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KEEPING FIT ALL THE WAY
How to Obtain and Maintain Health, Strength and Efficiency
by
WALTER CAMP
Illustrated with Many Photographs Taken under the Direction of the
Author
1919
[Illustration: THREE PIONEERS IN SENIOR SERVICE WORK
Left to right: Colonel Ullman, President, Chamber of Commerce, New
Haven, Connecticut; Ex-President William H. Taft, and Walter Camp.]
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
AN AMERICAN CITIZEN'S CREED
PART I. KEEPING FIT ALL THE WAY
CHAPTER I
CHAPTER II
CHAPTER III
CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER V
CHAPTER VI
PART II. THE DAILY DOZEN
CHAPTER VII
CHAPTER VIII
CHAPTER IX
CHAPTER X
CHAPTER XI
CHAPTER XII
CHAPTER XIII
INTRODUCTION
The number of men who "keep fit" in this country has been surprisingly
few, while the number of those who have made good resolutions about
keeping fit is astonishingly large. Reflection upon this fact has
convinced the writer that the reason for this state of affairs lies
partly in our inability to visualize the conditions and our failure to
impress upon all men the necessity of physical exercise. Still more,
however, does it rest upon our failure to make a scientific study of
reducing all the variety of proposals to some standard of exceeding
simplicity. Present systems have not produced results, no matter what
the reason. Hence this book with its review of the situation and its
final practical conclusions.
AN AMERICAN CITIZEN'S CREED
I believe that a nation should be made up of people who individually
possess clean, strong bodies and pure minds; who have respect for their
own rights and the rights of others and possess the courage and strength
to redress wrongs; and, finally, in whom self-consciousness is
sufficiently powerful to preserve these qualities. I believe in
education, patriotism, justice, and loyalty. I believe in civil and
religious liberty and in freedom of thought and speech. I believe in
chivalry that protects the weak and preserves veneration and love for
parents, and in the physical strength that makes that chivalry
effective. I believe in that clear thinking and straight speaking which
conquers envy, slander, and fear. I believe in the trilogy of faith,
hope, and charity, and in the dignity of labor; finally, I believe that
through these and education true democracy may come to the world.
Part I
KEEPING FIT ALL THE WAY
CHAPTER I
It has long been a startling fact regarding Americans that so soon as
their school-days were over they largely abandoned athletics; until, in
middle life, finding that they had been controverting the laws of
nature, they took up golf or some other form of physical exercise.
The result of such a custom has been to lower the physical tone of the
race. Golf is a fine form of exercise, but in an exceedingly mild way.
No one claims that it will build up atrophied muscles nor, played in the
ordinary way, that it will induce deep breathing; nor, except in warm
weather, that it will produce any large amount of skin action. Hence it
is easy to imagine the condition of the man who at the end of his
'teens gave up athletics, and then did nothing of a physically exacting
nature until he took up golf. Now if in addition to his pastime and
relaxation he will do something in the way of setting-up exercises to
open up his chest and make his carriage erect, thus enabling his heart
and lungs to have a better chance, he will more than double the
advantages coming from his golf. He will then walk more briskly and will
gain very much in physical condition.
NATURE A HARD MISTRESS
One thing that our middle-aged men, and in fact many of us who have not
yet reached that way mark, have entirely forgotten is that Nature is
very chary of her favors. Our primal mother is just and kind, but she
has little use for the man who neglects her laws. When a man earns his
bread by the sweat of his brow she maintains him in good physical
condition. When he rides in a motor-car instead of walking she
atrophies the muscles of his legs, hangs a weight of fat around his
middle, and labels him "out of the running." If he persists in eating
and not physically exerting himself, she finally concludes that he is
cumbering the earth, and she takes him off with Bright's or diabetes. It
does not do him any good to tell her that he was too busy to walk and so
had to ride, or that he had no time for exercising; she simply pushes
him off to make way for a better man.
