Over the past 50 years progress in fitness and activity research has been influenced by social events, technical innovations, and changes in the field of physical education and kinesiology. The conventional wisdom of the 1950s yielded to a new wisdom based on research evidence. The author's research, as well as the research of others, from 1960 to the present is discussed. The new wisdom focuses on health-related fitness and physical activity promotion based on health behavior change strategies. (Contains 2 notes and 1 table.)