A HOUSE GYMNASIUM
All healthy-minded boys are interested in physical development; it is
the instinct which leads them to climb high trees and scale precipitous
cliffs, generally at the expense of some anxiety to the minds of their
parents and guardians. But these amusements are more in the nature of
“stunts,” pure and simple; the logical and rational field of athletic
culture is the gymnasium. In the large cities, and at schools and
colleges and Y.M.C.A. societies, there are opportunities in abundance for
gymnastic exercises. The purpose of this chapter is to show the boy who
has to stay at home, or who lives in a small country village, what can be
done in the way of rigging up a barn floor or a spare room like the one
shown in Fig. 1. He can also make most of the apparatus; for, with a few
exceptions, all the principal pieces are simple in construction and not
beyond the ability of the average boy.
For indoor exercise the outfit must necessarily consist of those pieces
of the gymnasium equipment that can be used when in a standing or sitting
attitude, for the confined space of the average room will not admit of
running, jumping, or leaping with the pole or from a spring-board. In
preparing a list of the pieces of equipment suitable for a boy’s “gym,”
some of the familiar ones have been omitted, as they are either beyond
the ability of the average boy to make or they are too cumbersome for
the home. The apparatus that is described and illustrated is simple and
practicable and can be made at a much lower cost than the prices charged
at the shops.
[Illustration: _Fig. 1._]
Dumb-bells
Wooden dumb-bells weighing a pound each may be purchased for about
fifty cents a pair, but the boy who is interested in making his entire
equipment can use croquet-balls with broom-handles, or one-inch
curtain-pole sticks, for handles (Fig. 2).
[Illustration: FIG. 2. FIG. 3. FIG. 4.]
To make these dumb-bells, obtain some old croquet-balls and clamp
them, one by one, in the vise of a carpenter’s bench. Then, with a
one-inch bit, bore a hole through each ball, as shown in Fig. 3. Cut a
broom-handle or a one-inch curtain-pole in lengths twelve or thirteen
inches long, and in the end of each make a saw-cut, as shown in Fig. 3
B. Smear the end of the stick with glue and drive it through the hole in
the ball, keying it firmly in place by driving a wedge into the end of
the stick, just as hammer-heads are fastened to prevent their coming off.
Repeat for the second ball. Some glue should be placed in the saw-cut, so
as to hold the wedge when it is driven home. To make the handle easier
to grip, it should be bound with linen or cotton fish-line; then the
balls may be painted or varnished, and the line given a coat of black
varnish, which will set the cord binding and harden it. Several sets of
these balls may be made for the “gym” and hung upon the wooden rail that
extends around the room.
In the absence of iron bells, a heavy pair of dumb-bells may be made of
gas-pipe handles and flanges with screw-holes fastened into wood blocks
four inches in diameter (Fig. 4). The gas-pipes, an inch in diameter,
may be had at a plumber’s shop or gas-fitters’, and they should be five
inches long, threaded at both ends, and screwed into flanges which have
been fitted with threads to receive them. These flanges are bored with
holes, so that ordinary screws may be passed through them and into the
wooden ends. The gas-pipe should be bound with line and painted or
varnished, or the entire bell may be painted black to simulate iron.
Indian Clubs
A good pair of Indian clubs, weighing from two to three pounds each,
would cost at the shops about one dollar a pair; but the boy who can
handle tools may cut out a very serviceable pair of clubs from wood four
inches square or round, with the club, or butt, ends fifteen inches high.
Two pieces of spruce, chestnut, or apple wood are to be cut, as shown
in Fig. 5. The upper end should be tapered so that it is one and a half
inches in diameter, and leaving the base about two and a half inches in
diameter.
The tapering is done by holding the wood in a vise and gradually shaving
away the wood with a sharp-bladed draw-knife or spokeshave, turning the
wood frequently so as to cut the butt evenly and as true as possible.
With a brace-and-bit a one-inch hole is bored in the top of each club
three inches deep, and into it a broomstick-handle is driven and held in
place with glue and a few steel-wire nails. Wooden balls are bored and
glued to the top of the handles, and given an additional purchase with
small nails. The handles may be bound with fine line and the exposed
wood-work painted any desirable color.
