Physical exercise

“ Physical exercise in these various forms has its immediate and valuable influence upon the health condition of the individual student, if taken in sufficient quantity. It has its lasting and very much more important influence in those cases in which physical exercise becomes a habit. ”

“ Value of physical exercise.—The beneficial effects of physical culture cannot be overestimated. It strengthens and develops the muscles. It restores the natural functions of the skin. By exercising the muscles of the external organs of the body, exercise is given to the muscles of the internal organs. By restoring the natural functions of the skin and giving{375} normal exercise to the internal organs we correct the functional disorders of the digestive system, the heart and the lungs, and restore to them their natural functions. ”

“ Physical exercise, by accelerating the circulation of the blood, stimulates the activity of all those internal organs whose functions conjointly constitute the phenomenon of life, and counteracts innumerable functional disorders, any one of which is sure to react on the nervous system and the organ of the soul. ”

“ But systematic physical exercise has its sufficient reason in its aid to a graceful use of the limbs, its development of muscles that are left unused or rudimentary unless called forth by special training, and for the help it gives to the teacher in the way of school discipline. ”

“ Exercises and Their Object
To make yourself strong and healthy it is necessary to begin with your inside and to get the blood into good order and the heart to work well; that is the secret of the whole thing, physical exercises should be taken with that intention. This is the way to do it:—
(a) Make the heart strong in order to pump the blood properly to every part of the body, and so to build up flesh, bone, and muscle. Exercise: "Swimming" and "Wrist Pushing."
(b) Make the lungs strong in order to provide the blood with fresh air. Exercise: "Deep breathing." ”

“ To these three essentials of physical education—health, harmonious development, economical utilization of muscular force—correspond a series of exercises which can not produce their maximum useful effect without being subjected to regulations of which we proceed to sketch the principal features.
Health may be with equal ease confirmed or destroyed by exercise. It is only necessary to refer to the deplorable condition of the ancient athletes, with whom the enormous mass of the muscles absorbed all the activity of the organism. ”

“ It should aim at the healthy development of the body, as well as of the mind, by the regular development of all the muscles, the quickening of the intelligence and activity, and the formation of the habits of prompt obedience, precision, smartness, and discipline. The exercises should not be for mere display or entertainment, but each should have its particular purpose and value to develop all parts of the body.
“A certain amount of physical exercise once a day or oftener is preferable to even a greater amount, at longer or irregular intervals. ”

“ Hence a lengthy period of rest is necessary before he is able to renew his journey.
88. Amount of Physical Exercise Required. The amount of physical exercise that can be safely performed by each person, is a most important and practical question. No rule can be laid down, for what one person bears well, may prove very injurious to another. To a certain extent, each must be guided by his own judgment. ”

“ But even where natural or physical energy is deficient, an energetic manner may be acquired by practice and exercise under judicious direction; just as the muscular powers may be improved, and bodily vigor increased, even in a feeble frame, under a course of training and well-regulated exercise. ”

“ The value of exercise consists not in developing large muscles nor in accomplishing athletic feats, but in attaining physical poise, symmetry of form, and the harmonious adjustment of the various parts of the body, as well as in furthering the proper activity of cell-tissues and organs and the elimination of waste products. ”

“ Exercises for the Development of Special Muscles.—Few persons, even among those who have given considerable attention to physical culture and have spent much time in a gymnasium, could, if asked, tell what special forms of exercise were best calculated to fill out a hollow shoulder or flat chest, or strengthen weak loins or back. ”

“ Amount and Kind of Exercise.—The amount of exercise required varies greatly with different individuals, and definite recommendations cannot be made. For each individual also the amount should vary with the physical condition and the other demands made upon the energy. One in health should exercise sufficiently to keep the muscles firm to the touch and the body in a vigorous condition. ”

“ Hence the question of exercise in its largest sense involves not only muscular work, but work of all kinds, which tends to promote a healthy activity of the psychical as well as the physical functions. ”

“ Heavy-weight exercises, consisting in the use of heavy dumb-bells or other apparatus in which the actual physical pull exerted by the body in moving the weights is sufficient to try the muscles to their maximum capacity. This system of exercise should be discouraged; while it may add to the mere lifting strength, it takes from the muscles their flexibility, and from the body its agile and supple activity. ”

“ Practice makes a man perfect: Where as in the field co-sports and games or in the field of Physical Activity, practice alone is not sufficient. The scientific principles based upon such as physiology of exercise tells us the efficiency of physical activity depends on physical fitness, mental fitness and emotional fitness. The physical fitness components such as strength, speed, endurance, co-ordination, agility, flexibility and balance can be developed through Training Methods. ”

“ While each exercise calls into play many other muscles than the ones for whose development the exercise is given, the exercise is classed under the group for the region which it is especially designed to benefit. ”

“ In point of fact we are only boldly honest and sincere when we insist that really beneficial exercise consists as much in the pursuit of some independent object we desire to reach or gain by physical exertion, coupled with a pleasant stimulation of mental interest and recreation, as in any given kind or degree of mere muscular activity. ”

“ It is by their action in exercise that the muscles are enlarged, hardened, and brought to their greatest state of perfection. And it is only by exercise, and by exercise alone, that they can be maintained at the acme of physical condition. ”

“ It is splendid if you can belong to a gymnasium or to a physical culture class, but ten to fifteen minutes' systematic daily exercise practiced with vim, and each set followed by deep breathing, will do more good than a gymnasium spasmodically attended. Brisk walking with a long stride isn't so bad; in fact, if taken with a very long stride it will twist 'most every organ you have in your body.
There are hundreds of exercises you can take. ”

