How to Get Strong and How to Stay So (1899)/Chapter 10
CHAPTER X
SPECIAL EXERCISE FOR ANY GIVEN MUSCLES
"He who breathes best, lives best. Deep breathers, other things being equal, live longer than short breathers."-Roberts.
"The arms and shoulders are the medium through which the chest receives almost all its exercise." "In providing for the freedom in functional activity of the vital organs by the expansion of the chamber in which they lie; we directly aid in their development, directly increase their power."—Maclaren.
While symmetrical and thorough physical development are not at all common among Americans; and undeveloped, inerect, and weak bodies almost outnumber any other kind; the general want of familiarity with what will develop any given muscles; and bring them up to the fulness and strength which ought to be theirs, is even more surprising. If proof is wanted of this; let the reader ask himself what special work he would choose to develop any given part; the muscles of the forearm, for instance; or those of the front of the chest. If he has ever paid any attention to his physical development—and thousands and tens of thousands have not—he may know one or two things which will bring about the desired result; but, even if he has attended the gymnasium a good deal, he will often be surprised to find that his time there was mainly spent in accomplishing some particular feat or amount of work; rather than in bringing about the special development of any given part; or general development of the whole body.
Now, while the exercises which bring any given set of muscles into play are very numerous; if a few can be grouped together which shall be at once simple and plain; and shall call either for inexpensive apparatus, or none at all; which will also enable almost any one, by a little energy and determination, to bring up any limb or muscles now weak; they may prove of value.
TO DEVELOP THE LEG BELOW THE KNEE
The main part of the leg below the knee, for instance, is composed of muscles which raise the heel. Stand erect, with the head high, chest out, and shoulders down; keeping the knees all the time well sprung back; having the feet about three inches apart, with the toes turned outward. Now slowly raise the heels until they are high off the floor; and the whole weight rests on the soles and toes. Now drop slowly down. Then repeat. Next place the hand on the muscles of the calf, and while at first not firm, feel them harden as you rise; and all doubt as to whether the exercise in question uses these muscles will speedily vanish. Continue this exercise at the same rate; keeping at it until you have risen fifty times. Now, it will not be necessary, with most persons, to have to place the hand on these muscles to learn if they are brought into play; for already that is becoming very plain in another way, one that is bringing conclusive proof to the mind—internal evidence it might well be called. Unless the calves are unusually strong; long before the one hundredth effort, there is an unmistakable ache in them, which, in the majority of instances, will cause the person to stop outright, from sheer inability to proceed. It has not taken much time to get a pretty thorough measure of about what power there is in one set of muscles at least. All doubts are gone from his mind now as to whether one exercise he knows will call into play the muscles of his leg below the knee or not. It is equally plain that it is not his forearm, or upper arm, or the back or front of his chest which has been in action; for none of these have felt fatigue, the tire being all confined to the muscles in question.
Again, had there been beside him two men of nearly the same weight, but one of small and feeble calves; the other having them shapely and—not fat but—well developed; is there any doubt which of the two could have kept at the exercise the longer, yet with the less fatigue? Few need be told that a muscle, unused to work at first, can gradually, by direct and systematic exercise, be strengthened; but not a few there are who are unaware that, with the new strength, comes increased size as well.
Yet, to those familiar with athletic work, it is as plain as that you must have your eyes open if you want to see. A gentleman of our acquaintance, of magnificent muscular and vital development, was not satisfied with the girth of his calves, which was 14¼ inches. At our suggestion he began practising this simple raising and lowering of the heels. In less than four months he had increased the girth of each calf one whole inch. When asked how many strokes a day he averaged, he said, "From fifteen hundred to two thousand"; varied some days by holding in each hand during the process a twelve-pound dumb-bell; and then only doing one thousand or thereabouts. The time he found most convenient was in the morning on rising; and just before retiring at night. Instead of the work taking much time, seventy a minute was found a good ordinary rate; so that fifteen minutes at each end of the day was all he needed. But this was a great and very rapid increase, especially for a man of thirty-five; far more than most persons would naturally be contented with; yet suggestive of the stuff and perseverance of the man who accomplished it.
Here, then, one of the most effective exercises which could be desired for the strengthening of these muscles is accomplished, without apparatus; without one cent of expense—one which can be practised anywhere, in the largest or the smallest room; in-doors or out; on land or while at sea.
But there are many other exercises which will bring this same development. Now stand erect again; with neck back, head and chest high; shoulders low; and knees sprung back. Start off at an ordinary pace, and walk. But, instead of, as usual, putting the foot down and lifting it without thinking about it; this time, just as it leaves the ground, press hard with the soles and toes. Go on for a block or two; and you will suddenly find that your calves are having new and unwonted duties—indeed, a very generous share of work. Keep on for a mile—if you can. Good a walker as you thought yourself before; a mile of this sort will be a mile to be remembered—certainly for a few days, till the ache gets out of your calves.
If walking with this new push is not hard enough on flat ground; try it up-hill, keeping your knees straight. It will not be long before these muscles will ache; till it will seem as if you must have a whole gymnasium concealed in them somewhere.
Another exercise for the same muscles, which can also be learned in a moment; and a little of which will suffice at first; is running on the toes; or, rather, on the soles and toes. Here the whole weight is held by, and pushed from, first the muscles of one calf; then of the other. One will not go far at this, without convincing proof of the value of this work to the parts in question.
Of two brothers of our acquaintance—one a boy of thirteen, the other a little fellow of four—the former walks with no especial spring, and performs his running flat-footed. But the little fellow, whether walking, standing, or running, is forever on his toes; and with his knees sprung well back. The former has rather slim legs and no great calf; the latter beautifully developed calves; round, full, and symmetrical; noticeably large and shapely for a boy of his size and age.
Again, work, harder, and telling more directly on the calves, and hence calculated to increase their size and strength faster even than any of these, is hopping on one foot—a really grand exercise; and one of the speediest for bringing strong legs and a springy step. There is not the relief in it that there is in walking or running. There the rest is nearly twice as long as here. Here the work is almost continuous; and soon tires the strongest muscles. Jumping also exercises these muscles powerfully; and, practised steadily, soon brings them up. Well developed and strong; these muscles are of great value in dancing; adding astonishingly to the ease and grace so valued in this accomplishment; and to endurance as well. Horseback-riding, where the foot is pushed but a little way into the stirrup, and the whole weight thus thrown on the soles and toes; rowing, especially with the sliding-seat, where the feet press hard against the stretcher; leaping; ordinary walking uphill; and walking on the soles and toes alone—these all call these muscles into most vigorous play; and, when practised steadily and with energy; are among the most rapid means known for increasing, not the strength of the calves alone, but their girth as well.
