How to Get Strong and How to Stay So (1899)/Chapter 11
Chapter XI
What Exercise to Take Daily
"It is scarcely credible how far the body may be made proof against all weather, and against even violent exertions by daily exercise."
"A well-framed and exercised body assures sound sense, and right judgment."
"Exercise will invigorate the mind; will render it manly, energetic, indefatigable, firm, and courageous."
"Serenity of mind is the immediate consequence of health of body."
"The sports of children, by exercising and developing the organs, without which the act of thinking is impracticable, lay the foundation for that harmony between the corporal and mental faculties, from which probably arises what we term a sound understanding."—Salzman.
"The weaker the body, the more it commands; the stronger it is, the more it obeys."
"Strength of body and strength of mind; the reason of the sage and the vigor of an athlete, exhibit the most perfect model of a man, and the highest refinement of the mind."—Rousseau.
"It is wonderful how much the mind is enlivened by the motion and exercise of the body."—Pliny (Secund. Epist. I., 6).
"The artist therefore who combines music (that is, the whole circle of knowledge and mental acquirements) with gymnastics, in the most eligible proportions, and applies them to the mind, is to me the most perfect and harmonious physician."—Plato.
An endeavor has been made thus far to point out how wide-spread is the lack of general bodily exercise among classes whose vocations do not call the muscles into play; and, again, how local and circumscribed is that action, even among those who are engaged in most kinds of manual labor. Various simple exercises have been described which, if followed steadily and persistently, will bring size, shape, and strength to any desired muscles. It may be well to group in one place a few movements, which will enable any one to know at once about what amount and sort of work to take daily. Special endeavor will be made to single out such movements as will call for no expensive apparatus. Indeed, most of these want no apparatus at all; and hence will be within the reach of all. As it has been urged that the school is the most suitable place to accustom children to the kind and amount of work they particularly need; a few exercises will first be suggested which any teacher can learn almost at once; but which yet, if faithfully taught to pupils, will soon be found to take so little time that, instead of interfering with other lessons, they will prove a positive aid. Though perhaps imperceptible at the outset; in a few years, with advancing development, the gain made will be found not only to be decided, but of the most gratifying character,
DAILY WORK FOR CHILDREN
Suppose the teacher has a class of fifty. If the aisles of the school-room are, as they should be, at least two feet wide (though they are often not even twenty inches), let the children at about the middle of the morning; and again of the afternoon session; stand in these aisles in rows, so that each two of the children shall be about six feet apart. Open the windows so as to be sure of fresh air. Let the first order be, that all heads and necks be held erect. Once these are placed in their right position, all other parts of their bodies at once fall into place. The simplest way to insure this is, as already seen, to hold the neck firmly against the back of the collar. Raise the hands directly over the head, and as high as possible, until the thumbs touch, the palms of the hands facing to the front, and the elbows being kept straight. Without bending the elbows, bring the hands downward in front towards the feet as far as can comfortably be done, generally at first about as low as the knee; taking care to keep the knees themselves absolutely straight; indeed, if possible, bowed even back. Now return the hands high over the head, and then repeat, say six times. This number twice a day for the first week will prove enough; and it may be increased to twelve the second week; and maintained at that number thereafter, care being taken to assure two things: one, that the knees are never bent; the other that, after the first week, the hands are gradually brought lower down; until they touch the toes. Some persons, familiar with this exercise, can, with the knees perfectly firm and straight, lay the whole flat of the hands on the floor in front of their feet. But, after the first week, reaching the floor with the finger-tips is enough for the end sought; which is, to make the pupil stand straight on his feet; and to remove all tendency towards holding the knees slightly bent; and so causing that weak, shaky, and sprung look about the knees, so very common among persons of all ages, to give way to a proper and graceful position.
Let the pupils now stand erect, this time with backs not bent forward, but with the body absolutely vertical. Raise the hands above the head as before, elbows straight, till the thumbs touch. Now, never bending body or knees a hair's-breadth, and keeping the elbows unbent, bring the hands slowly down, not in front this time, but at the sides just above the knees; the little finger and the inner edge of the hand alone touching the leg, and the palms facing straight in front. Now notice how difficult it is to warp the shoulders forward even an inch. The chest is out, the head and neck are erect, the shoulders are held low, the back vertical and hollowed in a little, and the knees straight. Carry the hands slowly back through the same line, till again high over the head. Then bring them down to the sides again; and do six of these movements twice each day the first week; and twelve daily afterwards.
While exercises aimed at any given muscles have been mentioned elsewhere, any one might follow them all up until every muscle was shapely and strong, and still carry himself awkwardly, and even in a slouchy and slovenly manner. This last-named exercise is directly intended to obviate this. If steadily practised, it is one of the very best known exercises, as it not only gives strength, but a fine erect carriage. The whole frame is so held that every vital organ has free scope and play-room; and their healthier and more vigorous action is directly encouraged. This is one part, indeed the chief exercise, in the West Pointer's "setting-in drill"; and all who have ever seen the cadets at the Point will at once recall how admirably they succeed in acquiring and retaining a handsome carriage and manly mien.