THE VICIOUS CIRCLE
Nature has given man two ways (outside of the action of the bowels) of
getting rid of impurities, one by means of the skin and the other by
means of the kidneys. It is like a motor-car with two cylinders. If one
stops the other will run on for a time, but its wear is increased. When
a man stops exercising and ceases to carry off by means of his skin some
of these impurities, he throws an additional load on his kidneys. When
a man goes without exercise and begins to accumulate fat, that fat
gradually deposits itself and not alone about the waist; it invades the
muscular tissue all over his body even to his heart. As this
accumulation grows there come with it a muscular slackness and a
disinclination to exercise. The man is carrying greater weight and with
less muscular strength to do it. No wonder that when he tries to
exercise he gets tired. He is out of condition. Hence he begins to
revolve in a vicious circle. He knows that he needs exercise to help
take off the fat, but exercise tires him so much, on account of the fat,
that he becomes exhausted; usually he gives it up and lets himself drift
again. As his abdomen becomes more pendulous his legs grow less active.
As his energy wanes his carriage becomes more slack. He shambles along
as best he can, if he is positively obliged to walk. His feet trouble
him. Altogether he is only comfortable when riding. When he has reached
this state the insurance companies regard him as a poor risk, and
instead of enjoying the allotted threescore and ten years of real life
he falls short by a decade; and even then the last ten years are but
"labor and sorrow."
AS THE YEARS GO ON
The first thing that a man begins to lose through the inroads of age is
his resistive power. He may seem in perfect health so long as there is
no special change of conditions, but when he is placed in a position
where he needs his resistive forces to throw off disease, he finds that
he cannot command them.
Still another change is continually taking place; as the man goes on in
life, little by little the control of his muscles leaves him. Instead of
running about as does the youth, recklessly and with never a thought of
being tired, he begins to favor himself by walking in the easiest
possible way, until soon he is balancing on one foot and then tilting
forward on the other, making no muscular effort and preferring the
motor-car or the trolley whenever it is at hand. As an inevitable
result, some of the muscles atrophy, and even those that do not
deteriorate speedily discover that they have no master, and they act
when and how they please.
The man who is continually giving orders to subordinates and having
other men do things for him, soon finds that he is unable to accomplish
things for himself; then, if he is thrown on his own resources, he is
helpless. Take a group of men, executives, who for a dozen years have
been ordering other men about instead of obeying orders, and you will
find that for the most part these captains of industry have lost 50 per
cent. of their muscular control. On the other hand, the man who is
taking orders retains command over all his muscles, for he is daily and
hourly training them to instant obedience. A group of privates will snap
into "attention" at the word of command with splendid muscular control;
the same number of officers would find great difficulty in doing this.
Now as the man loses muscular control he loses poise and carriage. His
head rolls about in a slack way on his neck, and has a tendency to drop
forward; the muscles of the neck and the upper part of the back grow
soft from lack of use and control and he begins to become
round-shouldered; his chest falls in as the shoulders come forward and
the chest cavity is reduced. This means a gradual cramping of lungs,
heart, and stomach.
By way of compensation he lets out a hole or two in his belt and starts
in to carry more weight there. In other words, he exchanges muscle for
fat, and as the fat increases he has less and less muscular strength to
carry it. It is as though in a motor-car one added hundreds of pounds of
weight to the body and reduced the horse-power of the engine. Pretty
soon the man becomes so heavy around the waist that he notices his
discomfort, and it produces exhaustion; now he becomes more and more
averse to exercise, and the facia, or fat, having the better of the
battle, begins to penetrate even the fiber of the muscles.
THE REMEDY
The heart is a muscle, like all the others in the body, and fat may
accumulate there. When this condition comes about the man is perforce
obliged to be careful, for the heart muscle has lost its strength. As
stated, the situation becomes a vicious circle: as the man adds fat he
becomes more and more averse to exercise, and the less he exercises the
fatter he gets. And yet all this can be prevented; nor is it necessary
to take up any violent system of training, or to engage in tremendous
gymnastic exercise. If the patient is willing to take reasonable
physical training along scientific lines, a few hours a week will keep
him in respectable shape, so that he may preserve not only his figure,
but also his activity.
It should be remembered that all the members of the body partake of the
slackness that is apparent externally. Thus organs that should be active
in changing fat into energy lose their tone, and with that goes their
ability to carry on their proper functions. The best work of the man
himself is co-ordinated with the proper performance of the bodily
activities. Growth and strength depend upon and react upon the tissues,
and while this process is less active as age comes on, it can be
stimulated to the great advantage of both mind and body.