Try a summer of mountain-climbing. Look at the men who spend their lives at it. Notice the best stayers in the Alpine clubs; and almost invariably they are found to have large and powerful calves; especially where their knees are not bent much in stepping. In a personal sketch of Bendigo, the once celebrated British prize-fighter (afterwards a quiet Christian man), much stress was laid on the fact that his calves measured a clean sixteen inches about. Yet, to show that gentlemen are sometimes quite as strong in given directions as prize-fighters; look at Professor Maclaren's own memorandum of not only what a splendid pair of legs he himself had at the start; but what a little mountain-climbing did for them; for he says that in four months of Alpine walking; averaging nine hours a day; his calves went up from sixteen inches to seventeen and a quarter! and his thighs from twenty-three and a half inches to twenty-five. If instances nearer home are sought; and yet where neither anything like the time Maclaren took was given to it; nor any of the very severe work of the gentleman referred to a little earlier; look at what Dr. Sargent accomplished, not with one solitary man but with two hundred; not giving nine hours a day to it, but only "half an hour a day, four times a week, for a period of six months." In this very brief time, and by moderate exercises, he increased the average girth of the calf of these whole two hundred men from twelve and a half inches to thirteen and a quarter. There was one pupil, working four hours a week instead of four half-hours; and for one year instead of six months; who increased his calves from thirteen and a half inches to fifteen—an actual gain of a quarter of an inch more in two hundred and eight hours of exercise; much of which was given to other muscles; and did not tell on the calves, than Maclaren made in nine hundred hours of work, most of which kept these muscles in very active play.
When you go to Japan, and all should try to do so once, if they want to see what appears like part of another planet—and of a very attractive planet—and one of the most energetic and polite races, and perhaps, the most intellectual race in the world; look at the little jinrikisha man who walks and trots with big you in his little cart twenty, thirty, even forty miles in a day, and you will see what developed legs are like. Some of these bright-eyed little men will be the world's champion wheelmen yet—if we do not look out—and maybe if we do; for they are as big as "Jimmy" Michael anyway, if they are not very large; and he seems large enough for any man who has met him yet.
In all exercises for these muscles of the calves, indeed in all foot-work, shoes should be worn with soles broad enough to prevent the slightest cramping of the toes or foot; and so giving every part of it its natural play.
WORK FOR THE SHIN-MUSCLES
There remains one other prominent muscle below the knee, that in front, running down along the outer side of the shin-bone. Develop the calf fully, as is often done, and omit this little muscle; and the work which calls it into play; and there is something wanting; something the lack of which causes a lack of symmetry. Fast walking, when one is unused to it, especially when the knees are held pretty straight, will work this muscle so vigorously as to make it sore. But a plain, safe, and simple exercise for it, yet one which, if protracted, will soon swell it into notice, and give it unwonted strength and beauty, is effected by stooping down as low as possible; the feet being but a few inches apart; and the heels never being allowed to rise even a quarter of an inch off the floor. Lift the heels, and this muscle is at once relieved.
Laying any weight on the foot, and lifting it clear from the ground, will also call on this muscle. So will fastening the feet into straps, like those on a boat-stretcher or rowing-weight, and swaying the body of the sitter back and forth; for these muscles have heavy work to do to aid in pulling the body forward; so that the rower may reach his hands out over his toes for a new stroke. Simply standing on one foot, first holding the other clear of the floor, and then drawing it up as near as possible to the front of its own ankle; and then opening it as wide as you can; will be found a safe and reasonably effective way of bringing forward this small but useful muscle; while walking on the heels, with the toes drawn up high, is simpler yet. For those who want to run heavy risks, and are not contented with any exercise which does not threaten their necks; hanging by the toes from a horizontal or trapeze bar will be found to just fill the bill.
WORK FOR THE FRONT OF THE THIGH
The muscles of the front thigh have a most intimate connection with those already mentioned; and, for ordinary purposes, a fair development of them is more necessary than of those below the knee. In common walking, for instance, while the calf gets something to do; the thigh gets far more, especially when the step is low and flat, and the heel never raised far from the ground. A man will often have large and strong thighs; and yet but indifferent calves. A prominent Harvard oarsman, a strong and fast walker, and a man of magnificent development in most points, was once examined carefully by Greenough, the sculptor. "I should know you were an American," said he, "because you have no calves"; and, indeed, his mistake in developing splendid arms, and trunk, and thighs; and forgetting all about the calves; is far too common a one among our athletes to-day; though the prominence they are giving to running and cycling helps mend matters in this respect.
Scarcely any muscles are easier brought into action than these of the upper or front thigh. Stand erect, with head and chest high, and the feet about six inches apart. Now, bend the knees a little, say until the head has dropped vertically six inches. Then rise to the perpendicular again. Repeat a few times, and it will not be long till these muscles will be felt to be in lively action; and this exercise prolonged will make them ache. But this movement is very much akin to that in dancing, the latter being the harder of the two; because the weight is first on one foot, then on the other; while in the former it is always on both.
Again, instead of stooping for a few inches only, start as before, with head and neck rigidly erect, and now stoop all the way down; then arise again. Continue this movement several times; and generally at first a few repetitions will be found to be quite enough. By-and-by, as the strength increases, so should the number; and, if time is to be saved and the work condensed, keep dumb-bells, say of a tenth of your weight, in the hands during the operation.
A more severe tax yet is had by holding one foot far out, either in front or back, and then stooping down wholly on the other foot. Few can do this many times, and most persons cannot do it at all. For swiftly bringing up a thigh at present weaker than its mate, and so restoring the symmetry which should always have been there, this work is almost unparalleled.
Jumping itself, either high or flat, is admirable for the thighs. Charles Astor Bristed, in his Five Years in an English University, says that he at one time took to jumping; and was astounded at the rapid progress he made in a branch of athletics at which before he had been no good. Maclaren says that hardly any work will quicker bring up the whole legs; but this will probably prove truer where a large number of moderate jumps are taken daily; than where a few extreme efforts are made.
Both fast walking and running bring vigorous action to these muscles; slow walking does little for them, hence the number of weak, undeveloped thighs among men who do little or no quick foot-work. A man, too, whose body is light and thin, may do a deal of fast walking without greatly enlarging his thighs; because they have comparatively little to carry. But let him, after first getting thoroughly used to fast and continued walking, carry weight a while; say a twenty-five-pound bag of shot or sand; or a small boy, on his back; or dumb-bells in his hands—of course, on a gymnasium-track, or some other course where his action will be understood—and he will find that the new work will soon tell, as would, also, long-distance running, even though not weighted, as Rowell so eminently shows.
Good, stiff, long-distance walking is excellent for the front thigh; but running is better, especially when done as it ought to be; namely, not flat-footed; but with the heel never touching the ground. Any sort of running or walking, at any pace protracted enough to bring moderately tired muscles, will tell, especially on these in question; while severe work over a long distance will give them a great task; and the consequent ability and size. Many a man may do a little desultory running daily; perhaps for a week or two together once a year; and not find his thighs enlarge or toughen materially. But let him put in a few minutes each day, for several months together; at steady smart running; as far as he can, and go comfortably, always breathing long, slow, deep breaths, and through his nose; and now, besides the work becoming easy, come the desired size and strength as well. The hopping, which was so good for the calves, is hardly less so for these muscles; and is one of the best possible movements to develop them in the shortest time.
Dancing, long-continued, also tells here, as an acquaintance of ours found, who used to lead the German frequently at Newport; for, though far from being an athlete, he said that he daily ran a mile during the season, just to keep his legs in good order for the duties his position demanded.
A more moderate exercise than the running, though not always so available, is walking up-hill. This, besides, as already mentioned, doing so much for the calves, tells directly and markedly on the thighs as well. Skating makes a pleasant substitute for walking during a part of the colder months; and, when much distance is covered daily, brings strong and shapely thighs.