To vary the work a little; and to bring special development to particular muscles; now let the pupil stand with arms either hanging easily at the sides; or else held akimbo; the neck back against the collar; erect, with the heels together, and the toes turned outward. Raise the heels slowly all the floor; the soles and toes remaining firm on the floor, sustaining the entire weight. When the heels are as high as possible, hold them there a moment; then lower slowly till the whole foot is on the floor again; then rise as before; and so repeat twelve times twice a day the first week; and then twenty-five for the following week, continuing this. If this is not vigorous enough, after the first month, do fifty; it will be found that now this work is telling on the size, shape, and effectiveness of the feet and calves; and on the grace and springiness of the step itself. If any boy or girl wants to become a good jumper; or to get decided aid in learning to dance long and easily; he or she will find this a great help. If they even practise it for half an hour a day; but a few minutes at a time; they will be none the worse for it.
All the work thus far recommended here can readily be done in two minutes. Standing erect; with the arms still akimbo, and the feet as before; now bend the knees so as to stoop six or eight inches; then rise to the perpendicular, stoop again, and continue this six times, the feet never leaving the floor. This strengthens the knees; while the front of the thighs get the heaviest part of the work; though the leg below the knee is doing a good share. By the third week the number may be made twenty-five. If among the scholars there are some who are decidedly weak, twenty-five of these exercises is about the limit. For strong, hearty boys, twice as many will prove nearer the mark. After two or three months of twenty—five movements as described for every day; fifty might be tried once by all the pupils; to see whether it is too severe; and if not, then maintained daily at the maximum.
Thus far the feet have not left their particular position on the floor. Now let the pupil stand with the right foot advanced about twelve or fifteen inches; suddenly rising on the toes, give a slight spring, and throw the left foot to the front, and the right back; then spring back as before; and do this six times twice a day the first week; twelve the second; and twice as many by the end of the month. This calls the same muscles into play as the last exercise, and brings the same development, but is a little more severe and vigorous.
If still harder thigh-work is wanted; starting again, with the heels together, this time do not raise the heels at all; but stoop down slowly, as low as possible; bending the knees greatly; of course, the back, however, being held straight all the while. Then rise to an erect position; then go down again. Practising this three times each morning and afternoon at first, may be followed up with six a week later; and twelve by the end of the month. Better work than this for quickly giving size and strength to the thighs could hardly be devised; while, as has been already noted, scarcely any muscles on the whole body are more needed or used for ordinary walking.
Still standing erect, with arms akimbo, raise the right foot in front about as high as the left knee, keeping the right knee unbent. Hold the right foot there ten seconds; then drop it; then raise it again, fully six times. Then, standing, do the same thing with the left feet. This calls at once on the muscles across the abdomen; aiding the stomach and other vital organs directly in their work.
This time raise the foot equally high behind; then return it to the floor, and so continue, giving each foot equal work to do. The under thigh, hip, and loin are now in action; and when, later on, they become strong, their owner will find how much easier it is to run than it used to be; and also that it has become more natural to stand erect. The rate of increase of these last two exercises may be about the same as the others.
There is not much left now of the ten minutes. Still, if the work has been pushed promptly forward, there may still be a little time. However, all three of the kinds of work suggested for the front thigh need not be practised at the one recess, any one sufficing at first.
With head again erect, and knees firm; hold the hands out at the sides and at arm's-length; close each hand firmly; as though trying to squeeze a rubber-ball, or other elastic substance. Beginning with twenty of these movements; fifty may be accomplished by the end of the fortnight; and, by their continuance, both the grip and the shape of the hand will be found steadily improving.
Clasp the hands together over the head. Now turn them over until the palms are upward, or turned towards the ceiling, and straighten the elbows until the hands are as high over the head as you can reach. While holding them in this position, be careful that they are not allowed to drop at all. Let the scholar march three or four times around the room in this position. It will soon be found that no apparatus whatever is necessary to get quite a large amount of exercise for the shoulders. In this way, while there is an unwonted stretching apart of the ribs, and opening up of the chest; the drawing in of the stomach and abdomen will be found to correct incipient chest-weakness; half-breathing; and any tendency towards indigestion.
Following up the method, now let the class form along the sides of the room, standing three feet apart, and about two feet from the wall. Place the hands against the wall, just at a level with and opposite to the shoulders. Now, keeping the heels all the time on the floor, and the neck back against the collar; let the body settle gradually forward until the chest touches the wall, keeping the elbows pretty near to the sides; the knees never bending a particle; and the face held up turned; the eyes looking at the ceiling directly overhead. Now push slowly off from the wall until the elbows are again straight, and the body back at vertical. Then repeat this, and continue six times for each half of the day, for the first week. Keep on until you reach fifteen by the third week; and twenty-five by the second month. For expanding and deepening the chest; helping to poise the head and neck so that they will remain exactly where they belong—in an erect position—and for giving the main part of the upper back-arm quite a difficult piece of work to do, this will prove a capital exercise. Whoever will make a specialty of this one form of exercise until they daily take two or even three hundred such pushes; will find that any tendency he or she may have to flatness or hollowness of chest will soon begin to decrease, and will very likely disappear altogether. Also that the back of the arm above the elbow is getting large, strong, and shapely.
