Physical labor

“ Nevertheless, both the phrases, physical labor and mental labor, are convenient and not harmful, whenever on the one side the bodily powers seem to be predominant in the effort, and on the other the intellectual.
It is now to be noticed, that all that men can do, when they labor physically, is to move something. When a man works with his hands or his feet or his whole body, all that he does or can do, is to begin a series of motions or resistances to motion, for this good reason, human muscles in their very structure are capable only of starting motion and stopping motion. ”

“ A man engaged in physical labor wears out more of his body than one who does no work; and a man occupied in a pursuit involving intense mental application, consumes a greater proportion of his tissue than the man who works only with his body.13 In each of these cases, there is a different amount of tissue disorganised, and consequently a demand for different amounts of food, with which to repair the waste. ”

“ Physical exercise is a hygienic demand, but intellectual employment exerts no salutary influence on the body, while it is constantly expending the nutritive energies of the blood. The emotions, likewise, make exhaustive draughts upon nutrition to supply the waste of brain substance, just as certainly as physical labor causes muscular change, and demands reparation. One expends cerebral, the other, muscular substance. ”

“ But in any community with the solid, healthy qualities which make up a really great nation the bulk of the people should do work which calls for the exercise of both body and mind. Progress can not permanently exist in the abandonment of physical labor, but in the development of physical labor, so that it shall represent more and more the work of the trained mind in the trained body. ”

“ Seemingly, automatic labor, labor not directed by the highest function of consciousness, does not wear. It is only conscious work that requires for recuperation and muscle-rebuilding other means than simple non-use or physical rest. ”

“ Persons who are engaged in manual labor in the open air obtain all the exercise necessary for bodily health in their regular business: their need is more likely to be a discipline or exercise of the mind. A perfect business of life, therefore, would be one which would combine both physical and mental labor in their proper proportions. If such a business were possible for all the human race, life would thereby be vastly prolonged. ”

“ Even if it were certain that one would never need to resort to manual labor for his support, still he should be taught to work. Without physical exercise, no one can have a sound constitution and vigorous health; and the discipline of well-regulated labor is no less essential to the securing of a strong and active mind and a noble character. ”

“ At present housework, especially in the country, affords wearying labor which is not so well adapted to the development of physical strength as it might be because it is not systematic. [Pg 171] Certain parts of the body are overexercised and certain parts are neglected. The result is frequently a body with a semblance of strength but with, as you might say, strands of weakness, rendering it liable to fall at the least onslaught of infection or unusual strain. ”

“ Health and Labor.—As to the number of hours that should be devoted to labor no rule can be laid down. It all depends on the age, physical and mental vigor of the individual, and likewise, to a considerable degree, on the character of the work. ”

“ Trained workmen will do a given amount of labor on less food than untrained, because when persons take up mechanical operations with which they are unfamiliar, or undertake work which exercises a new set of muscles, a unit of work accomplished costs more in food energy than when the muscles have been trained to do a particular thing.
Very strenuous exercise, like athletic contests and unnaturally slow movements, are both wasteful of food energy. ”

“ The Relation of Diet to Various Conditions of Life.—The chief factors influencing bodily needs are age, height, weight, occupation, idiosyncrasies, and atmospheric conditions.
All activity of the human body, whether in the maintenance of its functions or in the performance of labor, is work. These two forms of work may be classified as physiologic and mechanical. Nothing in nutrition is more important than the relation of food to work. ”

“ Brain Workers.—The brain workers are usually men of sedentary habits. To no class is exercise so important. Without it, some part of the human machinery is almost certain to get out of order. It may be the stomach or lungs, the liver or kidneys, the head, or eyes, or throat. There is a lack of perfect action of one or more of the parts, [136] a clogging of the organs of digestion, or circulation, or respiration. This physical clogging at once affects the mental work, dulling the thinking powers, and often rendering their efforts futile, and making the complete cessation of labor necessary. ”

“ More particularly is health to be derived from out-door employment, as life on the farm and an active participation in its many and varied labors. Physical exercise is essential to health, under any and all circumstances, whether it be in the nature of labor or recreation. It must be borne in mind, however, that in labor are to be found the surest correctives of many abuses of health, as bringing into play influences of the more satisfactory sort upon the mind as considered in contrast to idleness. Idleness is the parent of many vices, some one says, and it is true. ”

“ Moreover, exercise develops and strengthens all parts of the body. Manual labor, which usually is looked upon as inferior to mental labor, is in reality a means of improving the body, permitting hard mental labor and making possible a fuller expression of man's spirit. Man's life should not be given wholly to physical work, but it should constitute a vital part of it. ”

“ He said that it was necessary for one to engage in manual labor in order to keep himself in sympathy with those who toil, and he described the process by which people first relieve themselves of the necessity of physical exertion and then come to look with a sort of contempt upon those who find it necessary to work with their hands. ”

“ The Body and the Mind—Some think too much, and should labor more, others labor too much and should think more, and thus maintain an equilibrium between the mental and physical members of the individual; then you will enjoy health and vigor, will be active, and ready to discern truly, and judge quickly. Men who do much thinking, philosophers for instance, should apply their bodies to more manual labor in order to make their bodies more healthy and their minds more vigorous and active. ”