The farmer and the laboring man, in all their heavier work done stooping over their tasks—such as lifting, shovelling, picking, and mowing—use the thighs much; but keep them so long fixed in one position, with little or no varying exercise to supple and limber them and the joints, that both gradually stiffen, and their instep soon begins to lack elasticity, which tendency is too often increased by heavy, stiff, and unwieldy boots.
Swinging forward when rowing, either in a boat or at the toe-straps, after first swinging far back, takes these upper muscles in a way quite the reverse of their ordinary use, they now aiding to pull the whole trunk forward, and so acting like two long hooks.
All lifting of heavy objects from the ground, standing in almost any position, tells heavily on these muscles being about the severest momentary test they can have, greater even than in jumping. But occasional heavy lifting tends rather to harden the muscle than to rapidly increase its size, protracted effort at lighter but good-sized weights doing the latter to better advantage. Sandow's lifting for years has made these muscles of his gigantic.
Brisk horseback-riding keeps these muscles very actively employed. Every sort of work which calls for frequent stooping down does the same. Persons who take short steps, and many of them, if they walk with vigor, are likely to have legs thicker and stouter everywhere than they who stride out far, but make the whole step as easy for themselves as possible.
For wheel-work these are the muscles-in-chief. Without these unusually strong, you are no unusual wheelman. It is so common among the cyclists to soon enlarge the fronts or tops of the thighs that it no longer attracts notice.
Indeed no other muscles have been so overdeveloped as these very ones; and over-developed by cycling; until they appear deformed.
You will often see men with the fronts of their thighs abnormally large, and of hardly moderate development elsewhere.
Not that cycling does not call other parts into play; for it does. As is well said by Dr. J. West Roosevelt:
"Cycling should not be regarded as an exercise of the legs alone. Observations by experts show that it is not only the legs which are developed by wheeling. In previously sedentary persons a considerable increase in the circumference of the chest takes place; the increase often amounting to one or two, and sometimes even three inches. The arms and forearms also grow firmer; and it is said that in them also quite a marked increase in size has been seen. The muscular system everywhere in the body also improves in tone.
"It is easy to see why cycling increases the strength of the legs. It is also easy to see why the chest-measurement should be increased, as a result of the deeper and more rapid breathing. Not only do the respiratory muscles become stronger and larger; but also the joints and cartilages of the ribs, move more easily and more freely because they have been made more limber by use.
"I do not know of any investigations which have been made to determine whether or not there is any increased mobility of chest (that is, extent of expansion and contraction), as a result of bicycle exercise; but it is almost certain that such studies would demonstrate its existence."
It will be seen that the Doctor does not claim that cycling much enlarges the arms; or the greater muscles of the trunk. The diameters of the body it does much for,—and that is of vast importance; for we americans average too small in every chest-diameter by a fifth, almost by a quarter, to be thoroughly well built and enduring. Cycling will not give a man large arms; will never begin to put a great back on him as will rowing; will do much for his sides; but does not compare with wrestling in this field. And the majority of cyclers sit in such a way as to cramp their vital organs, and so to impede their work. That there is no need of this is shown by a small minority, who sit superbly, with the head always exactly on top of the spine—not poked one, two, or more inches forward,—with the neck, in short, always pressed firmly against the back of the collar.
Of two youths or men exactly alike at the start; if one rides a wheel an hour a day; and the other runs daily half an hour at a fair pace, the runner will not develop the fronts of his thighs as much as the cyclist does his. But the runner will develop the whole of each leg and hip more than the wheelman does; and far more symmetrically. For the cycler moves his foot through only a small circle,—never over sixteen inches in diameter. But the runner at every step strides—not sixteen inches—but about seven feet! And the runners body has the better of it also. For as just seen, while most cyclists are poke-necked, and so cramp their vital organs—notably their stomach and lungs—the runner's head is on top of his spine; and so his lungs, and all his vital organs have the best opportunity for full, untrammelled work. Moreover the legs have twice as much to do in running. For, on a wheel, you ride, and you ride sitting down; and so the seat, not your legs, carries most of the weight of your body, neck, and head. But in running, your legs carry your entire weight. Or rather one leg carries it all; and then the other. So each leg gets a far heavier load than it does on a wheel.
Every cycler should have his or her heart and lungs first examined, by a physician, to see if there is anything wrong or any danger there. But if found to be all right; then let them ride about all they will. Not yet in the world's history has any other plaything been discovered at once so useful and attractive. Nothing has approached the wheel in tempting all persons of all ages and sizes to get out-of-doors, and to take a little vigorous daily exercise; to drop all thought of business; and to play a little. Why should middle-aged and elderly people forget how to play; and so lose one of their chief helps; and charms? To the 3,000,000 wheels in use in the United States in 1898, a million more are being added annually. And no other thing is doing as much for the health, force, and vigor, of our in-door people; or for our roads. Every city ought to have good cycle-paths on the side of each attractive street, from one end of the city to the other. No men make such good roadmasters as the wheelmen. No other thing has approached the wheel in enabling girls and women (and men too) to dress sensibly and comfortably; and in helping at last educate their bodies, as well as those of the men. As here appropriate, we append
ROBERTS'S HINTS FOR THE CYCLER
Life is like a bicycle-run; some worry, fret, and scorch along and soon reach the end, while others take it easy and enjoy themselves as they go.
Don't sit up as straight as a stick; lean a little forward, as you would if you were running.
Keep your head up; chin in; chest up; back straight, and mouth shut, especially this last on a cold day. So long as a cyclist can breathe with his mouth shut, he will not strain his heart.
Increase your lung capacity by practising deep breathing as follows: Hold your head up; shoulders back; chest out; inhale slowly through the nose while counting five; hold until you have counted two, exhale quickly. Repeat while counting ten, again while counting fifteen, holding and exhaling as above. Don't ride with the hands close together, it will cramp the chest and impede free breathing.
Don't ride by fits and starts; take a steady gait and keep it up.
Don't keep your eyes on your front wheel, look up and enjoy the beauties of nature. Come back from your ten-mile spin with a panorama, ten miles long, permanently photographed on your brain. The average cyclist sees nothing but his wheel and a few yards of road.
Hardly any of the muscles are so useful and valuable as these on the front of the thigh. One may have weak arms and trunk; yet with strong thighs he can walk a long distance daily; and not be nearly so fatigued as those much stronger elsewhere and weaker here, and, as many men have little or no other exercise than walking; they are often contented with fair development here; and practically none of any account elsewhere. It is astonishing, too, to notice how a man, accustomed for years to a poor shambling sort of a gait, will, with strict attention to taking a clean and strong straight-kneed step over a certain distance daily; with a determination to take no other sort of gait; soon improve the strength and shape of his thighs.
As hopping on one foot is a swift way to develop the calf; so frequent stooping down as low as possible, and rising again, daily; at first without weights; but eventually with them; is the sure way to speedily enlarge and strengthen the thighs.
TO ENLARGE THE UNDER THIGH
The muscles of the under thigh do not get nearly so much to do as those in front, in many persons seeming almost not to exist. A bad walk, with the knees always slightly bent, is partly accountable for this; and a man accustomed to such a walk, and trying suddenly to walk erect, with his knees firmly knit, and bowed slightly back, soon tires and aches at the operation, which, to one in the habit of walking erect, long ago became natural.