In this last exercise most of the weight was on the feet; the hands and arms sustaining the rest. If the aisles are not over two feet and a half wide, let each pupil stand between two opposite desks and place one hand on each. Now, walking back about three or four feet; his hands still resting on the two desks; let him, keeping his feet on the floor but his body rigid and knees unbent, bend his elbows and lower his chest very gradually, until it is nearly or quite level with the desk tops; then slowly straighten up his arms; and so raise his body again to the original position. Three such dips twice a day the first week; five or six the second; and by the end of the month ten or twelve; and that number then maintained steadily; will open and enlarge the chest materially before the year is out; while at the same time doing much to increase and strengthen the upper back-arm. This is harder work than pushing against the wall; because the hands and arms now have to sustain a much greater portion of the weight of the body; but it is correspondingly better for the chest.
Next practise the chest widener; and the deepener as described near the end of the chapter.
Thus far exercises have been described calling for no apparatus at all; nor anything save a floor to stand on, a wall to push against, two ordinary school desks, and a fair degree of resolution. For children under ten, wooden dumb-bells, weighing one pound each, ought to be had of any wood-turner, and ought not to cost over five cents apiece. There might be one pair of dumb-bells given to each child, or, if the class is large, then a single dumb-bell for each, and they could be distributed among two classes for dumb-bell exercises.
Standing in the aisles, and about five feet apart, every child taking a dumb-bell in each hand, keeping the knees unbent and the head and neck erect, let them raise or "curl" the bells slowly until they are up to the shoulders, the finger-nails being held upward. Then lower, then rise again, and so on twenty times each half-day for the first fortnight, and double that many thereafter. This tells principally on the biceps or front of the upper arm, on the front of the shoulder, and on the pectoral muscles, or those of the upper front chest. When, later on, any pupil endeavors to pull himself up to his chin, he will find what a large share of the work these muscles have to do. Instead of the one-pound dumb-bells then; his whole body will be the weight to be lifted.
Again, let the dumb-bells hang at the sides. Raise them slowly, high up, behind the back, keeping the elbows straight, and the arms parallel. After holding them there five seconds lower them; do it again, and keep on, ten times twice a day at first, making it twenty in a fortnight, and thirty thereafter. This work will enlarge that part of the back of the upper arm next to the body, and will also tell directly on the whole back of the shoulder, and on the large muscles on the back just below where the arm joins it.
This time, holding the knuckles upward and the elbows straight, lift the dumb-bells till level with the shoulders, the arms being extended sideways as if on a cross. After holding them up five seconds, lower them; then raise them but five or six times at the first lesson, increasing to twenty by the end of the month, and then maintaining that number. The corners of the shoulders are getting the work now, and by-and-by not only shapely shoulders will come from it, but a noticeable increase of the breadth across the shoulders. This work may be varied by raising the arms parallel in front until level with the shoulders; then lowering; and so continuing.
Next raise the two bells to the shoulders; then, facing the ceiling, push both up together until they are as high over the head as possible; then lower, push up again, and continue six times twice a day for the first week; make the twelve the third week and the twenty of the fifth, and then keep at that. The outer or more noticeable parts of the upper back-arms, are busiest now; and this exercise directly tends to enlarge and strengthen them, and to add materially to the appearance of the arms.
But one exercise more need be mentioned here. Stand erect; now draw the head and neck back of the vertical all of eight inches, until you face the ceiling. Starting with the dumb-bells high up over the head, keeping the elbows straight, lower the dumb-bells slowly, until now you are holding them at arm's length, with your arms spread, as on a cross. Then lift them up again, lower, and continue. If this does not spread the chest open, it will be hard to find anything which will. Do this consecutively twenty times every day for a month. That number will take scarcely a minute to accomplish, but the little one-pound bells will feel wondrously heavy before the minute is over.
Here, then, have been shown quite a variety of exercises, not only safe and simple, but inexpensive, which can readily be adopted in any school. If they are followed up as faithfully and steadily as are the other lessons, they cannot fail to bring decided and very welcome improvement in the shape and capacity of about all the muscles, and hence of the whole body; while they will go far towards giving to all the scholars an erect and healthy carriage. These results alone would delight many a parent's heart. The making this branch of instruction as compulsory as any other would soon accustom the pupil to look for it as a matter of course. If it were conducted with spirit, it would always be sure to prove interesting; and very likely to send the children back to their studies much fresher and brighter for the temporary mental rest.