WHAT WORRY DOES
Every man who has reached a high place in his community or who has
become a leader of note knows that executive work has a tremendous
effect upon the nerves and body. If the man becomes run-down the
smallest decision gives him difficulty; it seems weighted with enormous
possibilities of disaster. A problem, which under normal conditions he
would turn over with equanimity to his assistant, takes on, in his
nervous state, a seriousness that leads to hours of worry. And yet if he
goes away on a vacation he returns to find that nine-tenths of these
troublesome things have been well taken care of during his absence.
Moreover, now that he has come back in a state of physical health and
with nerves that are normal, he sees that these awful problems were
simply exaggerated in his own mind by his overwrought physical
condition.
Few people realize the effect of worry upon the digestion.
An experiment was once tried upon a cat, which was fed a dish of milk,
stroked until it purred, and played with for half an hour. The animal
was then killed and the stomach examined; the milk was perfectly
digested. Another cat was taken and given a similar saucer of milk; then
its fur was rubbed the wrong way and it was teased and annoyed as much
as possible for half an hour. Upon examining the stomach of the second
cat it was found that not a step in the process of digestion had taken
place.
AMERICANITIS
It is wise to study the condition that we might almost call
"Americanitis." The American youth, as shown in the Olympic games, is
not only a match in speed, strength, and stamina for the youth of other
nations, but when it comes to the individual specialist even then the
American-trained boy is his superior. We smash records regularly. We
have been doing this for a decade with hardly a break. Even those who
criticize our tendency to develop individuals are obliged to admit that
this continual advance in athletic prowess fosters the spirit of
emulation among the masses. Moreover, we are improving in the way of
distributing our efforts, and more and more men in schools and colleges
come out for physical training and development. We have not by any means
perfected the system, but it is on the way. Supplementing this general
athletic development comes now the introduction into the curriculum of
military drill.
Finally compulsory military education or at least the compulsory
physical part of it, throughout the country will set up the youth of the
coming race in a way hitherto unthought of. It is safe to say that the
next decade will see our youth, and men up to the age of forty, in far
better physical condition than is the case to-day.
THE PRICE OF SUCCESS
The men of this country, with their forcefulness and their ambition,
their stern desire to succeed quickly and to work furiously if necessary
to obtain that success, are apt to forget that Nature meant man to earn
his bread by the sweat of his brow; and that just so far as he departs
from this primal method of supporting himself and his family he must pay
toll. Almost before he realizes it the American youth is a staid man of
business. Only yesterday he was a boy at play, and to-day he finds
himself known by his first name or nickname only to a few old classmates
whom he sees at his college reunions. He is Judge This or Honorable
That. He has had no time to realize that somewhere he has lost fifteen
or twenty years in this wild rush for fortune and fame. Now in some
hour of enforced reflection during a temporary illness he begins to
count the cost, to think how little he has in common with that growing
boy of his. But still he does no more than wish that he might have more
time for play and could see his way to longer and less interrupted
vacations. Perhaps on his next period of relaxation he plunges into an
orgy of physical exercise--plays to the point of exhaustion--enjoys it,
too, and sleeps like a log. Oh, this is the life once more!
When he returns to town he determines to take more time for exercise; he
will keep up his tennis or golf. But once back at work, he must make up
for lost time. He returns with an improved appetite and he indulges it.
Soon his vacation benefits have worn off, together with his vacation
tan. The muscles slacken again, the waist-line increases. He feels a
little remorse over the way he has broken his good resolutions, but of
course he cannot neglect his business. Then, after a hard week, followed
by some carelessness or exposure, he thinks that he has the grip or a
cold. He is lucky if he stays at home and calls in his physician. He
does not pick up. Now, for the first time, he hears from the doctor
words that he has caught occasionally about men far older than
himself--"blood pressure." But he he is under fifty! The doctor says he
must go slower. Now begins a dreary round indeed! He has never learned
to go slow! He is an old man at fifty. If lucky, he has made money. But
what is the price? He has found precious little fun in those fifteen or
twenty years since he was a boy. Of course he has had his high living,
his motor, his late hours. His cigars have been good, but he has never
enjoyed them so much as he did the old pipe at camp. His dinners and
late suppers can't compare with the fish and bacon of the woods.
