Chops

“ The muscular motions above described, that are most frequently obedient to the will are nevertheless occasionally causable by painful or pleasurable sensation, as in the starting from fear, and the contraction of the calf of the leg in the cramp. ”

“ The whole frame of the foot is kept in position and made capable of its proper range of movement by means of muscles and tendons, constituting a living and sensitive bandage, increasing or relaxing its pull or pressure in the most exact obedience to our will. In a sound, free foot, each part of the machinery is in constant readiness to bring it into the required position, whether to lift the body, to bound, or to sustain the shock of the whole weight in coming down again, or to perform any other of a number of complications of movement. ”

“ 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. ”

“ To a gradually increasing extent, the contracting force, instead of being withdrawn when the muscle is inactive, remains; and, as we have already seen, an arm or leg that should be passive is lifted, and the muscles are found to be contracted as if for severe action. ”

“ In bending the body forward and to the side, in order to stroke upward over the opposite side from the thigh, the body makes a sort of twisting movement which is especially beneficial for the muscles of the lower sides, the upper abdomen and the lower back, as well as for the liver. These muscles then become stretched when the hand strokes outward to the armpit, on the other side of the upper chest, and the body is bent to that side. ”

“ With foot to foot, shoulder to shoulder, prest.
Their arms are wreathed and coiled like supple snakes,
The veins are swelled to bursting in their necks,
The muscles of their calves tense with the strain.
Long time they stiff and motionless remain,
With pulsing flanks, like flap of bastard's wing. ”

“ For the back stroke therefore, and that the arm may not only bend at the elbow, but also extend and straighten itself with force, other muscles, the longus, and brevis brachiæus externus, and the aconæus, placed on the hinder part of the arms, by their contractile twitch, fetch back the fore-arm into a straight line with the cubit, with no less force than that with which it was bent out. The same thing obtains in all the limbs, and in every moveable part of the body. ”

“ Thus, when we say, lift, expand, and let go, we mean lift from the hips, the center of gravity, in an easy, flexible manner; expand the body with a free movement without conscious thought of any part of it; have the sensation of letting go all contraction or rigidity, and absolutely release the muscles of the throat and face. The let go is in reality more a negative than a positive condition, and virtually means, when you lift and expand, do not locally grip, harden, or set any muscle of the body, throat, or face. ”

“ In producing the motions of the body, the muscles use the bones as levers. We see an illustration of the first class of levers in the movements of the head. The back or front of the head is the weight to be lifted, the backbone is the fulcrum on which the lever turns, and the muscles at the back or front of the neck exert the power by which we toss or bow the head. ”

“ The heart belongs to the muscular system as well as to the blood or vascular system; from which, however, it is clear that the two are closely related, indeed constitute one whole. Since now the metaphysical substratum of the force which moves the muscle, thus of irritability, is the will, the will must also be the metaphysical substratum of the force which lies at the foundation of the movement and the formations of the blood, as that by which the muscles are produced. ”

“ So too one might suppose of the heart, that it is itself like some safe house fitted with the most solid defences, fortified by the enclosing walls of the bones round about; for in rear there is the spine, strengthened on either side by the shoulder-blades, and on each flank the enfolding position of the ribs makes that which is in the midst between them difficult to injure ”

“ But look at the long slope of shoulder—the chest wide enough to give the largest lungs free play in their labor—the flat, square quarters, the muscular fullness of the upper limbs, so perfectly "let down," the clear, sinewy legs, without a curb-mark or windfall to tell tales of fearfully fast work and hard training—and you will wonder less how the championship was won. ”

“ Now for it: the wind, hardly felt before under shelter of the banks and trees, strikes the chest like the blow of a strong man as you rush against it. The chest responds with a long-drawn heave, the pliable ribs bend outwards, and the cavity within enlarges, filled with the elastic air. ”

“ You have seen pictures of our muscles. Those of the upper part of the body, you remember, spread out from the shoulder, in all directions, like a fan. Now if you hold the shoulder still, the muscles of the chest will shrink, the shoulders stoop, and the whole chest become thin and ugly. ”

“ They're chaps without legs, with an arm gone, a hand gone, back wounds, stomach wounds, holes in the head. They start chaffing one another. There's no hint of tragedy. A gale of laughter sweeps the ward from end to end. ”

“ To equalize this difference should therefore be the primary object of physical culture, for the harmonious structure of all its parts is an essential condition of a perfectly developed body. No malformation is more common in city recruits than a narrow chest. Besides spear-throwing, of which I shall speak further on, any exercise promoting the development of the shoulder muscles will tend to expand the chest, and thus remove the chief predisposing cause of consumption. ”

“ Respecting this belt for boys and men, there is a word more I must say which is of serious import. When they put on the belt for the sake of performing some feat of strength, they effect another dangerous mischief. Compressing the abdomen, they force, during the exertion, the contents of the abdominal cavity downward under pressure, giving no chance to resilience back again after the exertion or shock. ”

“ If I move my arm slowly and attend to my feelings, I am conscious of a peculiar impulse immediately preceding each muscular contraction, which I feel to be the cause of the latter. If I temporarily paralyze my arm by compression of the nerve and repeat the experiment, no muscle contracts, but I distinctly feel the impulse referred to. ”

“ For we move at will not only those members which are furnished with joints of solid bone, as the hands, feet, and fingers, but we move also at will those which are composed of slack and soft nerves: we can put them in motion, or stretch them out, or bend and twist them, or contract and stiffen them, as we do with the muscles of the mouth and face. ”