Besides these exercises, the teacher, insisting on the value of an erect position in school-hours, whether the pupil be standing or sitting; and by inculcating the value of this, would soon find that these efforts were being rewarded by making many a crooked girl or boy straight; and so lessening their chance of having either delicate throats or weak lungs. And one thing more, namely, taking long, slow, deep breaths in through the nose. Care should be taken that the school chairs have broad and comfortable seats; and that the pupil never sits on a half of the seat, or on the edge of it; but far back and on the whole of it; and never with crossed legs—a fruitful cause of curvature of the spine. This apparently small matter will assist marvellously in forming the habit of an erect position while sitting.
The teacher's opportunity to work marked and permanent physical benefit to every pupil under her charge, by daily and steadily following up most or either of the above exercises; or of some substantially equivalent; can scarcely be over-estimated. The exercises strengthen the postures, whether sitting or standing. When a teacher insists on having her children erect for six hours out of the twenty-four; and makes plain to each one the value of being straight; and the self-respect it tends directly to encourage; there need be no great fear that the remaining waking-hours will make any child crooked. It is in school generally that the mischief of warping and crooking is done; and hence there, of all places, would be the most appropriate place for the undoing of it. They should also be told to sleep with the neck well back, and, as far as possible, with the mouth closed.
Dumb-bells of but a pound each have been mentioned here so far. Such would be fitting for pupils under ten years of age. For all older pupils the same work with two-pound bells will prove generally vigorous enough; and whoever wishes to judge what these light weights can do in a short time should examine the results of Dr. Sargent's exercises with them and other light apparatus (see Appendix II.). Those who are already decidedly strong can of course try larger bells; but it is astonishing how soon those of only two pounds seem to grow heavy, even to those who laugh at them at first.
Of course, all the work before described cannot be gone through with in ten minutes in mid-morning; or even in the twenty of the morning and afternoon sessions combined; but much of it can: and an advantage of naming too much is that it enables the teacher to vary the work from day to day; and so, while effecting the same results, prevents monotony.
As the months go by; and it is found that the weaker ones have noticeably improved; and all are now capable of creditable performances at these various exercises; they may be carried safely on to the gymnasium—that is, if the school is fortunate enough to possess one. It is but a partially equipped school which is not provided with a good-sized, well-ventilated room, say of forty or fifty feet square (and one fifty by a hundred would do far better), fitted up with the simpler gymnastic appliances, and they are really few. Now the teacher, if up to his work, can render even more valuable assistance than before, by standing by the pupil, as he or she attempts the simplest steps on the parallel bars, or the rings, or the high bars, the pulley-weights, or the horizontal bar; constant explanations are to be given how to advance, and setting the example, detecting defects and correcting them on the spot, and all the while being ready to catch the pupil and prevent him or her from falling. An instructor soon finds that the pupils progress as rapidly as they did in the lighter preparatory work, while now they are entering on a field which, if faithfully cultivated, though for only the same brief intervals daily, will later on insure a class of strong, healthy, shapely, and symmetrical boys or girls, strong of arm and fleet of foot, familiar with what they can do, and knowing what is not to be attempted. Much, indeed the greater part, of the good to be derived from the gymnasium would have come from steadily adhering to the exercises above pointed out, so that even with no gymnasium, excellent progress can be had; but results come quicker in the gymnasium; and the place invites greater freedom of action. In ten minutes in the morning, for instance, thirty or forty boys or girls could, following one another promptly, "walk" (on their hands) through the parallel bars with the elbows unbent, the head of the line crossing at once to the high bars, and "walk" or advance through them, first holding the weight on one hand and then on the other, then turning to the horizontal bar and vaulting over it. If the rear of the line is not yet through the forward "walk" on the parallels, those at the head could take a swing on the rings. Next, they could "walk" backward through the parallels, then through the high bars; then vault; again, swing again, and then try the parallels anew—this time "jumping" forward, or advancing both hands at once, the arms of course being held rigidly straight. Then turning to the high bars, they could jump or advance through them, springing forward with both hands at once, vault again, the her having meanwhile been raised, and either try the rings again or rest a moment, and then jump backward through the high bars.
A little foot-work, for a minute or two remaining, would make a good conclusion. With the hands closed and elbows beat, the body and arms held almost rigid, the neck well back, and so the head up; let the column now start oil around the room on an easy trot, each stepping as noiselessly as possible, and no heel touching the floor. A minute of this at a moderate pace will be abundant at first; and as the legs gradually get strong, and the breathing improves, the run can be either made faster or longer, or both.
As the pupils began to grow steadier, with their hands on the bars, they could next swing their feet back and forth, and jump with their hands as they swing forward; then, later, could jump forward as the feet are swung backward, and backward as the feet are swung forward. The vaulting-bar for the boys meanwhile may steadily rise, peg after peg; and, when proficiency is reached with two hands, one-hand vaulting may be tried, and the bar gradually raised as before, the teacher always standing near the vaulter. The swinging on the rings, instead of being any longer simple straight-arm work, with the body hanging nearly down, can now be done with the elbows bent much of the time, the knees being curled up towards the chin as the swinger goes backward.
After two months of straight-arm work on the parallel bars, even the girls may now try the same exercises they did with their arms when straight, save that now they should always bent keep them at the elbows. This will come hard even yet, and must be tried with care. These are the well-known "dips"; followed up little by little, and month after month. By-and-by these exercises will come as easy as was the straight-arm work.