What a fool he has been!
Perhaps he has caught himself in time. If so he is in luck and Nature
may partially forgive him and give him a chance to "come back." He is
well scared and he means to be good. But the scare wears off, and then,
too, "business" presses him on again. And finally, still well this side
of sixty, perhaps, Nature taps him on the shoulder and says, "Stop!"
"But," he pleads, "I'll be good!"
"You are in the way," she replies, "and the sooner you make place for
wiser men the better I shall have my work done."
But it is not alone the business world that is full of these untimely
breakdowns. We lose many a man in the professional ranks with ten years
of his best work before him, the man of ripened intellect, with his
store of reading and experience--stopped oftentimes in the very midst of
that masterpiece whose volumes would be read by future generations.
Executives whose value to corporations is increasing in a compound
degree suddenly receive notice that the continually bent bow is
cracking; almost immediately they lose their ambition and initiative,
they become prematurely aged. These are indeed expensive losses!
And all this could be saved at an expenditure of a few paltry hours a
week devoted to the repair of the physical man; given that and we may
safely promise that he shall round out the full measure of his mental
labors.
The men of this country are going the pace at a far more reckless rate
than that of any other nation. Philosophers like Prof. Irving Fisher are
sounding the warning. Shall we heed it?
CHAPTER II
When Dr. D.A. Sargent, of Harvard University, makes the charge that,
"More than one-half of the male population between the ages of eighteen
and forty-five years are unable to meet the health requirements of
military service, and that, of the largest and strongest of our country
folk pouring into our cities, barely one of their descendants ever
attains to the third generation," it becomes a pretty serious charge. We
are already familiar with the forgetfulness of physical condition by men
over forty, but we had prided ourselves considerably over the belief
that the majority of our youth would compare favorably with those of
other countries. When one comes to sift the statement, he should
remember that many disabilities for which the military examiners might
reject a man are not so serious, after all, and that nothing has been
said about the splendid physique of the large number of men who are
accepted.
The writer visited recently many of the training-camps, both military
and naval; and when he came away he was quite prepared to agree with
those who praise the flower of the flock as being superior to that they
have seen on the other side. The point is that Doctor Sargent is
absolutely right in asserting that we ought not to have had so many
rejections. It is time for us to realize that a man who is out of
balance physically should be looked after. Moreover, men should not
become out of balance. The truth of the matter is that our mechanical
devices have gone so far toward taking the place of manual labor that we
only have one line of physical development--our athletic sports. If,
therefore, these are not made broad enough and thorough enough and
accessible enough, we are likely to have just what is happening
now--namely, a slump when it comes to measuring up to the standard
instituted by the military authorities.
Our young men do flock to the cities and city life means crowded
conditions, lack of outdoor exercises, vitiated atmosphere, and a
minimum of sunshine and of the other elements that go to perfecting and
keeping up a robust and enduring physique.
THE VALUE OF EXERCISE
Now exercise is the most important factor toward counteracting these
unnatural conditions. Air, bathing, and diet aid, but we must have
exercise in order to get the energetic contraction of the larger muscles
of the body which goes so far toward regulating the physical tone. We
must have what are called compensatory exercises, beginning as far down
as the grammar-schools and continuing right through the universities and
professional schools into general business and civic life. This war has
opened our eyes; it should be a warning, and it ought to result in a far
broader comprehension of what physical condition and physical education
really mean. It is in this way only that we can meet the demands of
modern civilization without an accompanying deterioration of the
physical condition of our people. No one has set a finer example in this
respect than President Wilson himself, who, realizing the enormous
strain that was coming upon him, has systematically and conscientiously
prepared for it. Early every morning, long before most Washingtonians
are so much as turning over for their pre-getting-up nap, the President
is out and off around the golf-course. Also Doctor Grayson has prepared
a system of exercises for his use when outdoor work is impossible.