The exercise already recommended, of pressing the sole of the foot hard on the ground just as it leaves it, is scarcely more beneficial to the muscles of the calf than to these; likewise walking uphill, that telling finely on them. Standing, as does the West-Pointer in his "setting-up drill," and, with knees unbent, trying to touch the floor with the hands, tells in this region. Fastening a weight of any sort, a dumb-bell or flat-iron, to the ankle, say with strap or towel; and raising the foot as high up backward and outward as possible; and repeating till tired; putting the foot in the handle of the pulling-weight, and frequently drawing it far down; or, standing with back to the wall, and placing the heel against the base-board of the room, or any solid vertical surface; and pressing hard backwards many times—these all tell on these hidden biceps muscles of the legs; which, small as they are, are essential ones; and especially in looks; while running with the foot thrown high behind, excels them all.
TO STRENGTHEN THE SIDES OF THE WAIST
But while the legs have been so actively engaged, there are other parts which have not been idle, so that the same work brings other strength as well. In every step taken, and especially every vigorous one, as in fast walking or in running, the muscles at the sides of the waist have been all the time at work; a prominent duty of theirs being to aid in holding the body erect.
Notice a man weak just here, and see his body sway a little from side to side as he walks; seeming to give at the waist. Were such a one to practise daily hopping straight ahead, on one foot; and then on the other; until he could by-and-by so cover half a mile without fatigue; he would find his swaying propensity fast disappearing; and if he has been troubled with a feeble or unshapely waist, that also will have gradually changed; until at the end it has become firm and well set.
Take the long balancing-pole of the tight-rope walker, and try to walk a rope a while; or try the more simple expedient of walking on the railroad rail; and these muscles are at once uncommonly busy. Notice the professional tight-rope man, and see how strong he is here, especially when to the weight of his own body he adds another, as did Farini when he carried a man on his shoulders across the Niagara River; or as the Eastern porter, with his huge weight of luggage; or the carrier at the meat-market, who shoulders a whole side or more of beef and marches off with it. These men soon get great and unusual power in these side muscles. Wrestling also, whether Cornish or Græco-Roman, or indeed almost any sort, tells directly and severely here. If one prefers to use apparatus made specially, he will find in every well-appointed gymnasium, a simple device of Dr. Sargent's, made purposely to bring up and strengthen these muscles.
But with no apparatus, stand erect. Put one hand as high over your head as you can. Put the other as low down at your side as you can. Now raise the low hand and lower the high one. You will feel like swaying your body to one side as you do this. Well sway it all you can. Your sides are getting great work now; and if your liver is torpid, it will think there has been a declaration of war; and there has been, on torpidity of liver and all bilious irregularity, when you begin doing plenty of this work.[1]
THE ABDOMINAL MUSCLES
Nor do these include all the muscles which the footwork arouses to action. Take the horizontal bands or layers of muscle across the abdomen, with which our fleshy friend on page 149 became so suddenly acquainted, and which for forty years had been buried and unknown. Every step forward moves them, and the higher and more energetic the step, the more they have to do. A man who is not strong in these muscles will usually have a feeble walk; and very often will double forward a little, until he is in about the position of the two hands of a clock at two minutes past six; giving him the appearance of being weak here. But the strong, high step tilts the body slightly back; and gives these muscles so much to do that they soon grow good at it, and shapely and powerful accordingly.
Another advantage comes from having these muscles strong, and from forming the habit of stepping as he does who has them so. By walking thus erect, the shoulders, instead of pressing over on the chest as the man tires; and so cramping his breathing; are so habitually held moderately back that it is easier to keep them there; and the consequent fuller respiration keeps him longer fresh.
This rational way of carrying the body during a difficult feat, besides giving the heart and lungs full room for vigorous action, also gives the stomach and other vital organs ample play. And there are other ways of bringing up these useful abdominal muscles, equally easy to learn.
Sit down at the rowing-machine; placing the feet in the toe-straps. Now sway the body back and forth; and, placing the hand on the muscles in question, feel how they harden. An ordinary bit of strap screwed to the base-board of one's room; so that each foot shall have a loop of it to go into; and then a stool or hassock some eight inches high to sit on, save the expense of the rowing-machine; yet produce the desired result with these muscles.
Lie flat on the back, as, for instance, just on awaking. Taking first a deep, full breath draw the feet upward, keeping the knees unbent, until the legs are vertical. Lower them slowly till horizontal; then raise again and continue. It will not take many minutes—or seconds—to bring these muscles enough work for one morning.
Or, this time keep the legs down; and, first filling the chest, now draw the body up until you are sitting erect. Then drop slowly back; and repeat. This will be likely to take even less time than did the other; but it will tell tremendously on these muscles. Indeed, most people are so weak in them, that they can hardly do this once. Yet men who have them strong and well trained, will lie flat on their backs on the floor or gymnasium-mat; and while some one holds their ankles, taking a two-hundred-pound man, lying across their chest at right angles with it; will raise him several times till they are in erect sitting posture.
Sitting on one of the parallel bars in the gymnasium, and placing both feet under the other; and now dropping the body back until it is horizontal; then rising to vertical and repeating; is very hard work for these abdominal muscles; and should only be practised by those already strong here.
These muscles are brought into direct and vigorous play in rowing; to such an extent that no man who has them weak can be a fast oarsman over any ordinary racing distance. Indeed, this is the very region where young rowers, otherwise strong, and seemingly fit for hard, fast work, give out first.
Every time the foot is raised in running, these muscles are called to active duty far more than in walking; and the high, strong, sharp step works them severely; so that no man weak here could be a fast runner with good action. And if you would condense their work more yet, run with very short steps, say of not two feet each. You will not do it long. Jumping; vaulting; leaping; all bring them into sudden, spasmodic, almost violent action. Let a man mow a while, when unused to it; and see how soon it tells across this region; the muscles aching next day from the twisting motion.
COUNTERWORK FOR THE ABDOMINAL MUSCLES
But nearly all the exercises just named for the abdominal muscles, while they make them strong and handsome, tend to contract rather than lengthen them; and for men of sedentary life, inclined to stoop a little forward while sitting, some work is needed which shall stretch these muscles, and aid in restoring them to their natural length.
Stand erect. Now gradually draw the head backward until as far past the vertical as possible. Return slowly to erect position. In the drawing back, these muscles were stretched to a greater length than usual; and in those who accustom themselves to drawing far back in this way, like the contortionists of the circus; these muscles grow wonderfully elastic; such men being able not only to touch their heads to their heels; but now and then to go farther yet; and drink water from a tumbler set between their feet.