To all, or nearly all, the high-bar work should now be done with bent elbows; while the vaulting should, say by the end of the year, be nearly at shoulder-height for each pupil; and even, for many of them, that high with one hand. The running should have improved correspondingly, so that five minutes of it at a respectable pace, say at the rate of a mile in seven minutes, would not trouble the girls, and even ten minutes of it not distress the boys.
Now, what have these few exercises done for the muscles and their owners?
Well, the straight-arm work on the parallels, by throwing the whole weight on the hands, told directly on the upper back-arm, while the dips brought the same region into most vigorous action; and at the same time opened and strengthened the front of the chest very markedly; tending to set the shoulders back, and enlarging the chest-girth under the arms. The high-bar work told equally upon the biceps muscles, or those of the front of the upper arm; and likewise on the front of the shoulders. The vaulting made the vaulter springy; and strengthened his thighs and calves materially; and his abdominal muscles somewhat; while the more advanced work on the rings brought both the biceps and abdominal muscles into most energetic play. The running was excellent for the entire legs, and the abdominals; while as a lung-expander it is difficult to equal.
Those proficient at these few exercises, if they have heeded the endeavors made to secure at all times an erect and easy carriage of the body, need but one more thing. With regular and sensible habits of eating, sleeping, dressing, and bathing, they would be almost certain to be at once well and strong. The thing wanted is daily constitutional out~of-door exercise; whether taken afoot, on horse-back, at the oar, or on the bicycle, it matters little, so long as it is vigorously taken and faithfully persisted in, in about all weathers. This guarantees that pure and bracing air shall be had; breaks up the thread of the day's thoughts; rests the mind; and quickly refits it for new work. This alone gives the full deep breathing; and the healthy tire of the muscles. It furnishes constantly varying scene, with needed eye and ear gymnastics—in short, everything which is the reverse of that quiet, sedentary, plodding life over books or papers, read too often in poorly-lighted rooms.
Home-exercise, then, with the out-of-door life, will combine to tone us up; to invigorate our persons; and to keep oil either mental or physical exhaustion and disorder.
The above work, followed up assiduously, ought to bring in its train health, symmetry, a good carriage, buoyant spirits, and a fair share of nerve and agility. But many a young man is not content with merely these; he wants to be very strong. He is already at or near his majority. He is quite strong, perhaps, in some ways, but in others is plainly deficient. What ought he to do?
DAILY EXERCISE FOR YOUNG MEN
On rising, let him stand erect (that is with the back of his neck held firmly against his collar, or held well back if he has not put on his collar), brace his chest firmly out, and, breathing deeply, curl dumb-bells (each of about one-fifteenth of his own weight) fifty times without stopping. This is biceps work enough for the early morning. Then, placing the bells on the floor at his feet, and bending his knees a little, and his arms none at all, rise to an upright position with them fifty times. The loins and back have had their turn now. After another minute's rest, standing erect, let him lift the bells fifty times as far up and out behind him as he can; keeping elbows straight, and taking care, when the bells reach the highest point behind, to hold them still there a moment. Now the under side of his arms, and about the whole of the upper back, have had their work. Next, starting with the bells at the shoulders, push them up high over the head, and lower fifty times continuously. Now the outer part of the upper arms, the corners of the shoulders, and the waist have all had active duty.
Finally, after another minute's rest, start with the bells high over the head, and lower slowly until the arms are in about the position they would be on a cross, the elbows being always kept unbent. Raise the bells to height again, then lower, and so continue until you have done ten; care being taken to hold the head six or more inches back of the perpendicular; and to steadily face the ceiling directly overhead; while the chest is swelled out to its uttermost. However, it will be so then anyway. Rest half a minute after doing ten; then do ten more; and so on till you have accomplished fifty. This last exercise is one of the best-known chest-expanders. Now that these five sorts of work are over; few muscles above the waist have not had vigorous and ample work; the lungs themselves have had a splendid stretch; and you have not spent over fifteen minutes on the whole operation. If you want to add a little hand and forearm work, catch a broom-stick or stout cane at or near the middle; and, holding it at arm's-length, twist it rapidly from side to side a hundred times with one hand; and then with the other.
In the late afternoon a five-mile walk on the road, at a four-mile pace, with the step inclined to be short, the knees bent but little, and the foot pushing harder than usual as it leaves the ground—this will be found to bring the legs and loins no inconsiderable exercise; all, in fact, that they will probably need. If, shortly before bedtime each evening, the youth, after he has been working as above, say for a month, will, in light clothes and any old and easy shoes, run a mile in about seven minutes and a half; and, a little later, under the seven minutes; or, three nights a week, make the distance two miles each night; always breathing through the nose, there will soon be a life and vigor in his legs which used to be unknown; and if six months of this work brings a whole inch more of girth of thigh and of calf, it is only what might have been expected.
