EXERCISE AND EXERCISES.
It will not in this chapter be necessary to go at all deeply into the
physiological effects and changes wrought in the body by exercise, but
at the same time for those interested in the subject it will be well to
sketch in the merest outline the general effect of exercise, and give
the reasons why (a rule so universal as to be considered as practically
without exception) those who take exercise, especially when they take it
in air, where there is a sufficiency of oxygen, are in better health
than those who do not.
Now every organ in the body is either in itself a muscle or a system of
muscles, or is controlled by muscles. That is to say, none of the
infinite processes incidental not only to any movement, but to even
perfectly passive life, are independent of muscular action, automatic it
may be, and unconscious or sub-conscious, but still muscular.
The action of the heart itself, for instance, which is, in ordinary
circumstances, entirely automatic and absolutely essential to life,
consists in the alternate contraction and expansion of muscle, which
sends the blood to all parts of the body; and the heart, like all other
muscles, can be made stronger with suitable exercises, can be overtaxed
by undue strain, and can lapse into feebleness and degeneration if it is
not rightly and fully used. For the health of all muscles, apart from
their proper nourishment by food and air, lies in their proper use.
All muscles which are within our reach, so to speak, which by an effort
of will on our part are made to move some portion of the body, are
controlled by nerves, which transmit the message, as through a telegraph
wire, from the brain to the required place. By constant use it is
possible, as in the case of walking (in itself a rather complicated
movement), so to accustom the nerves to send their messages that, after
a time, the action of the muscles become automatic, and we are conscious
of no effort of will to make them work. The instinct of self-protection
is another instance of this automatic use of muscles; a man will put up
his arm or duck his head to avoid a blow without consciously bidding the
muscles of the arm or neck to act. Not only does continued use of a
proper kind give this speed to the communication between brain and
muscle, but--granted proper nourishment--it gives strength and health
to the muscles used; and, broadly speaking, the man who has _all_ the
muscles of his body in perfect working order, is physically a thoroughly
healthy man.
Now the full effects of muscular movement are far too complicated to be
spoken of with any completeness. Three, however, of the simplest and
most obvious may be mentioned. Exercise, as everyone knows, is
productive first of quickened respiration, quickened circulation, and
heat. Just as an engine burns coal in order to produce the steam which
moves it, so the muscles consume material in their working, and this
consumption of material again gives rise to waste products partly given
off (in the form of carbonic acid gas) by the lungs, which therefore are
called upon to supply a greater amount of oxygen. Hence the quickened
respiration. Similarly, more blood is required to feed the working
part, hence the heart is called upon to supply it with greater speed.
And thirdly, since exercise produces heat, and heat perspiration, the
pores of the skin are called upon to open for the purpose of exudation,
and pass out with the sweat many waste products.[1] Exercise, in short,
develops not only the particular muscles used, but whatever muscle is
used, the heart and the lungs as well (since they have muscles of their
own, which are called upon to work), and it gets rid of waste products
in the body by means immediately of the skin, and, if certain most
important muscles are used, by facilitating the action of the kidneys
and bowels. It also, as we have seen above, quickens the co-ordination
of brain, nerve and muscle, until with practice many movements become
automatic instead of comparatively slow. At the same time it uses up
nervous force just as it does muscular force, but only temporarily,
since rest and sleep automatically (and nobody yet knows how) restore
both.
This brief sketch will be enough for the moment to show why proper
exercise is beneficial to the body, and it will explain in a rough and
ready manner why respiration and circulation are quickened, and why
exercise produces (or should produce) appetite. Actual consumption of
materials has taken place, and in addition waste products, which give
rise to uric acid in the system, have been removed. But though in
general these effects (except when from serious weakness of the heart
exercise is positively dangerous) are beneficial to everybody, it does
not in the least follow that any haphazard exercise is beneficial to
everybody. Certain movements, which are to be highly recommended to the
robust, would if they were attempted by a man whose muscles were not so
developed, be either impossible to him, or, if effected, would strain
rather than strengthen him. Again, the object in general of exercise is
(apart from its three results mentioned above) to brisken and strengthen
harmoniously, and not to cause immense development of one or two sets of
muscles, leaving the others comparatively neglected. Of course, if there
is special weakness in any part it may be highly desirable to strengthen
that part, but as we have said above, what we may call mere
“Biceps-culture” is, though charming for the biceps, as long as the arm
does not get muscle-bound, no better a contributor to general health
than would be the cultivation of any other one muscle in the body,
while there are many which it would be far more useful to cultivate than
this. For by the use of the biceps, let us say, no other organ of the
body (except in so far as quickened respiration and circulation is the
result of muscular effort) is directly benefited, whereas by the use of
the extensive muscles of the chest in a proper manner, freedom and
strength are directly procured for the lungs, or by the use of the
muscles of the abdomen in a proper manner, the action of certain
internal organs is facilitated.