But while there is no need of such extreme work; moderate performance in this way directly tends to stretch and lengthen muscles which, in the great majority of people, are somewhat cramped and shortened nearly every hour of the twenty-four by habitual standing, sitting, or lying, with the back either flat or almost curved outward, instead of slightly hollowed in, and with the consequent sinking of the chest. All work above the head, such as swinging clubs, or an axe or sledge; putting up dumb-bells, especially when both hands go up together; swinging by the hands from rope or bar; or pulling the body up till the chin touches the hands; standing with back to the exerciser or pulley-weights; and taking the handles in the hands, and, starting with them high over the head, then pushing the hands far out forward; standing two or more feet from the wall, facing it; and, placing the hands side by side against it, about as high up as your shoulders; then throwing the chest as far forward as possible; the hauling-down ropes by the sailor; the ceiling-work of the plasterer and the painter, and the like;—these all do excellent service in bringing to these important muscles the length and elasticity they ought to have; and so contributing materially to the erect carriage of the body. All kinds of pushing with the hands; such as one does in putting them against any heavy substance and trying to push it before him; striking out in boxing; in fencing; or single-stick; with dumb-bells; or in swimming; are capital; while the drawing of the head and shoulders back swiftly, as in boxing to avoid a blow, can hardly be surpassed as an aid in this direction. In fact the chief cause of being inerect is holding the head forward. If your body would not give; the head, weighing ten or twelve pounds, would tip you over. But instead you sink in your chest and waist, and so cramp and check the action of every vital organ. And happily the remedy is easy. Tilt the head back; not as much as you now push it forward, but even half as much; now your chest at once enlarges and expands in its every diameter; and the cause of all this expansion is putting your head in a helpful position, instead of in a harmful one.
TO ENLARGE AND GIVE POWER TO THE LOINS
Before leaving the waist, there is one more set of muscles which demand attention; and if one has them weak, no matter how strong he may be elsewhere; he is weak in a place where he can ill afford to be; and that is in the loins, or the main muscles in the small of the back; running up and down at each side of the spine. In many of the heavier grades of manual labor, these muscles have a large share of work to do. All stooping over, when lifting is done with a spade, or fork, or bar; whether the knees are held straight or bent; or lifting any weight directly in the hands; horizontal pulling on exerciser, pulley-weight, rope, or oar—in short, nearly every sort of work where the back is employed, keeps these muscles thoroughly active. You cannot bend over without using them. Weed a while; and, unless already strong in the loins, they will ache.
A laboring-man weak here would hardly be worth hiring. A rowing-man weak here could never be a first rate oar till he had trained away the weakness. Heenan, with all his grand physique, his tremendous striking-power, his massive development above the waist, would not have made nearly as enduring an oar as the sturdier, barrel-chested Morrissey; or as the broad-loined Renforth did make. Strong loins are always desirable. He who has them; and is called on in any sudden emergency to lift any heavy weight; as the prostrate form of one who has fallen in a swoon; for instance; is far less likely to work himself serious, if not permanent, injury here, than he who has them untrained and undeveloped. But the tug of war, on fixed cleats, had better be omitted. Listen to several experts.
Paul C. Philips, Physical Director of great skill and experience, says:
"The tug of war is a test rather than a developer of strength; and, in my opinion, a most severe one. Under no circumstances should a man enter into it without having satisfactorily passed a rigid examination of the heart, lungs, and nervous system; and even under these conditions I consider it doubtful if the benefits derived are an equivalent of the risks incurred. The in-door tug of war is generally limited to two minutes; and that time I consider too long for the endurance of most men. The out-door tug of war is generally longer, and even more dangerous, on account of the insecure footing of the men, while under severe strain. The tug of war should be permitted only after each participant has received a thorough physical examination, and when the pull is limited to less than two minutes. On the whole I do not look with favor on its introduction."
George W. Ehler, Chicago's famous Physical Director, says:
"Tug of war on cleats is barbarous, resulting in enlargement of the heart. It should have no place in the association. On the smooth floor or turf it is the source of a large amount of fun, and is harmless."
Dr. H. G. Nicks, Physical Director of the Y.M.C.A. at St. Louis, says:
"I regard the tug of war as exceedingly dangerous; the vital organs are placed under a severe and constant strain; and, although no evil effects may be manifest at the time, the participant is liable to receive injuries that will last through life."
DEVELOPMENT ABOVE THE WAIST
Little or no work has been suggested, so far, aimed purposely to develop any muscles above the waist. Indeed, it is no uncommon thing, especially among Englishmen, to find a man of very strong legs and waist; yet with but an indifferent chest and shoulders; and positively poor arms. Canon Kingsley had discovered this when he said to the British clergy, "I should be ashamed of being weak. I could not do half the little good I do here if it were not for that strength and activity which some consider coarse and degrading. Many clergymen would half-kill themselves if they did what I do. And though they might walk about as much; they would neglect exercise of the arms and chest, and become dyspeptic or consumptive."
Let us look at a few things which would have proved useful to the brave Canon's pupils. The connection between the arms and the muscles, both on the front and back of the chest, is so close that it is practically impossible to have arms thoroughly developed; and not have all the trunk-muscles above the waist equally so. Fortunately, as in foot-work, the exercises to develop these muscles, without having to resort to expensive apparatus, or often to any at all, are very numerous.
With a pair of dumb-bells, each weighing not over one-thirtieth of what he or she does who uses them; there is scarcely a muscle above the belt which cannot, by steady and systematic work of never over half an hour daily, be rounded and strengthened up to what it ought to be in a thoroughly developed, strong, and efficient person of its owner's sex, size, and age.
FILLING OUT THE SHOULDERS AND UPPER BACK
Notice now what these dumb-bells can do for the shoulders and upper back.
Stand erect again, and have the dumb-bells in the hands, hanging easily at the sides. Now carry them slowly backward and upward, keeping the arms straight at the elbows, and parallel; until the hands are about as high as they can well go. Hold them there a moment; then drop them slowly to the sides. Do it again; and keep on until you begin to feel like stopping. Note the spot where you feel it; and you will find that the under or inner muscles of the part of the back-arm which is above the elbow; also those on the shoulder-blade; and the large muscles of the back directly under the arms; have been the ones in action. Laying one dumb-bell down; now repeat the above exercise with the remaining one, say in the right hand; this time placing the left hand on the back, just under the right arm; or on the inner portion of the triceps, or upper muscle of that right arm. These muscles will be found vigorously at work; and hardening more and more, the higher the bell is carried, or the longer it is held up.
A little of this work daily, begun with the lighter dumb-bells, and increased gradually by adding to the number of strokes; and long before the year is out, if the person is steady and persevering at it; decided increase in the strength, size, and shapeliness of the upper back will follow.
What has been thus done with the dumb-bells could have been done nearly or quite as well with any other small, compact body of the same weight, which could be easily grasped by the hands, such as a pair of window-weights; flat-irons; cobblestones; or even chairs, whichever were convenient. Where there's a will there's a way; and if one really means to get these, or any other muscles strong and handsome; the way is surprisingly simple and easy.
Now, instead of using the dumb-bells; stand erect, facing the pulley-weights at the gymnasium, or at home your exerciser. Grasping the handles, draw them far back and up; the hands, in other words, doing precisely what they did with the bells; and the same results will follow.