For still more rapid and decided advance, an hour at the gymnasium during the latter part of the morning; half of it at the rowing-weights, so thickening and stoutening the back; and the other half at "dipping" and other half-arm work on the parallel bars—so spreading and enlarging the chest and stoutening the back-arms—these will increase the development rapidly; and will sharpen the appetite at a corresponding rate. But it must be real work; and no dawdling or time lost.
Few young men in any active employment, however, can spare this morning hour. Still, without it, if they will follow up the before-breakfast work; the walking in the fashion named; and the running; they will soon find time enough for this much, and most satisfactory results in the way of improved health and increased strength as well. Indeed, it will, for most young men prove about the right amount to keep them toned up and ready for their day's Work. If they desire great development in any special line, let them select some of the exercises described in the previous chapter, as aimed to effect such development, and practise them as assiduously, if need be, as Rowell did his tread-mill work for his legs.
DAILY EXERCISE FOR WOMEN
And what should the girls and women do each day? With two-pound wooden dumb-bells at first, let them, before breakfast, go through twenty-five movements of each of the five sorts just described for young men. After six weeks or two months they can increase the number to fifty, and, if this does not bring the desired increase in size, and strength of arm and chest and back, then they can try dumb-bells weighing four or five pounds each, and spend the time at the exercises.
Out-of-doors, either in the latter part of the morning or afternoon, if they will, in broad, easy shoes (so that each toe comes down flat) walk for one hour, not at any listless two-mile pace, but at first as fast as they comfortably can; and then gradually increasing until in a fortnight or more they can make sure of three miles and a half at least, if not of four miles within the hour; and will observe the way of stepping just suggested to the men, they will get about walking enough. And if once in a while, every Saturday, for instance, they make the walk all of five or six miles, getting, if city-ladies, quite out into the suburbs and back; they will be surprised and gratified at the greater ease with which they can walk now than formerly; and at their freshness at the end. Reports from India say that English ladies there often spend two or three hours daily in the saddle. Every American lady who can manage to ride that much, or half of it; and at a strong, brisk page; will soon have a health and vigor almost unknown among our women and girls to-day.
If walking and horseback parties, instead of being, as now, wellnigh unheard of among our girls, were everyday affairs; and there was not a point of interest within ten miles which every girl, and woman too, did not know well; it would prove a benefit both to them, and to the next generation which would be almost incalculable.
Among American women running is a lost art. One writer says a woman can run just fast enough for a man to catch her. Yet many have never succeeded in running that fast. In some states there are said to be 70,000 such. Yet you will have hard work to find an exercise that will begin to do as much to make a girl or woman graceful as correct running. Girls should all learn to run. Few of them are either easy or graceful runners; but it is an accomplishment quickly learned; and began at a short distance and slow jog, and continued until the girl thinks nothing of running a mile in seven minutes, and that without once touching a heel to the ground, it will not only do more than almost any other known exercise to make her graceful and easy on her feet, but it will also enlarge and strengthen her lungs. A roomy school-yard, a bit of lawn, a gymnasium-track, or a track around the school-house, either of these is all the place needed in which to learn this now almost obsolete accomplishment. The gymnasium is perhaps the best place; as there they can wear costumes which do not impede freedom of movement.
If, besides these things, the girl or woman will determine that, as much as possible of the time each day in which she is sitting down, she will sit with head and neck up, trunk erect, and with shoulders low; and that whenever she stands or walks she will at all times be upright, that is with neck held well back and shoulders low, she will shortly find that she is getting to be far straighter than she was; and, if she has a larger and finer chest than formerly, it will be nothing strange, for she has simply been using one of the means to get it. Of course if she keeps it confined in any way it cannot very easily grow larger. If a still greater variety of daily work is desired, she can select it from Chapter X.; the exercises on the exerciser being especially desirable.
DAILY EXERCISE FOR BUSINESS MEN
And what daily work shall the business man take? His aim is not to lay on muscle, not to become equal to this or that athletic feat; but simply to so exercise as to keep his entire physical and mental machinery in good working order; and himself equal to all demands likely to be made on him.
First he, like the young man or the woman, should make sure of the ten or fifteen minutes' work before breakfast. Not through the long day again will he be likely to have another good opportunity for physical exercise, at least until evening, and then he will plead that he is too tired. But in the early morning, fresh and rested, and with a few minutes at his disposal, he can, as Bryant did, without serious or violent effort, work himself great benefit; the good effect of which will stay by him all the day. If he has in his room an exerciser he will be better off than Bryant was, in that he can have a far wider range of exercise, and that already at hand.
Let him first devote two or three minutes to the striking-bag. One 20 inches square, made of drilling, full of sawdust, and hung by ropes from the lintel of his bedroom door, will do. Facing it squarely, with head back and chest well out, let him strike it a succession of vigorous blows, with left and right fists alternating, until he has done a hundred in all. If he has hit hard and with spirit, he is puffing freely now, his lungs are fully expanded; his legs have had a deal of springing about to do; and his arms and chest have been busiest of all. This bag-work is really superb exercise; and if once or twice, later in the day, say at one's place of business, or at home again in the evening, he would take some more of it; he would find fret, discomfort, and indigestion flying to the winds; and in their place buoyancy and exhilaration of spirits to which too many men have long been strangers.