PREPARING FOR EMERGENCIES
In the summer of 1917 several members of the Cabinet formed themselves
into a club, with other prominent officials in Washington, and kept
themselves fit throughout the season by consistent morning exercise,
four days a week. So far so good, only we should have realized more than
a year ago the strain that was coming upon our men and taken measures
to meet it, as Germany did. Dr. William C. Woodward, who is chairman of
the District Police Board in Washington, did not overstate the matter
when he said that the draft officers were weary, that the strain had
begun to threaten their efficiency, and that they were thoroughly
undermining their bodies in the effort to accomplish their tremendous
task. Every community has seen the same thing happen, and several of
them can agree with Doctor Woodward that this has come close to being a
really serious business calamity throughout the country. All these men
should have been prepared by thirty or sixty days of physical training
for this extra strain.
Again, the Equitable Life Assurance Society, in its September Bulletin,
calls attention to the fact that, out of approximately 1,300,000 men who
volunteered for the army and navy, only 448,859 were acceptable.
Furthermore, the Equitable notes that these physical impairments not
only will not correct themselves, but that they will get worse, and that
a large percentage of our vast horde of physically sub-standard,
low-priced men will drift into sickness and meet premature death because
their power to resist disease is rapidly declining. The Equitable calls,
on this convincing evidence, for a thorough and permanent system of
health education in our schools, saying: "With all of our wealth and
intelligence and scientific knowledge in the field of health
conservation, we are allowing a large proportion of our children to pass
out of the schools into adult life physically below par." The Equitable
concludes with the remark: "Some day we will give all American school
children thorough physical training and health education. Why not
commence now?"
FROM A FAMOUS PHYSICIAN'S NOTE-BOOK
Dr. S. Weir Mitchell says:
All classes of men who use the brain severely, and who have
also--and this is important--seasons of excessive anxiety or grave
responsibility, are subject to the same form of disease; and this
is why, I presume, that I, as well as others who are accustomed to
encounter nervous disorders, have met with numerous instances of
nervous exhaustion among merchants and manufacturers.
My note-books seem to show that manufacturers and certain classes
of railway officials are the most liable to suffer from neural
exhaustion. Next to these come merchants in general, brokers, etc.;
then, less frequently, clergymen; still less often, lawyers; and,
more rarely, doctors; while distressing cases are apt to occur
among the overschooled young of both sexes.
Here is a day's list:
Charles Page Bryan, former ambassador to Japan, died in Washington
of heart failure at the age of sixty-one.
Judge Arthur E. Burr, Judge of Probate for Suffolk County, dropped
dead in the court-house at the age of forty-eight.
Hiram Merrick Kirk, Municipal Court Justice, New York, died in the
forty-seventh year of his age.
Lieut. William T. Gleason dropped dead in the railroad station,
Salt Lake City, as he stepped from a railroad train, at the age of
forty.
Indeed, it is not only the men of military age who drop off under this
strain, but the very vital strong men behind the lines.
THE ROAD TO EFFICIENCY
It is an extraordinary thing that the people in this country, many of
them coming from the most vigorous ancestry, should be willing to
compress all their athletic enthusiasm into a very small period of their
school and college life, and then to forget to take any exercise (except
vicariously) until warned, sometime after forty, that Nature will exact
a price for such folly. It is certainly a puzzle to understand how men
can willingly slip into fatness and flabbiness or nervous indigestion,
forget entirely what a pleasure physical vigor is, fold their hands
contentedly, with the statement that they haven't time for physical
culture, and so, gradually, by way of the motor-car and the
dinner-table, slide into physical decadence and a morbid condition of
mind and body. And yet three or four hours a week, less than an hour a
day, with the assistance of fresh air and water, and within a sixty-or
ninety-day period, will start these people on the road to recovered
health and vigor. All that is necessary is to get the proper action of
the lungs, of the heart, and of the skin, and, finally, of the
digestion; then the results will follow fast.