Rowing, either at the oar or the rowing-weights, would have told more yet on these muscles; and, as already pointed out, on many others besides; the weight of the body itself aiding the development, as it would not with the bells or exerciser. It would also broaden the shoulders, and spread them apart; more, perhaps, than almost any other known exercise. Especially if you take in and hold in as much air as you can while you are at this work. But, like any other single exercise, calling certain muscles into play and leaving others idle; taken as substantially one's only exercise; as is too often the case with rowing-men; it brings a partial and one-sided development; making the parts used look too large for the rest; the fact being that the rest have not been brought up as fast as the former. Unless one's chest is unusually broad and strong; and often, even if it is; constant rowing warps his shoulders forward; and tends directly to make him a round-shouldered man; while the upper arm, or that part above the elbow, has had practically no development; the inner part of the triceps or back-arm alone being called to severe duty; but the bulk being almost idle. Courtney, the greatest sculler the United States has yet produced—a large man, standing six feet and half an inch in height, strongly made in most parts; and weighing ordinarily nearly a hundred and ninety—is a good instance of how rowing does little for the upper arm; for while his forearm is almost massive, measuring exactly thirteen inches in girth; the upper arm, doubled up, barely reaches fourteen. A well-proportioned arm; of which the forearm girths thirteen; should measure above all, fifteen and a half. Again, while Courtney's forearm feels sinewy and hard; the upper is not nearly so hard; and does not give the impression of having seen very stiff service. His chest, too, is not so large by over two inches as ought to go with a thirteen-inch forearm, nor does it looks so.
Besides these exercises with the dumb-bells, the exerciser, the weights, and the car; all the vocations which cause one to stoop over much and lift—such as most of those of the farmer, the laborer, and of the artisan in the heavier kinds of work—tell on these same muscles of the upper back and the inner side of the triceps; too often bringing, as already pointed out, a far better back than front, and so injuring the form and carriage. Lifting heavy weights where one stands nearly erect; as when practising on the lifting-machine; pulls very heavily on the extreme upper muscles of the back; those sloping off downward from the back of the neck to the shoulders; and a great shoulder-broadener is even five minutes a day, with your hands as on a cross, but just as far apart—to the last sixty-fourth of an inch even—as you can possibly get them.
TO OBTAIN A GOOD BICEPS
Starting with the dumb-bells down at the sides, as before, raise them slowly and steadily in front until they nearly touch the shoulder,—technically, "curl" them—holding the neck well back; and so the chest expanded to its utmost. Now lower the bells slowly to the sides again; and repeat; and so continue. Take not over six breaths a minute. In a very few minutes; often less than three; you will want to stop. The biceps muscles, or those forming the front of the upper arms, are getting the work this time; and by applying to that of one arm in action the hand of the other, it is at once found that this muscle is growing quite hard.
If no dumb-bell or other convenient weight is at hand; place one hand in the other, and bear down hard with the upper hand, holding the neck firmly back. Lift away with the lower hand; and, when it reaches the shoulder, lower it slowly to the side; and then raise again; and so continue. This will be found a good thing to know when a person is travelling; or away from home; and cannot readily get at his exerciser or dumb-bells, or such other apparatus as he has in his own room.
Now stand erect in front of and facing the exerciser; and at about arm's-length from it; draw one handle horizontally in until it is close to the shoulder; let that handle go slowly back; and then draw it to you again; and so go on. This is splendid work for the biceps; and will soon begin to swell and strengthen it; and then more strokes daily is all that will be needed.
Mounting a ladder or a rope hand-over-hand; lifting any weight in front of you, whether a feather, or a child, or a barrel of sugar; picking up anything from the floor; holding weights out in front, or at your side, at arm's length; pulling downward on a rope, as in hauling up a sail; hammering—in short, anything which bends the elbow and draws the hand in towards the shoulder, takes the biceps muscle; and, if the work is vigorous and persisted in, this muscle will ere long become strong and well-shaped.
TO BRING UP THE MUSCLES ON THE FRONT AND SIDE OF THE SHOULDER
For the muscles on the front and side, indeed the whole top, of the shoulder; holding out weights at arm's length, either at the side or in front; will be found just what is wanted; the arms being horizontal; or the hands being held rather higher than that; the elbows remaining unbent. Holding the more weight of the hands, as in boxing, but keeping at it a while, keeps these parts well occupied; while the sword, or foil, or single-stick, freely plied; or the axe or bat, tell directly here.
Now hold your dumb-bells out in front of you with elbows straight and arms parallel. Walk back and forth or about the room for one or more minutes in this way. You will find that a very few minutes of this work will do. Then keeping the arms parallel, raise the bells high overhead; then lower; and repeat this movement till you want to stop. You are not only making muscles full and strong; but your chest is getting deeper also. This time hold the bells out sideways, as if your arms were on a cross, and you give the muscles plenty to do. Now hold the bells far up behind you; lower, and lift them up there again; and repeat till you are comfortably tired; or simply hold them up so behind you, and walk around with them so; and now you are developing the backs of your shoulders.
To broaden your shoulders, hold your arms as if on a cross. Stretch your hands as far apart as you can, and hold them this way as often and as long as you can every day.
FOREARM WORK
Very many of these exercises for the biceps and shoulder have also called on the forearm; while those mentioned for the inner triceps have done the same. Very prominent among the latter is rowing; much of it soon bringing a strong forearm; especially on the inner and under side. Anything which necessitates shutting the hand, or keeping it partly or wholly shut; such as holding anything heavy in it; driving; chopping; hammering; fencing; single-stick; pulling one's self up with one hand or both; going up a rope or ladder hand-over-hand; batting, lacrosse, polo, twisting the dumb-bells around when at arm's-length, or a chair, or cane, or foil, or sword, or broom-handle, if the dumb-bells are not convenient, carrying a weight in the hand, using any of the heavier mechanical tools—all these, and more of their sort, will enlarge and strengthen the forearm, and will do much also for the hand. Probably the hardest work for the forearm, and that calling for the greatest strength here, is lifting very heavy weights suspended from a stick, bar, or handles which the hands grasp.
EXERCISES FOR THE TRICEPS MUSCLES
One prominent part of the arm remains; or, rather, one which ought to be prominent; though in most persons, both men and women, it is not. In boys and girls it is even less so. We refer to the rest of the triceps; or the bulk of what remains of the upper arm after leaving out the biceps and the inner side of the triceps. When well developed, this is one of the handsomest parts of the arm. No arm will look slim (in evening dress, for instance) which has this muscle fully developed.
To bring that development; push with the hands against almost any heavy or solid thing you want to. If these muscles are small and weak; push the dumb-bells up over your head as much as you can daily; till a month's work has given them a start. For two or three minutes each day during that mouth; stand facing the wall; and about two feet from it. Now fall against it, or, rather, put your hands on it, about three feet apart and as high as your ears; and let your body drop slowly in towards the wall till your chest nearly touches it; your face being held up and back. Then push back till your body is again erect; and continue the movement. This exercise is as admirable as it is cheap.
If the triceps muscles are tolerably strong in the start; or in any case at the end of the month in which the last two exercises have been practised, try now a harder thing. Place the hands on the floor, hold the body out at full length and rigid, or as nearly so as you can; and push, raising the body till the elbows are straight. Now bend the elbows and lower again, till the face nearly touches the floor; keeping the body all the time as stiff and straight as possible; and then rise on stiff elbows 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 that as surely as the ability exists to make many dips; so surely will there be a large back-arm; and it was hard work that brought him his. Slim arms may push up heavy dumb-bells once or twice; but it takes thick ones for sustained effort at smaller, though good-sized ones. And his upper arm flexed girths sixteen inches.
