The Road to Wellville/Chapter 15
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Exercises for Folks Who “Sit”
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Whatever our circumstances or duties, nothing stands between us and fifteen minutes a day of “setting up” exercises, except lack of determination! One of our leading directors of athletics in schools and organizations, Dr. C. Ward Crampton, of New York City, points out that a man who feels “down and out” is generally just that: “Head and chest down and abdomen out!” In his book on Physical Exercise for Daily Use, he shows that exercises need be neither violent nor uninteresting if they are intelligently and faithfully carried out.
Getting into Action
in the MorningJust to stir your curiosity concerning the possibilities of interesting, enlivening exercises from which one may reap a big harvest of power and well-being, ability to drive instead of being driven, and a longer life and more in it, glance at these seven exercises suggested by Dr. Crampton (Courtesy of G. P. Putnam’s Sons):
1. The natural stretch, copied from our cave men ancestors. Watch the dog and cat wake up.
2. Pumping, done by lying flat on the back (not raising it or breathing), and expanding the chest to the count of six, then the abdomen to the count of two, alternating the expansion and contraction three to five times. This sends the blood about its business in a hurry, and will get you up in the morning better than a bugler. Repeat fifteen times with deep breathing between each three contractions and expansions.
3. The Kick-up, to exercise the abdominal muscles and get you out of bed with a flourish. Right knee to chest—kick. Left knee the same. (Bedclothes disappear). Raise both legs up straight, give half a dozen kicks in the air, whirl around, and sit up on the side of the bed, and the agony of rising has become the joy of getting up!
4. Churning or Kundalin is an exercise practiced in the East 4,000 years ago, and it is Just as good today as then for massaging the internal organs. It consists in making the middle portion of the body describe a circle while seated, keeping the head erect and still. “An organ half sick from neglect takes courage and renews its life” under this treatment.
5. The Tickletoe or Aeroplane Exercise, for training the trunk muscles, consisting in “sailing along,” with the arms stretched out level a little above the shoulders, and stopping at every other swing to touch the toes with the hand, the right foot with the left hand and vice versa, while the other hand 1s flung up and back.
6. Pep Hops call for a rhythmical hopping first on one foot, then on the other, eight times, then four, then two, and ending with a run of four steps, and you do “stunts” with the foot that is not hopping at the same time! This is for heart training and circulation, and for fun.
7. Star Gazing is the final exercise, for strengthening the muscles of the neck, and consists in putting the hands back of the head, bending it far forward, then gradually far backward, and rolling it from side to side while you take a few deep breaths. This starts you out with an uplift and poise that should last through the day.In a little fifteen-cent pamphlet on Physical Development, put out by the Boy Scouts of America, you will find the famous “Daily Dozen Set Up” by Walter Camp, described and illustrated. Also the description of the setting up exercises outlined by Dr. George J. Fisher, formerly Secretary of the Physical Department, International Committee Y. M. C. A., and Deputy Chief Scout Executive of the Boy Scouts organization. So every one may have the help of these outstanding authorities, in literally girding up his loins and strengthening his muscles for a Joyous sprint up the Wellville Road, merely by investing in such printed directions and backing them up with practice.
But there’s the rub—no Scout gets a merit badge unless, among other tests, he can prove that for six months he has practiced a drill of ten exercises daily! Everyone of us ought to be “good scouts” to this extent. You will find it builds character as well as health to carry out this simple fifteen-minute régime with a soldierly regularity.