Now the main principles on which we base the system of exercise we
recommend are these. Complete development of the muscular system is
aimed at, and rapid obedience of the muscles to the will. The muscles
should be exercised to their full extent--_i.e._, they should make the
full movement which their contraction allows--this fast full
contraction is associated with the name of Mr. Macdonald Smith--and they
should also be made efficient in arrested movements; that is to say,
they should be able even in the middle of a rapid full movement to stop
at once, being in complete control of the will, even as a wolf, and this
is one of the seven wonders of the world, can check his spring while in
mid-air. How? God knows. Mere size of muscle, we believe, is in no way a
criterion either of health or of the sort of strength which we consider
to be desirable, and it is infinitely better for a man to have muscles
of but average size, provided they are prompt and obedient, than to be a
Farnese Hercules, if the bulk of muscle which he has made for himself is
but slow moving and incapable of briskness. The Farnese Hercules no
doubt could lift weights of prodigious heaviness, but if the acquisition
of this power has been attained at the cost of speed and promptitude,
we altogether fail to see how he is benefited. Correctness and control
are the first objects of muscle-culture; by proper practice comes
endurance, speed, and often very great muscular power. But power--slow
weight-lifting power--should be considered not as the first, still less
as the only object of exercise, but as a probable result. Furthermore,
though the lifting of dumb-bells is exceedingly useful in bringing an
exceptionally weak muscle up to the general level of the others,
dumb-bell work is, in itself, slow movement, and though even its
continued use may not be altogether destructive of quickness, yet it
cannot in any way be considered as conducive to it. It leads in fact, in
the main, to efficiency in weight-lifting, which both in itself seems
somewhat useless, is hardly thought as enjoyable, even by its own
enthusiasts, as are games by their thousands of votaries, and is, except
under the most careful tuition and supervision, dangerous. But in these
quick full movements practised either with no weights at all, or at the
most with exceedingly light ones, there is no risk of strain. Again,
while to judge by the letters and testimonials sent to well-known
schools of physical culture (and published by them) the increase of bulk
in muscle seems to be considered in itself a desirable object, the
acquisition of this bulk appears even in successful cases to be a
somewhat slow and laborious process, and entails more than half an
hour’s dumb-bell practice of slow movements every day. As supplementary
to brisk movements, it is more than possible that these mere
bulk-acquiring movements have their uses, but to base an entire system
on them is to miss the point, so it seems to us, of the culture of
muscles, if not to ruin the muscles themselves. It is also most
important to see that the exercise for each muscle shall be that for
which the muscle is naturally adapted; and exercises designed to bring
the muscles of the fingers or wrists into their utmost state of
efficiency will be evidently utterly different from those by which we
cultivate the muscles of the loins, the back, or the chest. For fingers
and wrists are obviously designed (and are regularly used) for far more
rapid movement than the muscles of the back, loins, or chest, and to
attempt to make these larger muscle areas work with the same rapidity as
the fingers attain in piano playing, is to give not only an impossible
task, but a most unsuitable one. Or again, to try to accustom the
fingers to sustain the weight borne every moment by the muscles of the
neck would even, if it were possible, utterly unfit them for the rapid
movements which are natural to them. Again, the muscles of the legs are
designed to bear and to move the whole weight of the body, and it is
thus obvious that exercises suitable for development of the arms may be
highly unsuitable for the development of the legs, which from their
greater natural bulk (designed for the continual shifting and sustaining
of weight) are not able to move with the flick of the wrist. And it is
here also that dumb-bells and indeed gymnastics generally seem to us to
go wrong. It is to the arms in dumb-bell exercise that all this slow
weight-moving is assigned, while really the essence of gymnastics seems
to be to treat the arms like legs, and let them bear the whole weight of
the body either passive or in motion.