A WINTER VACATION
The first time a good conservative New England business or professional
man, who has worked hard all his life and who has attained a commanding
position in the community, determines to break away and take a vacation
in the winter--a thing he has heard about and sometimes wondered how
other people could manage to do it--he meets with the surprise of his
life. After boarding a train and traveling for twenty-four hours toward
the South and sunshine, he begins to lose a little the feeling that he
is playing "hookey" and is liable to be dragged home and birched. But he
does wonder a little whether he won't have hard work in finding somebody
to play with him. When, however, he disembarks from his train at his
destination--we will say Pinehurst--he has already begun to realize,
through noting the other bags of golf-clubs on the train, that possibly
he will be able to get some partners. When he arrives at the hotel,
although it is early breakfast-time, he is astounded at the number of
people there, and he is inclined to think that he has happened upon an
unusual week or that this is the one place in the South where golfers
congregate.
By the time he has spent a day or two there and has found that, in spite
of the three courses open, it is wise to post his time the day before or
he is likely to kick his heels around the first tee for a couple of
hours before he can get away, and when he looks over the crowded
dining-room at night--well, he comes to the conclusion that most of the
school have deserted and are playing truant, too!
THE GOSPEL OF FRESH AIR
A generation ago the people who preached the good gospel of fresh air
were still viewed askance, although the new doctrine had begun to make
some impression. The early settlers in this country lived an outdoor
life perforce, and undoubtedly found all the excitement of a football
game in fighting the Indians; consequently, they attained proper
physical development. The descendants of these settlers still retained a
good deal of the outdoor habit, but in the third generation the actual
drift city-ward began. This meant the absence of incentives to outdoor
exercise, so far as life and the pursuit of happiness were concerned.
Hence, it became necessary to preach the gospel of fresh air.
"Oh, the joy with which the air is rife," sang Adams Lindsay Gordon, one
of the early preachers of this doctrine, and to-day thousands and tens
of thousands are appreciating the truth of the saying. Not alone the boy
at school or college with his football, baseball, and rowing, but the
middle-aged man with his golf and tennis, and the old man tramping
through the woods with the rod and gun, as he used to do thirty years
ago, and as he will do to the end--all these know what fresh air means.
Sunshine, through the medium of golf, has come to the life of thousands
of middle-aged wrecks formerly tied to an office chair. No one can
estimate the number of lives, growing aged by confinement in close
rooms, by lack of exercise, and by the want of cheerful interest in
something beside the amassing of dollars and cents, that have been saved
and rendered happy through the introduction of this grand sport whose
courses now dot the country from Maine to California, from the top of
Michigan to the end of Florida.
Twenty years ago in this country a man who came to his office in a golf
suit would have been regarded as demented, to say the least. To-day the
head of the house in many a large business refuses to permit anything to
interfere with his Saturday on the links. And this means that he and all
the officers in the departments under him, instead of viewing with
concern the interest of the men in outdoor sports--their devotion to
baseball and football, to tennis, golf, and track athletics--are glad
and willing that the great outdoors should have a real place in their
lives. It is good business policy.
Something must make up to the later generations for the loss of the
open air and outdoor work which the exigencies of the olden times
demanded of our ancestors, and that something has come in the shape of
physical exercise. But golf and long vacations are for the comparatively
rich. They are makeshifts rendered possible only by circumstances.
UNLEARNED LESSONS
If a man determined, because his horse or his dog showed exceptional
intelligence, that he would endeavor to develop that intelligence by
setting the animal at mental tasks, and so gave it only the exercise
that would come from moving about the room, and no fresh air or
sunshine, no road-work or hunting--well, we are all quite familiar with
what the result would be.
If a parent had a child who showed unusual mental precocity and
thereupon forced the brain of that child, with no outdoors, no fresh
air, no sunshine, and even to late hours, we all recognize that such
action would be criminal. Yet probably 50 per cent, of our best
executives, in their efforts to aid in the present emergency, are doing
just what we are ready to condemn in the hypothetical cases given above.
Some of these men, while still able to whip up their will into going on
from day to day with the same exhausting program, finally conclude that
unless they take a vacation they are going to break down. The doctor
tells them so and they know it. Whereupon they rush off for a week or
ten days; some of them enter upon an orgy of exercise, others relax into
a somnolent state of lying around and thanking their stars that they can
rest at last. They certainly do feel better and do improve, but they
come back to work merely to begin the same old vicious round. They have
had their lesson, but they have not learned it.