Half a dozen sets of these clubs will add materially to the equipment of
the household “gym”; and it would be advisable to make them in several
sizes—say from one to three pounds each.
Calisthenic Wands and Ball-bars
These wands, three to five feet long, may be cut from any hard-wood, or
the same lengths of a one-inch curtain-pole will answer quite as well.
Plain square sticks may be planed octagonal in shape, or rounded, as a
matter of choice (Fig. 6 A).
The ball-bar (Fig. 6 B) may be made as described for the dumb-bells, by
boring croquet-balls and attaching them to the ends of a bar with wedges.
In many schools calisthenic exercises with wands, dumb-bells, and
ball-bars are regularly taught; and the boy who has provided his own
gymnasium with the simple apparatus required will find pleasure in
rehearsing the school instructions at his home.
Swinging-rings
Exercising and swinging rings are usually from six to ten inches in
diameter, outside measure, and they may be purchased at the shops for one
or two dollars a pair, according to the size and finish.
A blacksmith will make you a pair of rings, eight inches in diameter,
out of five-eighth-inch round iron, for about fifty cents; and with a
fine file and emery cloth they may be smoothed down so that they will not
chafe the hands. Some rings are nickel-plated, but they are used only by
professionals in their exhibition work.
[Illustration: FIG. 5.
FIG. 6. WAND A BALL-BAR B
FIG. 7. FIG. 8. FIG. 9.]
The rings should give a good grip, and there is nothing better for this
than to bind them with tire-tape, or sew leather around them, making the
seam at the outside, as shown in Fig. 7. The sewing should be done with
doubled and waxed linen thread; if this should prove too difficult, a
shoe or harness maker will help you out for a small sum.
In Fig. 8 a triangle is shown having the lower side bound with tape or
leather. This triangle is six inches across the bottom, eight inches
high, and is made from half-inch round iron. As the lower side is a
straight bar, it is somewhat easier to grip than the segment of a circle.
The rings, or triangles, should be suspended by means of ropes, at the
lower ends of which straps are provided so that they will hold rings,
rods, or trapeze bars. A harness-maker will make these straps for fifteen
or twenty cents each, of substantially heavy leather. They should be
provided with a stout buckle and a loop under which to slip the strap
end, as shown in Fig. 9. The rope ends, through which the straps are
caught, may be spliced or formed into a loop-end and bound tightly with
twine to make a strong union, as also shown in Fig. 9.
Trapeze Bars
For the house gymnasium a trapeze bar should measure four feet long and
one and three-quarter inches in diameter; it should be cut with a path at
each end, as shown in Fig. 10, so that the strap may be wrapped around it
and drawn tight. The bar should be made of seasoned hickory. The wood may
be bought from a wheelwright or wagon-maker, and then dressed down with a
plane and spokeshave. The arrangement for the suspension is shown in Fig.
10 B.
The adjustable flying trapeze, as shown in Fig. 11, is made from
trunk-straps, provided with two extra loops, and a four-foot bar cut from
two-inch hickory and shaped with a spokeshave. At the ends, paths are
cut to receive the straps, and, if possible, have the bar turned in a
lathe to insure a more accurate job. Small rings at the upper ends of the
ropes or straps, and hooks driven securely into the ceiling-beams, will
afford the needed suspension.
[Illustration: FIG. 10. FIG. 11. FIG. 12.]
Parallel Bars
The regulation parallel bars are usually supported on iron pipe-standards
bolted to a heavy base, and steel heads are provided to grip the bars.
But this fitting is beyond the ability of a boy to construct without the
aid of a plumber, and the wooden frame base and bars shown in Fig. 12
will answer quite as well.
The bars are of hickory, five and a half feet long and two inches in
diameter. The uprights that support them are of oak, ash, or other
hard-wood, two and a half inches square and forty-two inches long. The
lower ends of the uprights are set into bases of heavy hard-wood two
inches thick, ten inches wide, and three and a half feet long. Square
holes are cut in the middle of these bases, two feet apart, so that
eight inches of wood will extend beyond the holes at each end, and so
provide a surface on which to screw the bracket-ends that act as braces
to the uprights. The holes should be cut with a brace-and-bit all the way
through the bases, and then trimmed with a mortise-chisel and mallet,
taking care to make them very accurate, and so prevent any play to the
uprights when once set up.