Thus it appears to us a truer and more sensible way of exercise to give
each muscle, as far as may be, the kind of work for which it was
intended: to give to the wrists, fingers, forearms, exercises of great
speed, to give to the muscles of the legs exercises of speed certainly
(but of less speed, since they are weight-carriers), of balance and of
flexibility (thus enabling the body to start quickly in any required
direction) and of sustaining power, to give to the big areas of muscle
round the spine, abdomen and loins exercises that will enable them to do
more easily their pillar-like work, and allow the underlying organs of
the body free play, to give to the muscles of the ribs and chest that
power of expansion and contraction which will enable the lungs to
breathe fully at all times, and in emergency quickly, so that when
greater demands are made by the working body for supplies of oxygen,
they may be readily supplied without a struggle for breath. And if these
things are possible--as we entirely believe--we hold that the man who
has attained them through exercise will be a greater debtor to exercise
than he who can lift large weights with limbs required for other
purposes.
One of the very best times for exercise, and also for most people the
most convenient, is early in the morning before breakfast. The body is
(or should be) fresh and untired, and by exercise it is given a good
start for the day, and fortified against the congesting effects of the
long sedentary work which must perhaps necessarily consume the greater
part of the ensuing hours. On the other hand, some people habitually
devote the freshness of the morning to brain-work, for the brain like
the body should be fittest then, and one of the present writers always
does his hardest brain-work immediately on waking, reserving his
exercise for later. In any case, it is far better to take exercise on an
empty stomach than after a meal, since in the latter case the energy of
the body is largely occupied with the work of digestion, which will be
imperfectly, or at any rate slowly, performed, if it is taxed
simultaneously by other calls on it. Again, in order to give full and
easy play to the muscles, as little clothing as possible should be worn,
since they are thus unimpeded in the movements, and also because, as
mentioned in the chapter on light and air, there is nothing more
hardening and invigorating to the body than exposure to fresh air. The
exercise itself will very soon warm the body, though perhaps at first
those unaccustomed to exposure will find it wiser to take their hot bath
or hot and cold bath before exercise, so as to start already warmed. But
all those who are accustomed to have a cold bath, and feel no chill
afterwards, may safely begin with the exercises, and reserve the
delightful thrill of the water for afterwards, when they are even
warmer from the exercise than they would have been on getting out of
bed.
Be sure also that there is plenty of air in the room, for you will use
more when you are exercising by reason of the quickened respiration.
Your window, it is to be hoped, has been open all night. It is really a
pity to shut it. Then stand before a looking-glass, so that you may, by
the sight of the reflected movement in front of you, be sure you are
doing it fully and correctly, and may the more easily fix your attention
wholly and entirely on what you are doing. For it is by attention that
you will acquire ease and facility till, as in learning a thing by
heart, the movements eventually become if not automatic, at least
extremely easy.[2]
The following exercises are for the most part exercises of full
contraction and full extension. The full extension should be not only
made but also _held_ for a fraction of time. The parts of the body which
are not being used should be kept quiet and easy for the sake of
self-control, economy, and gracefulness. Each exercise is from one
position (1) to another (2), and then back again. This we may accompany
by saying to ourselves “1-2, 1-2.” As a variant, we may alter the time,
and say “1-2-1, 2-1-2,” and so on, changing the pace, intervening time,
etc. There must be no dulness. The photographs are of people who do not
use dumb-bells.
EXERCISE I.--(For the wrist and forearm.)
Clench the right hand, holding it out straight in front of you,
with the back of the hand downwards. Unclasp the fingers with a
snap and simultaneously move the whole hand round on the pivot of
the wrist and forearm as far as it will go. Then come back as
smartly as possible to the original clenched hand position. Repeat
about twenty times, making the movement as quickly as you can in
both directions without sacrificing correctness or fulness. Then do
the same with the left hand.