Next grasp the handles of the exerciser as described on page 48 and bear downward, as described on page 191. Repeat this work for about two minutes, standing all the time thoroughly erect. Whether the sparring left any part of your chest unfilled or not, every air-cell is expanded now; while you cannot fail to be pleased with the thorough way in which this simple contrivance does its work. Care should of course be taken that the air breathed during these exercises is pure and fresh.
Now use the dumb-bells two or three minutes. Let them weigh say five pounds each, not over one twenty-fifth of your own weight. First, with head and neck a trifle back of vertical; and so the chest held out as full as possible; curl the bells, that is lift them from down at arm's-length until you have drawn them close up to the shoulders, the finger-nails being turned upward. Lower again, and repeat until you have done twenty-five; the neck being always well back. The biceps muscles, or those of the front upper arm, and of the front of the shoulders and chest, have been busy now.
Next, starting with the bells at your shoulders, push both at once steadily up over your head as high as you can reach; and continue till twenty-five are accomplished. The back-arms, tops of the shoulders, and the waist have now had their turn.
Facing the excerciser (page 48), and standing about two feet from it, catch a handle in each hand. Keeping the elbows stiff, draw first one hand and then the other in a horizontal line until your hand is about eighteen inches behind you; the body and legs being at all times held rigidly erect, and the chest well out. Continue this until you have done fifty strokes with each hand. This is excellent for the back of the shoulders—indeed for nearly the entire back above the waist.
Again, with back to the exerciser, hold the handles high over the head, and leaning forward about a foot, keeping the elbows unbent, bear the handles directly downward in front of you; and so do twenty-five.
Besides these few things, or most of them, hang by the hands on a bar or rings if you can, catching it with both hands, just swing back and forth, at first for half a minute, afterwards longer, always holding the head well back. This is capital at stretching the ribs apart and expanding the chest. If the above exercises seem too hard at first, begin with half as much, or even less, and work gradually up until the number named can be easily done.
If, once in mid-morning and again in mid-afternoon, the man, right in his store or office, will turn for two or three minutes to his dumb-bells, and repeat what he did with his home pair in the morning, he will find the rest and change most refreshing. But in any case, whether he does so or not, every man in this country whose life is in-door ought to so divide his time that, come what may, he will make sure of his hour out-of-doors in the late afternoon, when the day's work is nearly or quite done. If he must get up earlier, or get to his work earlier, or work faster while he does work, no matter. The prize is well worth any such sacrifice, and even five times it. Emerson well says, "The first wealth is health," and no pains should be spared to secure it. Lose it a while and see. Exercise vigorously that hour afoot, or horseback, a-wheel, or on the water, making sure that during it you utterly ignore your business and usual thoughts. Walk less at first, but soon do your four miles in the hour, and then stick to that, of course having shoes in which it is easy to walk; and before long the good appetite of boyhood will return; food will taste as it often has not done for years, sound sleep will be surer; and new life and zest will be infused into all that you do. Let every man in this country who lives by brain-work, get this daily "constitutional" at all hazards; and it will do more to secure to him future years of health and usefulness than almost anything else he can do.
It will be observed that there is nothing severe or violent in any of these exercises suggested for men—nothing that old or young may not take with like advantage. The whole idea is to point out a plain and simple plan of exercise, which, followed up faithfully, will make sound health almost certain, and which is easily within the reach of all.
Daily Exercise for Consumptives
And what should these people do? If there is one good lung left, or a goodly portion of two, there is much which they can do. Before breakfast they need to be more careful than others because of their poorer circulation. Still, in a warm and comfortable room they can work to advantage even then. In most instances consumptives have not large enough chests, and in every instance they do not take in enough air. Stripped to the waist, there is found to be a flatness of the upper chest, a lack of depth straight through from breastbone to spine; and the girth about the chest itself, and especially at the lower part of it, is often two or more inches less than it is in a well-built person of the same height. Now, to weed out these defects, to swell up and enlarge the chest, and bring it proper breadth, and depth, and fulness, this will go far towards insuring healthy and Vigorous lungs. And how is this done?
Standing with your back to the exerciser on page 48, holding neck well back, the knees and elbows unbent, draw the two handles forward high over your head and then straight down in front of you, the arms being all the time parallel. Let the handles go back slowly, then repeat, and so do ten. Just as you bear down each time, inflate the lungs to their utmost; and hold the air in them until you have lowered your hands again. Rest about a minute; then do ten more, and a little later ten more. This will be enough before-breakfast work the first week. At breakfast, and whenever sitting down throughout the day, determine to do two things—to sit far back on your chair, and to sit at all times upright, with the back of your neck against your collar. No matter how many times you forget or fail, even if a thousand, keep trying until the erect posture becomes habitual. This point once reached, you have accomplished a great thing—one which may aid not a little to save your life.
