Here is the excerpt:
Over and above any considerations of performance for sports, exercise is the stimulus that returns our bodies to the conditions for which they were designed.
I have looked all the meanings the word consideration has, but still cannot digest it. I cannot get what the author of the book means by considerations of performance. Could you please rephrase the sentence for me?
Considerations' in your example means 'facts or subjects that need to be thought of (considered) when judging something or making a decision'.
When choosing a car, important considerations might be the price and running costs, the size of your garage, the transport needs of you and your family, and your opinion of the brand and model.
When deciding which job to take, considerations may include the salary, the location, promotion prospects, commuting costs, and how satisfying the work would be.
The writer is saying that, apart from thinking about exercise in connection with performance for sports, it should be thought of as necessary to make our bodies perform as they should generally.
consideration noun (SUBJECT/FACT) B2 [ C or U ] a particular subject or fact that needs to be thought about when judging something:
Comfort/Safety is an important consideration.
We can reword "over and above" as "besides". The author says that exercise has two sets of benefits:
1. It increases performance in sports.
2. It returns your body to its proper condition.
We can reword "considerations" as "thoughts of possible benefits".
Thus,
In addition to all the thoughts of possible benefits that exercise can give to your performance in sports, there's one other key benefit: it returns your body to its proper condition.
Or, if we look in the Wiktionary, I guess meaning 2 fits:
Consideration (noun): Something considered as a reason or ground for a (possible) decision.
Thus, besides thinking of all the possible reasons for exercising in order to increase your performance in sports, think of this: exercise can return your body to its proper condition.