“ Passive exercise does not require any exertion of the will power. Massage increases the local nutrition of the parts, stimulates the nerves, and is restful, rather than exhausting, to the overwrought brain and wearied nerves.
Active exercise is further divided into exercise of effort and exercise of endurance. Under exercise of effort are classed all gymnastic feats. ”

“ Exercises for Muscles of Back; Exercises for Muscles of Abdomen; Swimming Exercises, for Back, Thighs, and Abdomen; Rope Pulling-exercises for Back, Chest, Waist, Legs, and Arms; Exercises in Trunk Flexions for Back, Abdomen, and Legs; Exercises with Chest Weights for Chest, Shoulders, and Arms; Boxing and Fencing; Classic and Esthetic Dancing an Essential Feature in Physical Training; Figures of the Dance with Some Simple Exercises.
Outdoor Exercises: Effect of Walking on the Heart and Lungs; Running; Mountain Climbing; Swimming; Horseback Riding as an Exercise ”

“ Good muscles are more serviceable than extraordinary ones. Vigorous exercise is better than violent exercise. It is well known that many of our picked athletes, men with great original physical endowment, die young. ”

“ For women whose vocations are intellectual and sedentary, as writers, teachers, stenographers, etc., some outdoor employment, which calls into activity the muscles of the body, rests the eyes and brain, and, at the same time, pleasantly occupies the mind, is the best, as walking, gardening, lawn-tennis, golf, rowing, etc.
For all women engaged in sedentary occupations, daily exercise in the open air is the first essential, and let them be assured that their feelings of fatigue and disinclination [Pg 199] to exercise are no safe guide as to their ability to take exercise. ”

“ Physical exercises of some sort, then, should be provided for pupils in our schools, especially in large towns and cities, where there is little opportunity for outdoor games, and they should form a part of the regular course of study. The object should be the promotion of sound health rather than the development of muscle, or performing feats of agility or strength. Exercises with dumb-bells and wands, or even without any apparatus, practiced a few times a day, for five minutes at a time, do a great deal of good. ”

“ Hence arises the necessity of students of elocution practising physical exercises adapted to promote general muscular vigor, as a means of attaining energy in speaking; the power of any class of muscles being dependent on the vigor of the whole system. ”

“ The best way is to take them by turns, and to use that longest which is most suitable to the strength and constitution. Those kinds of exercise which give action to most of the bodily organs, are always to be preferred, as walking, running, riding, digging, swimming, and such like. ”

“ One should not, of course, fail to adopt a special system of exercises, for this insures that every muscle will be regularly used, and it is quite likely that one’s activities, whether outdoors or indoors will but partly use the muscular system. Of outdoor exercise, walking is ideal, and can be taken at all seasons. ”

“ Now it is evident, without comment, how immense must be the benefit of muscular exercise. Not only does it allow time for the brain to rest when exhausted by mental work, but, by increasing the circulation all over the body, it promotes the threefold function of oxygenation, nutrition, and drainage. ”

“ When on lands of a couple of thousand feet elevation, brisk exercise imparts elasticity to the muscles, fresh and healthy blood circulates through the brain, the mind works well, the eye is clear, the step is firm, and a day's exertion always makes the evening's repose thoroughly enjoyable. ”

“ Severe exercise not only involves a good many muscles, but causes enough strain to harden and enlarge them. Bicycling up grade, swimming, and other active sports would be included in this kind of exercise. ”

“ In short, if exercise is spontaneous and rational, qualitative rather than quantitative, for the nerves rather than for the muscles, it will improve the efficiency and facility of one’s habitual occupation, will establish a general vigor and stability of body, and maintain mental balance and alertness ”

“ It is certain that sedentary men, and men of hard-worked intellects, are greatly in need of some means of distributing the circulation through the muscles. Exercise is the means. When the avocations are such as to render continuous exercise in the open air difficult or impossible, we should seek to compensate for this by variety of gentle activities distributed throughout the day. ”

“ Training, which is chiefly systematic exercise, by promoting a healthy concordant action between the heart and arteries, diminishes the resistance which the latter offer to an unusual flow of blood from the former, and therefore men in training, or men accustomed to bodily exercise, do not easily become distressed by sustained muscular exertion. ”

“ Exercise and Health.—In addition to its effects upon the muscles themselves, exercise is recognized as one of the most fundamental factors in the preservation of the health. Practically every process of the body is stimulated and the body as a whole invigorated by exercise properly taken. On the other hand, a lack of exercise has an effect upon the entire body somewhat similar to that observed upon a single muscle. It becomes weak, lacks energy, and in many instances actually loses weight when exercise is omitted. ”

“ The health lift, as a gentle exercise, is rapidly becoming an institution of necessity to persons of sedentary habits, and brings into action, when properly used, as many muscles of the human frame as any other exercise, and yet consumes but a few moments of time daily, which of itself is an important item to brain-workers and industrious humanity generally. ”

“ Relation of Proper Exercise to Health.—We are all aware that exercise in moderation has a beneficial effect upon the human organism. The pale face, drooping shoulders, and narrow chest of the boy or girl who takes no regular exercise is too well known. ”

“ Their general utility will be questioned only by those who are not aware that the health and vigour of all the bodily organs depend on the proportioned exercise of each. In active exertion, the member exercised swells with the more frequent and more copious flow of blood, and heat is developed in it with greater abundance; and if we repeat the same motions many times after intervals of repose, all the muscles exercised become permanently developed ”