Next, about an hour after breakfast, start out for an easy walk. Going quietly at first, the head held, if anything, back of the vertical, and the step short and springy; quicken later into a lively pace, doing six, eight, ten steps a breath if you can without discomfort, and, holding that as long as you easily can, return to your room. If your skin is moist, do not hesitate a minute; but strip at once, and with coarse towels rub your skin till it is thoroughly red all over; and then put on dry under-clothing. If you then feel like taking a nap, take it. When well rested, do thirty more strokes at the exerciser. In the afternoon try more walking; or some horseback work if you can get a steed with any dash in him. After you are through, then more weight work. Finally, just before retiring, take another turn at the exerciser. Breathe through the nose only.
After the first week run the exerciser-work up to fifty at a time; and increase the outdoor distance covered both morning and afternoon, being sure to go in all weathers, and to eat and sleep all you comfortably can. Vary the indoor work also somewhat. In addition to the exercise on page 204 practise now twice as many daily on the exerciser, but this time facing it; and with elbows always straight, arms parallel, and neck firmly back draw your hands down close past your sides and far back of you. After the first fortnight try hanging by the two hands on the horizontal bar and swinging lightly back and forth. Before breakfast, before dinner, before supper, and just before retiring, take a turn at this swinging. Of it, and the two sorts of work on the exerciser a weak-lunged person can scarcely do enough. These open the ribs apart, broaden and deepen the chest, and inflate the lungs—the very things the consumptive needs. The out-door work secures him or her ample good air, vigorous exercise, and frequent change of scene. On the value of this good air, or rather of the danger of bad air, hear Langenbeck, the great German anatomist: "I am sure now of what I suspected long ago, viz., that pulmonary diseases have very little to do with intemperance, … and much less with cold weather, but are nearly exclusively (if we except tuberculous tendencies inherited from both parents, I say quite exclusively) produced by the breathing of foul air." And as Maclaren says, "The lungs themselves are strengthened by this increased activity." This outdoor work should also be steadily increased until the half-hour's listless walk at first becomes six or eight miles before dinner, and as much more before supper. From breakfast to supper one can hardly be exercising out-of-doors too much; and steadily calling on the heart and lungs in these very favorable ways, increased vigor and power are only what might have reasonably been looked for.
As the months roll on, and this steady work, directed right to the weak spots, has strengthened and toughened you; now stand say five feet from the exerciser, also increase the number of strokes until you do a thousand or even two thousand daily—head and body always being held erect, and full breathing a constant accompaniment. This making a specialty of these chest-expanding exercises, none of which are severe or violent; but which are still vigorous enough, and the abundance of healthy and active out-door life, are sure to bring good fruits in this battle where the stake is no less than one's own life. They are rational and vigorous means, aimed directly at the weak part, and, with good air, good food, cheerful friends, and ample sleep, will often work marvels; where the filling the stomach with a whole apothecary-shop of nauseous oils and other medicines has wholly failed to bring the relief sought. These exercises taken by a man, already healthy, at once tone him up and invigorate him, until he begins to have something of the feeling of the sturdy pioneer, as described by Dr. Mitchell.[1] And if the delicate person tries the same means, using them judiciously and carefully, it is but natural that he should find similar results.
Some years ago, Dr. G, of Boston, showed us a picture of himself taken several years previously. The shoulders were warped forward, the chest looked flat, almost hollow, and the face and general appearance suggested a delicate man. He said he inclined to be consumptive. Well, by practising breathing, not on an ordinary "blowing-machine," where you empty your lungs of about all that is in them, but on an in-spirometer, from which instead you inhale every inch of air you can; and by practising vigorous working of his diaphragm, he had so expanded his lungs that he could inhale three hundred and eighty cubic inches of air at one breath! Certainly the depth of his chest at the later period was something astounding, it being, as nearly as we could judge without calipers, all of twelve inches through, directly from breastbone to spine; while it was a strikingly broad chest as well.
But an even more astonishing feature was the tremendous power of his voice. He said that at the end of half an hour's public singing with the opera-singers (for he was skilled at that), while they would be hot and perspiring, he was only just warming up, and getting ready for his work. One thing all who ever heard him sing would quickly concede; namely, that seldom had they anywhere heard so immense a voice as his. He said that he had also run two blocks in one breath. He looked about the farthest remove from a consumptive—a short, stout, fat man, rather.
Now the in-door chest work above recommended; and the steady and vigorous daily out-door work; all aiming to deepen and strengthen the lungs; are well-nigh sure to bring decidedly favorable results; while the doctor's habit of frequent, deep, and slow inhaling, cannot fail to work great good, and can hardly be practised enough.
After he of weak lungs has once built them up again, and regained the former vigor; he should not only be sure of his daily in-door exercise and of his "constitutional," but of a longer outing daily than a stronger man would need. President Day, of Yale, said to have been a consumptive at seventeen, by good care of his body lived to be ninety-five; and it is far from uncommon for delicate persons, who take good care of the small stock of vigor they have, to outlive sturdier ones who are more prodigal and careless.