...