The stepping-plank is also of hard-wood, twelve inches wide, one and a
half inches in thickness, and long enough to span the cross-planks. The
distance between uprights should be about four feet. The stepping-plank
should have a two-inch block under the middle to prevent it from
springing; it is to be attached securely to the cross-plates with large,
flat screws driven into holes that have first been bored out with a
bit. Hollows are cut out in the top of each upright with a compass-saw,
and the sides slightly tapered to the edges of the U cuts, so as not to
interfere with the hands when using the bars. Fasten the bars to the
uprights with two slim screws at each side, driven through the uprights
and into the under sides of the bars. Do not put a screw or nail down
through the bars and into the top of the uprights, for this will weaken
the bars, and if the weight is suddenly transferred to the extreme ends
they might snap off.
At a hardware store purchase four iron brackets with eight-inch tops
and ten or twelve inch sides. Invert them and screw the tops to the
base-boards and the sides to the outer edges of the uprights, to insure
added rigidity.
A coat or two of paint will improve the appearance of the uprights and
base; but do not coat the bars with anything. They should be polished
with an oiled rag until smooth enough for use.
A Floor Horizontal Bar
The complete apparatus is shown in Fig. 13. The hickory bar, one and
three-quarter inches in diameter and four feet long, is supported on
hard-wood uprights two inches thick, three inches wide, and as high as
the bar is desired—say from five to six feet, according to the stature
of the boys who are to use it. At the lower end the uprights are held in
position by two half-inch iron pins driven into the bottom. These fit
into holes made in the floor in a corresponding position, as shown at A
in Fig. 14. The upper ends of the uprights are cut with a compass-saw to
receive the bar, and the edges are tapered to meet the edges of the U
cut, as shown at B in Fig. 14. When the bar is in place it is held with
straps made of one-eighth by one inch iron. They should be provided with
screw-holes, as shown at C in Fig. 14. The ear-plate attached to each
upright under the bar (and to which the stanchion wires are fastened) is
made of one-inch tire-iron a quarter of an inch thick; it is bolted to
the wood as shown at D in Fig. 14. A blacksmith will make the strap and
ear-plates for a small sum; and at a hardware store staple or eye plates
may be purchased and screwed to the floor, into which the turn-buckles
can be caught.
Four turn-buckles and some stout wire form the stanchions; and the
floor-plates should be located so that they not only brace the structure
forward and backward, but also from side to side, as may be seen at the
right side of Fig. 13. If the plates are five feet apart, they should be
eighteen inches out from each upright.
[Illustration: FIG. 13. FIG. 14.]
The particular advantage of this bar over a swinging one lies in its
absolute rigidity. Also, when not in use, it may be cleared away by
loosening the turn-buckles and unhooking them, lifting the pins out of
the floor and carrying off the frame bodily.
Striking-bags
There are various kinds and shapes of striking-bags to be had at the
shops, but a converted Rugby football will answer very well for home use.
Remove the bladder and sew two large bone buttons to the leather cover
at each end, as shown in Fig. 15. The bladder should then be replaced,
inflated, and the cover laced up tightly.
Leather straps, in the ends of which button-holes have been made, are
caught over the buttons to form loops to which the ends of the suspension
and draw ropes are attached. These straps are reinforced with a patch
of leather sewed at the middle, as shown in Fig. 16. The patches will
strengthen the straps and prevent them from stretching too much when the
ropes are drawn taut.
Between the ball and the floor a spring, or some stout rubber bands,
should be placed so as to make the ball rebound quickly when struck.
The portable striking-bag (Fig. 17) is attached to the top of a staff,
and is made of leather or canvas and stuffed with paper wads. Or a
bladder, inflated the same as a football, may be used. The bag or cover
for a bladder should be made of strips of leather or canvas sewed
together. The inflated bag is then covered by a stout leather cap. Straps
of canvas or leather are sewed to this cap and brought down below the
bag, where they are attached to the staff with a thong or cord, as shown
in Fig. 17.
[Illustration: STRIKING-BAGS
FIG. 15. FIG. 16. FIG. 17.]