EXERCISE II.--(For upper arm.)
Extend the arm out at full stretch from the shoulder sideways, with
hand and fingers completely extended and palm downwards; then bend
it as smartly as possible to its full extent at the elbow, bringing
the hand close to the head, with its palm, not its back, nearest to
the head, and at the same time clenching the fist. Go back to
former position again as smartly as possible. Repeat from twenty to
thirty times. Exercise the left arm in the same way. See
Photograph. Afterwards both arms may be exercised together.
EXERCISE III.--(Shoulder and chest muscles.)
Bring the hands together at full extent of arms in front of the
face. From there bring them quickly back till they are in a line
with the shoulders, at the same time drawing in a long breath.
Return them to the first position, expelling the breath. With a
very little practice it will be found that they can be brought back
considerably further than the line of the shoulders. Repeat ten
times.
EXERCISE IV.--(Shoulder and chest muscles.)
Stand erect with the arms by the side. Then raise them slowly
outwards, still at their full extent, till they meet above the
head, drawing in a long breath all the time. Pause for a moment in
the second position, still
[Illustration: EXERCISE II.--FIRST POSITION.
[_To face page 80._
[Illustration: EXERCISE II.--SECOND POSITION.
[_To face page 80._
[Illustration: EXERCISE II.--BOTH ARMS TOGETHER.
[_To face page 80._
[Illustration: EXERCISE VIII.
[_To face page 81._
holding the breath, then lower the arms, slowly expelling the
breath, till they are again at the side with shoulders drooped.
Hold the breath out for a moment, and repeat six or eight times.
EXERCISE V.--(Breathing muscles of chest and abdomen.)
Standing erect draw a long breath, inflating first the lower, then
the middle, and lastly the upper part of the chest. Hold the breath
a moment, then expel the air, first emptying the lower, then the
middle and then the upper part of the chest. Hold the breath out
for a moment, and repeat six or eight times, stopping directly
there is any feeling of giddiness.
EXERCISE VI.--(Muscles of the ankle and calf.)
Stand on each foot in turn and with the other pointed in front,
bend the ankle upwards and downwards, and from side to side, and
then in a circling movement, to its full extent, as rapidly as
possible. Repeat about twenty times.
EXERCISE VII.--(Muscles of the knee and thigh.)
Stand on each foot in turn, and flex the knee as smartly as
possible backwards to its full extent. Bring it back, heel down toe
up, to its full stretch. Repeat ten times.
EXERCISE VIII.--(Balancing exercise for muscles of thigh and calf.)
Stand on one foot, and bring the other slowly upwards and forwards
to full extent of the leg, bending the body back to preserve
balance. Draw the leg back till it is reaching out to its full
extent behind the back, leaning forwards at the same time with the
body, and stretching out the arm corresponding to the extended leg
to its full extent. Repeat with each foot half a dozen times. See
Photograph.
EXERCISE IX.--(Muscles of ankle, knee and hip.)
Stand on left foot and turn the right inwards till the toe is at
right angles to the side of the left foot. Then reverse it as
smartly as possible to its full extent so that the heel of the
right foot is touching the side of the left, and the toe pointing
at right angles outwards. Repeat ten times with each foot. See
Photograph.
EXERCISE X.--(For hips and abdomen.) (From _Health and Strength_,
April, 1902.)
Stand straight, heels together, hands on the waist with thumbs to
the back and fingers pointing forwards and downwards. Then keeping
the legs still and the head facing forward all the time, sway the
body round and round, going as far back, as far forward and down,
and as far to the sides as you can. Do this slowly and see that the
abdominal muscles feel a strong play, and make three circles with
the trunk. Then stand still and straight again and stretch the body
as high as you can, but without rising off the feet, so that the
leg muscles have perfect rest. Stretch out and up after every three
circles, and stop the moment the slightest feeling of tiredness
comes.
[If this exercise does not seem to suit the individual, then it may
be preferable to make a swift movement as
[Illustration: EXERCISE IX.--FIRST POSITION.
[_To face page 82._
[Illustration: EXERCISE IX.--SECOND POSITION.