TO STRENGTHEN AND DEVELOP THE HAND
Very many of the exercises so useful in strengthening the forearm were at the same time improving the grip of the hand. But an evil of so much gripping or drawing the hand together is that, unless there is an equal amount of work to open and flatten it, it tends to become hooked. Notice the blacksmith's or the rowing-man's hand; and the fingers nearly always, when at rest, are inclined to be doubled in, as if half clutching something; and very often, Where they have seen years of such work, their joints get so set that the fingers cannot be bent back nearly as far as other people's. Some of the pushing exercises mentioned above for the triceps, tend to counteract this; notably that where the fingers or the flat of the hands are pressed against the wall. An admirable exercise in this direction is, when you practise the pushing up from the floor for the triceps, to only touch the floor with the ends of the fingers and thumbs; never letting the palm of the hand touch it at all. This will soon help to rectify many a hand now rather cramped and contracted; besides bringing new strength and shape to the fingers.
To make any particular finger strong, attach a strap to it and to your two bells and carry them around the room a while at arm's-length. You will soon stop. When your fingers get very strong, now attach the strap to any stationary object as high above your head as you can comfortably reach, say a horizontal bar, and pull yourself up by one finger till your chin touches your hand—if you can. Some gymnasts can do this several times with the little finger.
Just where the thumb joins the palm; and between it and the forefinger on the back of the hand; is a muscle which, while at first usually small, can be developed and enlarged by any exercise which necessitates pinching the ends of the thumb and forefinger together; such as carrying a plate of metal, or other thin but heavy substance between the finger and thumb. Harder work yet: calling on both this muscle and a number of others of the hand and upon most of the fore arm; consists in catching two two-inch beams running overhead; as in the ceiling of a cellar; and about a foot and a half or two feet apart; and walking along, sustaining the whole weight by the grip, first of one hand, then of the other. He who can do this has very unusual strength of fingers.
For improving the ordinary grip of the hand, simply taking a rubber ball in it; or a wad of any elastic material; and even of paper; and repeatedly squeezing it, will soon tell. Simpler yet is it to just practise opening and shutting the hand firmly many times. An athletic friend of ours says that the man of his whole acquaintance who has the strongest grip got it by just practising this exercise.
TO ENLARGE AND STRENGTHEN THE FRONT OF THE CHEST.
Every one of the exercises for the biceps tells also on the pectoral muscles, or those on the front of the upper part of the chest; for the two work so intimately together that he who has a large biceps is practically sure to have the adjoining pectoral correspondingly large.
But there is other work which tells on them besides biceps work. Whenever the hands push hard against anything, and so call the triceps muscles into action, these muscles at once combine with them. In the more severe triceps work, such as the dips, the strain across these chest muscles is very great; for they are then a very important factor in helping to hold up the weight of the whole body. This fact suggests the folly of letting any one try so severe a thing as a dip, when his triceps and pectoral muscles have not been used to any such heavy work. Many a person who has rashly attempted this has had to pay for it with a pain for several days at the edge of the pectoral; where it meets the breast-bone, until he concluded he must have broken something. But muscle-aches end in two or three days.
Working with the dumb-bells, when the arms are extended at right angles with the body, like a cross, and raising them up and down for a foot or so, is one of the best things for the upper edge of the pectorals; or that part next to the collar-bone.
This brings us to a matter of great importance, and one often overlooked. Whoever knows many gymnasts, and has seen them stripped or in exercising costume; must occasionally have observed that, while they had worked at exercises which brought up these pectoral muscles until they were almost huge, their chests themselves had somehow not been enlarged accordingly. Indeed, in more than one instance which has come under our observation, the man looked as though, should you scrape all these great muscles completely off, leaving the bare framework, he would have actually a small chest; much smaller than many a fellow who had not much muscle. There hangs to-day—or did some time since—on the wall of a well-known New York gymnasium, a portrait of a gymnast stripped above the waist, which shows an exact case in point. The face of such a man is often a weak one, lacking the strength of cheek-bone and jaw so usual in men of great vitality and sturdiness—like Sullivan, for instance—and there is a general look about it as if the man lacked vitality. Many a gymnast has this appearance; for he takes so much severe muscular work that it draws from his vitality; and it gives him a stale and exhausted look; a very common one, for example, among men who remain too long in training for contest after contest of an athletic sort. This is seen in Figures 7 and 8. The first shows a fellow of twenty-four, rather weak than strong. The second is the same man four years later: with a large chest, deep rather than broad, but with muscles phenomenally developed—too large for his chest itself.
The getting up, then, of a large chest; and of large muscles on the chest; while often contemporary, and each aiding the other, are too frequently wholly different matters.
And how is the large chest to be had? For bodily education has no more important problem.
TO BROADEN AND DEEPEN THE CHEST ITSELF
Mr. Finck has some apt words here:
And ministers, lawyers, and other public speakers will care to read the following from Dr. Beard's Sexual Neurasthenia, p. 38:
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| 1879 | 1883 | |
| D. L. DOWD Before and after four years of Systematic Exercise | ||
"A strong, healthy, well-balanced man can bear local hyperæmia or anæmia without disturbance, and without knowing what is going on. Every great orator at the conclusion of an oration must have a congested brain; every writer who thinks at all must, after hours of composition, have time and inversion to equalize the circulation. Mr. Beecher tells me that after preaching, his head and neck are sometimes so surcharged with blood that a large 17-inch collar is very tight for him; but in an hour or two the circulation is restored, and no harm results. This is health; this is as man should be; but in hyperæmia or anæmia the nerve-impoverishment makes it impossible for the overful organ to deplete itself and equalize the circulation; consequently, what should be but a healthy flow of blood to an actively used organ, followed by a spontaneous emptying, with rest and repair, becomes a fixed passive congestion, through which the blood flows slowly, like the water in our Southern lagoons."
Page 211: "All real physical troubles can be made worse by turning the mind upon them; they can be relieved by turning the mind in some other direction."
Anything which causes one to frequently fill his lungs to their utmost capacity; and then hold them full as long as he can; tends directly to open his ribs apart; stretch the intercostal muscles; and so expand the chest. Many kinds of vigorous muscular exercise do this when done correctly; for they cause the full breathing; and at the same time directly aid in opening the ribs. It will be observed that frequently throughout these hints about exercising, endeavor has been made to impress on the reader that, when exercising, he should hold the head and neck rigidly erect; and the chest as high as he can. A moment's thought will show why. He, for instance, who "curls" a heavy dumb-bell, but does it with his head and shoulders bent over—as many do—while giving his pectorals active work, is actually tending to cramp his chest instead of expanding it; the very weight of the dumb-bell all pulling in the wrong direction. Now, had he held himself rigidly erect; and, first expanding his chest to its utmost by inhaling all the air he possiby could; and holding it in during the effort;—a most valuable practice, by the way, in all feats calling for a great effort,-—-he would not only have helped to expand his chest; but would find, to his gratification, that he had hit upon a wrinkle which somehow made the task easier than it ever was before.
Holding the head and neck back of the vertical; say six inches; with the face pointing to the ceiling; and then working with the dumb-bells at arm's-length, as above referred to,—or without them either—is grand for the upper chest; tending to raise the depressed collarbones and the whole upper ribs; and to make a person hitherto flat-chested now shapely and full; while the benefit to lungs perhaps formerly weak would be hard to overestimate.
Steady and protracted but easy running is a great auxiliary in enlarging the lung-room. So is plenty of sparring. So is the practice of drawing air slowly in at the nostrils, until every air-cell of the lungs is absolutely full; then holding it long; and then expelling it slowly. Most public singers and speakers know the value of this and kindred practices in bringing, with increased diaphragmatic action, improved power and endurance of voice.