The regulation portable bags are mounted on an iron base, but in our
home-made apparatus a plate of hard-wood will have to answer. From oak,
ash, or other hard-wood, two inches thick, cut a base fifteen inches
square, and round off the edges on the upper side. Make a hole in each
corner through which to pass a screw, and a large hole at the middle to
receive a spiral spring. The staff (about the size of a broomstick) is
screwed down into the top of the spring for five or six inches, or enough
to hold it securely; and at the bottom the spring is held in the block
with screws or nails driven through the wires of the spring and into the
wooden base.
When using the bag it should be fastened to the floor with two or three
screws, so that it will not topple over. As it is struck it bends over
from the bottom, and the spring, if stiff enough, will cause it to
immediately rebound or come to an erect position.
A striking-bag and disk, like the one shown in Fig. 18, may be made from
wood and leather, a few thumb-nuts, and a pair of braces. To make the
adjustable disk, obtain two pieces of white-wood or pine three inches
wide, two feet long, and one and a quarter inches in thickness. Also two
other pieces, each an inch thick, three inches wide, and thirty inches
long. The first pieces are the wall-plates, and laps are to be cut one
and a half inches in from each end, as shown in Fig. 19, to receive the
upright pieces.
In the middle of each lap a bolt two and a half inches long is to be set.
This projects through a slot cut in the upright pieces, and at the outer
end of the bolt a thumb-nut and washer will make it possible to clamp
the uprights fast to the wall-plates, so that the disk may be raised or
lowered to any required position.
Two slots, as wide as the thickness of the bolts, are cut in each upright
with a bit and compass-saw; and on the uncut space, at the middle of the
frame, a disk twenty-one inches wide and twenty-six inches long is made
fast with screws and short angle-brackets attached to the under side of
the rear corners. This disk should be made of hard-wood one and a half
inches in thickness, and it is braced from above with two irons that
extend from the top of the disk to the upper ends of the uprights. A
blacksmith will make these for a few cents each, and they, as well as the
other hardware, should be painted black to give them a good appearance.
[Illustration: FIG. 18. FIG. 19. FIG. 20. FIG. 21.]
The bag is shaped like an inverted balloon, and is made of six pieces of
leather, or canvas, five and a half inches wide and fifteen inches long,
sewed together at the edges. Each piece should be shaped as in Fig. 17,
and when they are sewed together a round cap should be made fast to the
large extremity to secure the ends of the side-pieces. A patch is sewed
along the edges of two sides to strengthen them and to pass the lacings
through, as shown at the lower left-hand side of Fig. 20. This method
of construction gives an opening through which to pass a filling of
rubber scraps and bits of leather. If a rubber bladder is to be inserted
and inflated, this opening will not be required, for the bladder, when
collapsed, may be pushed into the opening at the neck.
One inch below the top of the neck some slits are to be made in the
leather, through which the throat-laces are interwoven, as shown in Fig.
21. After the knot at the end of the suspension-rope has been inserted in
the throat of the bag, the laces are drawn tight and tied. This is the
best means of attaching the bag to the rope from which it is suspended;
and by means of a hollow stick, which projects down five inches below
the under side of the disk, the bag may be centred and held rigidly. As
a result it flies up at varying angles from this centre-drop when struck
from different sides.
The suspension-stick may be made from a piece of inch-and-a-half
curtain-pole, the hole being bored out with a bit. The stick should be
inserted through a hole made in the disk eleven inches in from the outer
or projecting edge. It should be of such a size that it will be necessary
to drive the stick in with a mallet to make it fit snugly. A coat or two
of white paint will finish the wood-work nicely, or it may be given a
coat of varnish.
A Medicine-ball
A medicine-ball should be ten inches in diameter, and should weigh from
three or four to six or eight pounds, according to the size of the boys
and girls who use it. The case of a round football may be used, or a
leather case may be made of six pieces and two ends, so that it will
lace up, as shown in Fig. 22. The case is stuffed with small balls made
of pebbles or small stones wrapped in newspaper. The newspaper makes a
soft cushion, and does not allow the hard edges of the stones to come in
contact with the leather. Larger or smaller stones may be used according
to the weight desired, or sand wrapped in paper may be used in place of
the stones.
[Illustration: FIG. 22. FIG. 23. FIG. 25. FIG. 26.]