“ In your day, riches debauched one class with idleness of mind and body, while poverty sapped the vitality of the masses by overwork, bad food, and pestilent homes. The labor required of children, and the burdens laid on women, enfeebled the very springs of life. Instead of these maleficent circumstances, all now enjoy the most favorable conditions of physical life; the young are carefully nurtured and studiously cared for; the labor which is required of all is limited to the period of greatest bodily vigor, and is never excessive; ”

“ An individual who is acquainted with the laws of health, whose muscles are well trained, will perform a certain amount of labor with less fatigue and waste to the system, than one who is ignorant of the principles of hygiene, and whose muscles are imperfectly trained. Hence the laboring poor have a deep interest in acquiring a knowledge of practical physiology, as well as skill in their trade or vocation. ”

“ In general it appears that a man or a woman whose occupation is what we call sedentary, who is without vigorous exercise and does but little hard muscular work, needs much less than the man at hard manual labor, and that the brain worker needs comparatively little of carbohydrates or fats. ”

“ Much of the work done by unskilled labourers requires a considerable amount of care and promptitude and perseverance, qualities which involve demands not only on the physical, but also on the mental and moral powers of the workman. Even mere muscular work calls for more than mere muscular energy. ”

“ Machinery has relieved the large basal muscles and laid more stress upon fine and exact movements that involve nerve strain. The coarser forms of work that involve hard lifting, carrying, digging, etc., are themselves specialized, and skilled labor requires more and more brain-work. It has been estimated that "the diminution of manual labor required to do a given quantity of work in 1884 as compared with 1870 is no less than 70 per cent." ”

“ If the patient is not far advanced, he should seek employment which affords constant exercise in the open air, preferably in the hills or mountains, and the labor should be of such a character as to cause normal activity of the liver and the bowels, and to enforce deep respiration. ”

“ Weak-backed children will, therefore, derive much benefit from the various exercises with hand weights and lifting-straps, and, indeed, from any labor involving the addition of an extra burden to the natural weight of the body. ”

“ The strength of the muscle, the cunning of hand or eye or ear, mental acuteness, and even liability to temptation in any direction, or, on the other hand, moral strength, all are coincident with exercise within the bounds set by the normal of the organ,—that is, within its ability to repair its waste in labor, an ability defined by the food-supply and its power of assimilation ”

“ By this diet bilious and inflammatory conditions are overcome, the development of bone in the foetus lessened, and muscles necessary in labor nourished and strengthened.
23. "Exercise should be sufficient and of such a character as will bring into action gently every muscle of the body; but must particularly develop the muscles of the trunk, abdomen and groin, that are specially called into action in labor. Exercise, taken faithfully and systematically, more than any other means assists assimilative processes and stimulates the organs of excretion to healthy action. ”

“ Which, then, are those exercises which keep the body and the mind equally efficient? Indeed, Nature has so arranged it that we can be engaged in physical as well as mental work at the same time. The vast majority of men on earth live by field-labour. The farmer has to do strenuous bodily exercise at any cost, for he has to work for 8 or 10 hours, or sometimes even more, in order to earn his bread and clothing. And efficient labour is impossible unless the mind is also in good condition. ”

“ This general idea of a human body, without considering it in its niceties of anatomy, let us see how absolutely necessary labor is for the right preservation of it. There must be frequent motions and agitations, to mix, digest, and separate the juices contained in it, as well as to clear and disperse the infinitude of pipes and strainers of which it is composed, and to give their solid parts a more firm and lasting tone. ”

“ Another point that must not be overlooked is that the quantities, and consequently the costs, here given are for four working men; that is to say, men engaged in moderately hard muscular labor. Of course, different individuals differ greatly in their needs for food. ”

“ Constant use of a particular muscle adds to its substance at the expense of that of its neighbor, hence the aim of all exercise should be directed at equality of labor. Trunk and legs, arms and neck, all should receive proportioned attention. ”

“ Twelvemough—perhaps I did not make myself clear—was that we should regard the sterile putting forth of strength in exercise, if others were each day worn out with hard manual labor, as insane or immoral. ”

“ Give the hygiene of the bones. 129. What effect has exercise upon the bones? What effect has inaction? Why are the joints of the industrious farmer and mechanic larger than those of a person unaccustomed to manual employment? 130. Give the first reason why the bones of the child are not adapted to severe exercise. The second reason.
131. The kind and amount of labor should be adapted to the age, health, and development of the bones. Neither the flexible bones of the child nor the brittle bones of the aged man are adapted, by their organization, to long-continued, and hard labor. ”

“ REST, fresh air, exercise, and nourishment, enough of each in proportion to the work done, are the material essentials to a healthy physique. Indeed, so simple is the whole process of physical care, it would seem absurd to write about it at all. The only excuse for such writing is the constant disobedience to natural laws which has resulted from the useless complexity of our civilization. ”

“ The food, to you, is maintenance as well as strength. You do not destroy yourself by the labor you get through.
The bread and meat which you eat, first get changed into the substance of your body; actually become flesh and blood; then as flesh and blood they perform a certain amount of useful labor. Like the iron of the steam engine, they are worn away by the work; but that is not of any real consequence, because fresh food will make fresh flesh and blood, capable of doing fresh work. ”

“ It may, therefore, be asserted that, while labor involving muscular exertion, if performed in healthful surroundings, supplies the conditions essential to good digestion and assimilation, to a more complete respiration, and to the maintenance of healthy nerves, yet, only rarely, if ever, does it tend to develop the ideal body. ”