If you will do this several hours each day; you will get strong faster than in almost any other known way. Again, standing erect, with heels together, toes well out, and hands hanging at your sides; keeping elbows straight, slap the backs of your hands together as high over the head as you can; at the same time rise high on your toes and soles. Do this slowly twenty times. If this does not satisfy you; do a series of twenties. This is a great chest-broadener; and is good for the calves. Again stand as before; but this time keep the arms parallel, and raise them in front as high as you can, rising on the toes and soles as before. And so repeat. This is your chest-deepener; while the other was its broadener. Five minutes in all daily of this broadening, and as much more of the deepening for every child in every school in America—and sitting always erect—would in one year do more to prevent consumption than almost anything else that could be done. It needs no tool. And it costs nothing. Only be sure of one thing, namely—breathe as slowly and deeply as you can all the time you are at this exercise. Nor is it only for children. For the president of one of the largest banks in New York in a few minutes of this breathing work each day, after he was forty years old, increased the girth of his chest four inches.
Of course care should be taken to do these few exercises only in pure air. For, as Dr. John A. Lewis, of Kentucky, a physician of great experience and success, well says, "Consumption, the arch enemy of the human race, finds its chief ally in the impure air of our poorly ventilated houses,"—a hint that should be taken in every home and school-house, office, store, and factory in all the land.
And running slowly, taking just as short steps as you can—is a rare chest-expander. Indeed you can do this right in your room, right on one spot, in fact, which is called still running.
Spreading the parallel-bars until they are nearly three feet apart, and doing such arm-work on them as you can; but with your body below and face downward, helps greatly in expanding the chest. So does swinging from the rings or bar overhead, or high parallels, and remaining on them as long as you can.
TO DEVELOPE THE NECK
A slim neck is a sign of weakness. Mr. Froude in his life of Julius Cæsar speaks of Cicero as having a neck like a woman. But this was before, as one writer says, he "spent two years in Greek gymnasiums, and came back as vigorous as a farm-hand." You often see men with a grand head connected with a feeble body by a weak, unsatisfactory-looking neck, and wonder why so good a head accomplishes so little. Put such a neck and body under Webster's head, and his working power would have been so cut down that, after his earlier years, it is doubtful if he would have ever been heard of; for a feeble body could not long stand the demands of such a head. Under that head, 24 inches in its largest girth, look at that neck! And in Mr. Beecher's case, see what a mighty neck he had, a 17-inch collar even being tight for it after he had been preaching—"a neck clothed with thunder." Look at the splendid neck of the greatest prize-fighter America has yet produced—one of the greatest of modern times—John L. Sullivan. Corbett and Fitzsimmons have both yet to prove themselves great in one element essential to a prize-fighter. They can give pretty sharp blows;—they can avoid blows wonderfully;—but in which battle has either ever proved that he could take? Each is too small in the barrel to be a sure taker. But not so Sullivan. Dr. Sargent measured his chest below the breast muscles at 409⁄10 inches natural, and 437⁄10 inches inflated! Although there would have to be some deduction because he was rather fleshy, neither of the other two can show any such figures. Each is almost slender for his height, Fitzsimmons being finely developed in his striking muscles—but almost slim everywhere else. This is not the way to build a first-class man for the terrible ordeal of the prize-ring. And so far were their blows from being unusually heavy in their fight at Carson City, that Sullivan—quite an interested on-looker—pronounced them "mere love-taps." One of his heaviest blows in his palmiest day would have crushed in the ribs of either of these men. Two inches shorter than either, he outweighed each by more that 20 pounds, and unlike them he is sturdily built from the ground up. Listen to Dr. Sargent as to his head and neck: "All of Sullivan's girth measurements are unusually large, and most of them exceed the maximum" (of the thousands the Doctor has taken in 18 years at Harvard). "The girth of head is 232⁄10, inches (that is in its largest girth), and surpassed in this respect 97% per cent. of all those examined." Now we begin to see what Webster's 24-inch head meant. For he continues, "A large head usually indicates a great amount of nervous energy, and when accompanied by a large neck is as much a sign of physical force as a large trunk and limbs." So the neck of a Mirabeau or a Bourke Cockran, a Luther or a Bismarck means something after all. And, as to Sullivan's neck, Dr. Sargent adds: "In this case the neck is 16½ inches in circumference; and exceeds the largest measurement of this part taken by seven-tenths of an inch!" When you are dealing with such material as Sullivan was at his best—the tape measure is eloquent. It tells much of the secret of his power. And what a pity that this splendid man—as brave, honest, straightforward a fighter as ever stepped into a prize-ring; a big-hearted, generous-natured man of abundant good common-sense—for no dull man can be much of a fighter; should be old and gray-headed at forty, carrying nearly 100 pounds of freight; and of worse than useless freight—cumbrous, dangerous freight—so impeding the working of every vital organ that he is not likely to live to be a really old man. And yet, barring accident and contagion, he can if he will. If he is strong enough to do one thing, namely, what another famous son of Massachusetts once did—Chief Justice Parsons—to conquer an appetite that had wellnigh conquered him—for the judge—an inveterate snuff-taker—in one day said, "No more snuff!" And so strong a man was he, that he kept the snuff-box open and full, before him all the time as he sat on the bench; but no more snuff ever again tickled his judicial nostrils. And if Sullivan is man enough to say, "No more stuff!" and then to never again let a drop of any "stuff" tickle his palate, he can make a citizen of large usefulness, and of probably a long life. If Bismarck could take off 70 pounds after he was seventy years old; what is to hinder Sullivan from doing the same after he is only forty? Popular with all classes—so popular that no other man, walking any street in the United States to-day, will so swiftly drew a large and admiring crowd; then with a year's study of the main elements of the business, what a contractor he would make! With his influence and control over men; their admiration for his courage and prowess, and his sterling honesty of nature; that man, especially with a capable partner, could yet be one of the largest contractors for railroad-grading—and other fields requiring a large force of men at heavy labor in the country; and so a very useful man in the community.
And how do you get a neck—not so grand a one as Sullivan's—for that is denied to most men—but a good one, a fine one for a man of your pounds and inches.
Well, carry a weight on your head daily; such as a bag of sand, or rather yielding substance. Look at the women of Southern Europe—go down about the fruit-market in any of our cities upon any day, and you will see some—and observe what weights they carry on their heads, and with ease; and see what fine, shapely, well-made necks are theirs.
Try another thing. Turn your face slowly, as far around as you can. Now do it the other way, and many times every day.
Next tip your head over backwards slowly, as far as you can, and as often as you can, each day. Draw your chin far in many times daily—hundreds if you will—for this is excellent for the neck; and to give you a good carriage.
Every morning and night; and if you awaken in the night, lie on your back; rest on your head and heels; and on nothing else, and you will not stay there long. This is called the " Wrestler's Bridge." For till you make both shoulders of a wrestler touch the ground at once, you have not thrown him.
- ↑ Physical Director Ehler, now of Chicago, but formerly of the Detroit Young Men's Christian Association, used to call this exercise the "Liver Squeezer, or the Bilious Pill." But we suggested that, having in mind its place of origin; it might be well to call it "The Detroit Free Press," although the organ best known by the latter name is a confirmed foe of biliousness.