“ By it, commencing with almost imperceptible pressure, from the softest hands, every part of the body was gradually submitted to gently increasing force, until each muscle was kneaded and each joint stretched and cracked, and the whole frame, with fatigue removed and endowed with fresh vitality, was lulled into slumber or recruited for fresh exercise. ”

“ Thus I once discovered to my astonishment in a gymnasium that the extremely mechanical action of putting up a heavy weight from the ground to the shoulder and from the shoulder to the full reach of the arm above the head, became much easier after a little practice, although my muscles had not grown, nor my strength increased during the time. ”

“ It means that you keep the muscles of the arms working actively for from a quarter of an hour to an hour; that the lately dried-up blood-vessels are now full of warm blood, feeding the hot muscles as a trench full of water feeds a famished field. It means also that the girth of the arm is one, two, or more inches larger than it was a few weeks ago; that the flesh is firm and solid; and that arm, shoulder, and hand are so strong that there is a new pleasure even in swinging an umbrella or shaking hands with an old friend. ”

“ Every limb shrinks sensibly in volume from this withdrawal of the blood, and the shrinkage of any one of them, say the right arm, is measured by the fall of water in a gauge that communicates with a long bottleful of water, through the neck of which the arm has been thrust, and in which it is softly but effectually plugged. ”

“ Careful observation and handling the heart made it clear that the organ was muscular, and that its systole was in every way comparable with the contraction which occurs in the muscles of the forearm when the fingers are moved. “The contraction of the heart is therefore of greater importance than its relaxation. ”

“ The stroking and pressing with the hands from each opposite side of the lower chest, over the region of the heart and liver inward and upward across the chest.
5. The manner in which the backs of the clutched hands are stroking and pressing downward on each side of the lower back and the spine.
If the hands would stroke over the front of the lower legs and continue straight up over the abdomen and then downward on the backs of the legs instead of upwards; neither the nerves, muscles and vessels of the legs nor the internal organs would be influenced in the proper way. ”

“ Take half a step forward; sustain weight on advanced foot; do not change position of retired foot, but keep the sense of purchase in it. The chest should be carried forward of the abdomen and the abdominal muscles given their best leverage by a slight bending forward from the hips. ”

“ There is a femur which helps its fellow to support the weight of the body; and there again is a rib which, along with others, forms a protective box for certain of the viscera. Dissection reveals a set of muscles serving to straighten and bend the fingers, certain other muscles that move the legs, and some inconspicuous muscles which, contracting every two or three seconds, slightly raise the ribs and aid in inflating the lungs. ”

“ The great group of the voluntary, or bone-moving muscles, which move "with the will" and are under our direct control, may be divided roughly into two divisions—those that move the trunk, or body proper, and run, for the most part, lengthwise of it; and those that move the limbs. ”

“ Bend forward with the arms straight, so as to allow the weight of your body to fall on your wrists, and then make a firm, steady downward pressure on the loins of the patient, while you count slowly, one—two—three, to press the patient's stomach against the ground and to force the air from his chest. ”

“ At these times he will throw his body into almost every conceivable posture—twisting, turning, bending, stooping, the arms down, forward, back, and over his head, the muscles of the limbs and entire body flexed almost to the point of tremor, the fingers spread, and the muscles rigidly tensed. ”

“ The percussion treatment that I have suggested consists in alternate tapping or striking this region of the body with both hands. A chopping movement, using the outside edge of the hands, is very effective, and if you are very vigorous, the closed fist may be used. Striking repeatedly and alternately with the two fists, go over the entire region of the stomach and abdomen. This can be done gently or vigorously, according to your condition, and it is an invaluable and effective means of stimulating peristalsis and functional vigor. ”

“ The co-ordination between the summit of the chest and the feet in rhythmic alternation, the simultaneous activity of the chest in all movements or exercises develop good positions in standing and natural actions of the body in walking.
The extensions especially when in alternation bring the body also into the normal spiral lines and tend also to extend the muscles especially at the [Pg 106] side so that the shoulder does not seem to be drawn down toward the hip, but acts with the torso freely.
When exercises are practiced properly the whole bearing of the body will begin to improve. ”

“ Weight.
Fig. 118—Diagram of the foot lever. F. Fulcrum at ankle joint. W. Body weight expressed as pressure against the earth. While the muscle power acts through the distance ab, the fulcrum support (body) is forced through the distance FE. Loss of Muscular Force.—Using a small spring balance for measuring the power, a light stick for a lever, and a small piece of metal for a weight, and arranging these to represent some lever of the body (as the [pg 254] forearm) , it is easily shown that the gain in motion causes a corresponding loss in muscular power. ”

“ In man an inspiration is produced by the contraction of the muscles between the ribs, together with the contraction of the diaphragm, the muscular wall just below the heart and lungs; this results in pulling down the diaphragm and pulling upward and outward of the ribs, thus making the space within the chest cavity larger. ”

“ Of those instruments which, falling upon the head, wound the parts about the bone, or the bone itself, that which falls from a very high place, and the least on a level with the person struck, and which is at the same time very hard, very blunt, and very heavy, and which is the least light, sharp, and soft, such an instrument would occasion a fracture and contusion of the bone. ”

“ So we sat with our heads together talking helves and axes, axes with single blades and axes with double blades, and hand axes and great choppers' axes, and the science of felling trees, with the true philosophy of the last chip, and arguments as to the best procedure when a log begins to "pinch"—until a listener would have thought that the art of the chopper included the whole philosophy of existence—as indeed it does, if you look at it in that way. ”