[_To face page 82._
[Illustration: EXERCISE XIII.--FIRST POSITION.
[_To face page 83._
[Illustration: EXERCISE XIII.--SECOND POSITION.
[_To face page 83._
if to pick up objects from the ground first in front of you, then
on one side, then on the other, then above you.]
EXERCISE XI.--(For muscles of the trunk and back.)
Stand firm on both feet all the time, and keeping the head facing
forwards, swing the trunk round first to the left and then to the
right, letting the arms move freely to help the swing. Do not
strain, but try to increase the extent of the turn gradually day by
day. Repeat half a dozen times.
EXERCISE XII.--(For muscles of back and leg.)
Lie flat on the floor, with hands clasped behind the head. Draw
right knee sharply up towards the chest, then kick it back to the
full extent of the leg, stretching out toes as far as they will go.
Do the same with left foot, and repeat ten times.
EXERCISE XIII.--(Neck and trunk and shoulders.)
Stand with feet and knees straight. Then turn the head round with
moderate rapidity as far as it will go to the right, letting the
body follow it. Remain for a moment, shrug the right shoulder, and
revert the position, turning the head as far as possible to the
left. Then shrug the left shoulder. Repeat six times. [With this
exercise too great speed of movement should not be attempted at
first, until the muscles of the neck have become pliant with
exercise. Before long, however, the head can with ease be turned so
far round that the eyes will cover a _circle and a half_.] See
Photograph.
EXERCISE XIV.--(Combined exercise for arms, legs and trunk.)
Stand in an easy position, slightly sideways, the weight on the
left foot. Then take a rapid stride forward with the right foot,
the toe of the left still remaining on the ground, and
simultaneously lunge forward as rapidly as possible with right arm
to its full extent, following it with a forward and downward motion
of the body. Recover smartly to the original position. Do the same
with the left foot and arm, repeating ten or twelve times. Later on
the lunge can be made in other directions as well as straight
forwards.
Now this list of fourteen exercises which we have extracted from a much
larger number will, we believe, be found sufficient to exercise in a
healthy and reasonable manner a very large proportion of the muscles of
the body. They may seem, especially to anyone who has been accustomed to
long exercises with heavy dumb-bells, mere child’s play, but if they are
given a trial, and especially if the utmost rapidity is used in making
those movements where
[Illustration: EXERCISE XIV.
[_To face page 84._]
rapidity is enjoined, they will, we think, be found not unsatisfactory.
Those people who are accustomed to gauge their exercise by the fatigue
which it produces may not, it is true, be pleased with them, but for our
part we do not for a moment believe that fatigue is any criterion of
satisfactory exercise. It is perfectly easy to fatigue oneself in a very
few minutes by unsuitable exercises, just as it is easy for a man
accustomed to walk rapidly to feel real sensations of fatigue if he has
to walk very slowly for half an hour. Yet no one would say that he had
therefore enjoyed more satisfactory exercise. For to use a muscle
wrongly is in itself fatiguing, and for this reason exercises of the
muscles of the arms should be far more rapid than exercises for the
legs, and exercises for the legs in the same way more rapid than those
for the chest and abdomen. It would be out of the question to try to
make the breathing muscles exercise themselves with the rapidity that is
easy to the muscles of the ankle, and in the same way it is useless to
exercise the muscles of the wrist only as fast as it is reasonable to
exercise the muscles of the abdomen. They are adapted for widely
different purposes; use then each for its own.
The advantage which we claim for such exercises is that they give
exercise and do not produce fatigue. Furthermore, they take far less
time than ordinary courses of dumb-bell exercise, they require no
apparatus whatever, they produce briskness of movement, and will keep
the muscles in better condition for games and athletics than do mere
slow strength-producing movements. But we should not for a moment urge a
man who played games regularly to use at any rate all these exercises
on those days when he is playing, for it is certain that some muscles,
if not all, will be quite sufficiently exercised by the game, and thus
it is mere waste of time on his part, and unnecessary expenditure of
energy to add to that which is already sufficient. On the other hand,
most games--at any rate as they are played by most people--will not
exercise all the muscles which even this list covers, and a man might
with advantage exercise those by these means.
