Edward Barrett Warman

“ To obtain a graceful carriage of the body—strength and grace combined—it is essential that the head be well poised, the chest prominent (the abdomen, not too much in evidence) , the step firm but elastic.
Be unconscious of the legs except as a means of support. Walk, as it were, from the chest. The walls of the chest should be raised and fixed (muscularly) , the breathing at the waist (diaphragmatic) , the mouth closed.
The athlete should show that he is an athlete at all times and on all occasions; he should show it because he can't help showing it ”

“ Tense your arms to the utmost—after pushing them out a short distance from the sides of the body—and then bring them toward, but not quite to, the body, checking them in opposition to a strong imaginary force.
This exercise—so difficult to make plain through the medium of the pen—is not only one of the most fascinating, but one that exercises a set of muscles that is rarely, ofherwise, developed. ”

“ Standing in the correct position—the weight of the hody over the center of the feet—raise the heels as far as possible from the floor and lower them again to position without swaying the body forward and backward. Rise slowly, and settle very lightly on the heels.
As you rise, tense your entire body and imagine a very powerful person holding his hands on your shoulders. This will necessitate very slow movement with great resistance. As you descend, the same force is used to overcome an imaginary resistance—as if powerful hands were placed under your arms. ”

“ By an active chest I mean that the chest should be raised to its highest position muscularly; i. e., independently of the breathing—purely a muscular exercise; the passive chest being a complete relaxing of the muscles. ”

“ Bear in mind that muscles are not made better merely by working them, but by nourishing them; also, by giving them fresh blood upon which to feed regularly.
To extract the maximum amount of work from all the slow, tense exercises (those that have an interval of rest) the muscular contraction at the end must be positive ”

“ Twist the body slowly to the right and slowly to the left. Do not move the feet. This may be taken with the arms akimbo until accustomed to the movement, then the arms may be tensed and swung right and left as though striking at some one on each side as right or left is used.
Fifteen times; right and left counting one.
Note.—The three exercises just preceding are known throughout the land as my "pet exercises." There are no series of movements better adapted for obtaining and retaining the suppleness of the waist muscles and for reducing or preventing excessive flesh on the hips and abdomen. ”

“ When sitting at the desk to write or at the table to eat, one rule holds good: viz., do not have your chair too close to the desk or table. Sit as far back in the chair as you can without your back touching the chair back. Avoid stooping. Incline your body from the hips, not from the waist. ”

“ Resting the weight on the left foot, the left hand on the hip or chair, extend the right arm to its fullest extent, palm of hand toward the floor, the arm on a level with the shoulder (or higher) . Kick high enough with the right foot to touch the toes to the palm of the hand—without lowering the hand.
Then, resting the weight on the right foot, repeat the movement with the left foot. ”

“ While I am interested in the physical education of the young of both sexes, I am especially interested in the betterment of the physical condition of those persons having reached or having passed the foretieth or fiftieth milestone—an age at which they are liable to let up in their active physical life. ”

“ Notwithstanding all this, you will seriously mistake if you depend solely upon any system of exercises for the purpose of obtaining and retaining health while at the same time you disregard the laws of hygiene. ”

“ Full contraction of a muscle is absolutely necessary to produce the best results; i. e., the greatest possible shortening of which a muscle is susceptible. To illustrate. If a twelve-inch muscle is contracted to the full—say seven inches—then fresh blood, necessary to its nutrition is caused to flow through all its smallest vessels ”

“ Extend the arms horizontally. Tense the arms, close your hands half way (thumb and fingers opposing each other) . Pull both hands straight for the shoulders; pull slowly as if resisting an opposing force. Make the muscular contraction very positive at the end of every movement. Relax. Push the hands back to position slowly as if resisting an opposing force. Extend arms to the utmost. ”

“ If your abdominal muscles are not sufficiently strong, at first, to do this without a jerk or without lifting the legs, place the feet under the dresser, couch or some other object until the muscular contraction is sufficient of itself to raise and lower the body slowly. ”

“ The carbon dioxide accumulates very fast in the muscles and if you shut off the supply of blood or impoverish it, particularly during vigorous exercise, it is surely a tearing down instead of a building up process ”

“ As figures do not lie (except in election returns) , I trust that the following comparative table will prove to your many readers that the fool doctor of Chicago was entirely off his base when he declared that a man could not and should not attempt to develop, physically, after reaching thirty-five years of age. ”

“ Extend the fingers and thumbs, in opening the hand, as if some one exerted a strong pressure against each finger and thumb and almost prevented your opening the hand, extending the digitals to the utmost. ”

“ Sit. Extend the legs straight in front, high enough for the feet to escape the floor. Extend the arms down by your side. Tense the arms and legs. Close and open the hands as in exercises Nos. 10 and 11. As you close the hands with a firm grip, draw the ball of the foot firmly toward your body (heels pressed forward) . As you open the hands and extend the fingers, press the ball of the foot firmly forward (the heels toward the body) . Do not raise or lower the legs.
Twenty-five times. Figs. 65 & 66
ABDOMEN, SIDES, BACK, SHOULDERS.
See Figs. ”