EXERCISE FOR ANY GIVEN MUSCLES
again; and so on. If this is not hard enough work for the ambitious aspirant for stout triceps; he can vary it by clapping his hands between the dips, just as his face is farthest from the floor, though in such case it is sometimes well to have a nose accustomed to facing difficulty. Also by walking on his hands. And by putting up heavy dumb-bells; or bar-bells.
So far, in this work for the back-arm, the hands at first held merely the weight of the dumb-bells; then, as they pressed against the wall, they had to bear part of the weight of the body; but not a large part, as that rested mainly on the feet. In the pushing from the floor, the hands bore still more of it; but yet the feet had quite a share. Now try something where the hands and arms carry the entire weight of the body. Place two stout chairs back to back; draw them about eighteen or twenty inches apart; and, placing one hand on each, holding the arms straight, and head erect, lift the feet off the floor. Now lower till the chin is level with the hands, or nearly so; and then rise till the arms are straight; and then dip again; and so on; the knees and feet of course never resting on anything. Now you have one of the best-known exercises for bringing quick development and good strength to the triceps or back-arm. When by steady daily trial you have gradually increased the number until you can do twenty-five fair dips without great effort, you have strong triceps muscles; and, if you have two legs and a reasonably heavy body to lift; good-sized ones at that. Most of your friends cannot manage five dips respectably; many scarcely one. But, lest you should feel too elated over your twenty-five, bear in mind that one gentleman in New York has accomplished over eighty without stopping; and this though he weighs upward of one hundred and eighty pounds. He says
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