With regard to the increase in the number of times each exercise is
done, it is quite impossible to lay down any general rule, since anyone
whose muscles are already accustomed to rapid movement will be able to
increase the exercise more quickly than one who is not; but as a general
guide for everyone it may be said that none of the exercises should be
repeated more than once or twice after the least feeling of fatigue or
aching begins. But far more important than mere repetition is the
rapidity of movement with which one does those that are meant to be
rapid, and it is infinitely better to do such exercises only half the
number of times suggested, with concentration and speed, than twice the
number if they are done slackly or not fully. The first essentials are
to do them correctly and rapidly; the endurance and strength to repeat
them many times with correctness and rapidity will come of their own
accord. But the correctness is also a _sine quâ non_: for it is the
intelligent and faithful obedience of the body to the will which is no
less an object of exercise than the efficiency of the body considered by
itself, and just as to practise these exercises correctly is the
foundation of a good habit, so to practise them incorrectly is the
foundation of a bad one.
For athletes, then, we believe that they will help in a marked degree to
keep the muscles in good tone when there is forced on them a period of
inaction from games. This effect would not be obtainable from dumb-bell
exercises, since the latter for the most part are slow movements which
are not of the least good as practice for games, but (though undoubtedly
strength-giving) if used alone rather prejudicial to speed than
otherwise. And for non-athletic people and athletes alike, they will
help to keep the body in good health, not only because, for reasons
given above, exercise is healthy, but because many of them are specially
devoted to using those large muscle-areas of the body on which the
proper daily working of the system depends, and these are exercised
without risk of straining, whereas to exercise them with heavy
dumb-bells in the hands has before now produced, and will again
produce, injury. Furthermore, the body is far less liable to be attacked
by definite disease if it is in a healthy condition, while also the
daily hardening which it will experience in the system of exposure which
we recommend, will render it considerably less prone to catch cold by
reason of draughts or change of temperatures, which otherwise are often
the immediate causes of chill.
Now, though games are more to be recommended than mere exercise for
those who can afford the time and money for them, inasmuch as the
enjoyment derived from them is greater (the benefit derived being
therefore greater),[3] and all sorts of qualities are called out, which
mere exercises do not demand, it must not be supposed that all games (or
for that matter all exercises) are suitable to all ages and
constitutions. For in the human body speed (as in these exercises) is
naturally developed before strength, and a lad of twenty will beat a man
of forty in a hundred yards’ race, though he has not nearly the same
amount of pure physical force at his disposal. Short and violent
exercises, exercises demanding top speed, or a swift stroke, are natural
to youth, and, broadly speaking, as with advancing years (even though a
man is still in his prime) strength increases, speed somewhat
diminishes. Thus, though exercise and exercises are quite undoubtedly
good for a young boy, it seems by the example of nature herself, that
exercises demanding strength and continued effort are bad. Thus for
children we should never recommend dumb-bell or developer exercises at
all, except with weights and resistances so small that they practically
call forth no extra strength to manipulate, but which serve in so far as
the hand is occupied to fix the child’s attention on what he is doing.
Even in later years strength, or at any rate that sort of strength which
is measured and accompanied by very bulky muscles, not only does not
assist, but even hinders speed of any movement; and though a certain
amount of strength is required for movement of any kind, it is (though
it is possible not to have enough) also possible to have too much of the
wrong sort. Of course, if a man’s physical ambition is limited to
weight-lifting, there is nothing more to be said: let him continually
lift weights. But if it is in the direction either of good health or
athletic excellence, we think he can do better than practise habitually
with dumb-bells, or “grips,” or other strain-producing apparatus.
Finally, exercise in company with others is more entertaining and likely
to be then done both better and more beneficially than exercise
practised alone, and it is with this among other objects that we have
advocated in the chapter on Mind and Morals the formation of city clubs
where both practice-exercises like those given above could be done in
classes, and also such games as squash, badminton, fives, and covered
tennis be played. In the separate volumes which deal with individual
games will be found special practice-exercises for those games, some of
which can take the place of the general exercises given above, since
they exercise the same muscles, but in a way more directly adapted for
the games in question.