If the case is to be made, obtain some russet leather from a shoemaker
and cut six pieces, fourteen inches long and six inches wide, as shown
in Fig. 23. With doubled linen thread sew the edges together so that the
seam is at the inside, as shown at the lower end of Fig. 23. Reinforce
two sides of adjoining strips with a patch of leather sewed securely
all around the edges and through the middle. Punch holes along the patch
half an inch from the edge, through which to lace the draw-strings, as
shown at the left-hand side of Fig. 23. At the open ends of the leather
case sew on circular patches, four inches in diameter, to securely hold
the ends of the six leather sides. The case will then be ready for the
filling.
By substituting a bladder for the filling, this medicine-ball may be
used as a volley-ball. The volley-ball is played over a net, either in
the “gym” or out-of-doors, in a fashion similar to Badminton. It may be
played by any number of persons at the same time, the object being to
keep the ball in motion over the high net.
Pulley-weights and Exercisers
No apparatus for home exercise covers the field so generally and
thoroughly as the chest-weights, or pulley-weights. No instructions are
necessary, for the boy who uses the apparatus can follow his own idea
for strokes, and every muscle in the body may be easily and pleasantly
exercised, there being sufficient variation in the movements to relieve
them of monotony.
An exerciser similar to the one in Fig. 24 may be constructed out of a
piece of plank, two pulleys, a pair of sash-weights, and some cotton rope
or clothes-line.
[Illustration: FIG. 24.—AN EXERCISING WEIGHT]
Obtain a piece of pine or spruce plank twelve or fourteen inches wide,
five feet long, and one and a quarter inches thick; also another piece to
form the foot, so that it will project six inches from the base of the
plank. Two blocks of wood, four inches long, two inches wide, and an inch
thick, will be necessary for the pulleys to swing on. Attach these to
the upper end of the plank by means of hinges, as shown in Fig. 25. They
should stand out from the board, and in from the edges, the distance of
the width of the hinge-leaf, as also shown in Fig. 25. Plate-pulleys are
screwed fast to the front edges of these blocks, through which the ropes
pass that raise the weights.
The foot-board should be padded with hair or excelsior and covered with
leather or burlap, so that the weights may drop on it without making any
noise.
From two old tin pails remove the handles and bend the wires around so
that a rope may be passed through the eyes at the ends, as shown in Fig.
26. At a hardware store purchase a pair of five-pound sash-weights, and
pass the rope ends through the eyes. They should then be spliced or
bound with fine line. When the ropes are reeved through the pulleys, a
knot should be made in each one, so that it will chock in the top of the
pulley and allow the weights to just reach and lightly rest upon the
foot-pad. Therefore, when the handles are released the weights will not
fall about on the floor as they would otherwise do. The ropes should be
about five feet long from the eyes of the weights to the handles. That
is quite sufficient to give a good long stroke while bending the body
forward or from side to side.
This exerciser may be screwed fast to the rail that should extend all
around the “gym,” and also into the floor at the foot to steady it.
Lighter or heavier weights may be employed, as the strength of the
boy will warrant, but light weights are preferable to heavy ones for
continued use.
An Attic Gymnasium
In Fig. 27 a good idea is given for the arrangement of an attic
gymnasium; it shows the locations of the paraphernalia in a room about
fourteen by sixteen feet. A smaller room may be arranged in a somewhat
similar manner, but each piece of apparatus must be cleared away directly
it is out of use.
[Illustration: _Fig. 27._]
Across the top of the room, from a window-casing to a batten screwed fast
to the opposite wall, a ladder may be suspended. Over the window-casing
it would be well to attach a batten, so that the ladder will not spring
out of place. A rope hanging from one end will make it possible to reach
the rings.
A strip or band of wood four or five inches wide should be nailed all
around the room four feet above the floor, against which to place parts
of the gymnasium equipment, and on which to hang dumb-bells, Indian
clubs, wands, and ball-bars, as shown in the illustration.
Under the trapeze or rings it is well to place an old mattress, a useful
thing in the event of a fall. If the room is wide enough, double sets
of hooks may be driven in the ceiling-beams from which both a flying
trapeze and rings may be suspended. When one or the other is in use, the
extra apparatus may be drawn up or to one side of the room. A light room
is always more cheerful than a dark one, and plenty of ventilation is
necessary in the home gymnasium.