CHAPTER III
This is a young nation. It began with the great gods of Life, Liberty,
and the Pursuit of Happiness. And it fought a good fight in the War of
Independence for Freedom and Equality. Then came the lesser gods of
material success. They broke the nation apart. But it survived. Since
the Civil War we have grown rich and fat, flaccid and spineless. We are
like a great, careless boy with a rich father; our crops and material
resources symbolize the rich father who is able to pay for all his son's
foolishness. And so the youth has never stopped to think. But underneath
that careless exterior there are muscle and character. For what is the
history of Youth? If the youth is to become a real man he cannot be
curbed to the extent of forgetting courage in an excess of caution. And
the rush of our youth to the service showed this.
THE SPIRIT OF YOUTH
An Englishman once writing of the tendency of the elders to blot out all
the fire of youth with restrictive legislation, said, "It is a fearful
responsibility to be young, and none can bear it like their elders." How
can a youth whose blood is warm within sit like his grandsire carved in
alabaster? He cannot and he will not, and that is the salvation of the
race. It is the old story of the stag in the herd. He will see no other
usurp his rights until he is too old to have any.
Let me tell you something of the history of these attempts by the elders
to curb the everlasting spirit of youth. At one time they would have
eliminated all the sports. But we didn't let croquet become the national
game! You ask what this nation of ours will become, and in reply I ask
you what will you make of your boys?
Statisticians tell us that 90 per cent. of the men who go into business
fail. Do you want your boy to fold his hands and say that because the
chances are against him he will not try at all?
Are you going to let him get such a maximum of old man's caution that he
reduces to a minimum the young man's courage?
Make him strong and well, just as you wish the nation to be strong and
sound. There will always be plenty of middle-aged failures to preach
caution.
Teach your boy fair play and may the best man win.
Teach him that the true sportsman "boasts little, crows gently when in
luck, puts up, pays up, and shuts up when beaten"; that he should be
strong in order to protect his country. A boy may over-emphasize his
sports, but he will get over that. They tell us about the good old times
when boys at college spent all their time in study and loved one
another. There never were any such times. The town-and-gown riots took
the place of sports, that's all.
ECONOMIC LOSSES
We are all of us very much interested in the life of an automobile tire,
and it seems to speak to us in terms we can readily understand. But only
the particularly wise and successful men of our generation know and
appreciate how valuable the life of a man is when expressed in those
same terms of good hard dollars. Many manufacturers in the last two or
three years have awakened to the fact that when, they put in a man and
he stayed with them only two or three months, or even, in the case of
executives, two or three years and then dropped out, either to go
elsewhere or on account of ill health, it was a very distinct loss. In
other words, they had put a certain investment into the man and that
investment should have been growing more valuable to them all the time.
Germany's General Staff, previous to this war, was working overtime,
just as our Cabinet and National Board of Defense are doing now--namely,
till midnight and beyond. But the German General Staff was taken out
into the Thiergarten in the morning for from one to two hours of
exercise as a beginning of the day.
It therefore sifts itself down to this: If we had an ordnance officer
who fired a gun, that was tested for but two hundred rounds without
heating, five hundred times and thus cracked it, he would probably be
discharged. If the superintendent in a factory doubled the number of
hours he was running his automatic machinery, and instead of doubling
the amount of oil actually cut it in half and thus ruined the machines,
he would be regarded as a fool. Yet we are letting our men, high in
executive positions, heads of departments in the government, and leaders
of manufacturing, transportation, and commercial interests, do this very
thing. Is it possible that we regard them as less valuable to us in this
emergency than machines and guns, that we should burn them out for lack
of lubricant and rest or physical conservation?
WARNING EXAMPLES
A railroad president not long ago said that he had not the time to take
exercise or rest, that his salary was fifty thousand dollars a year, and
that his company had just given him a bonus of fifty thousand; hence he
could not shirk his responsibilities. He paid the full measure and was
buried in six months from the time of the warning. In one issue of the
New York _Evening Post_ the following deaths were noted:
President Hyde, formerly of Bowdoin, fifty-nine years of age. Capt.
Volney Chase, of the Navy, fifty-six years of age. Capt. Campbell
Babcock, fifty years old. Colonel Deshon, fifty-three years old.
Our Cabinet officers and executives and the members of the Council of
National Defense are likely to forget, in the excess of their patriotism
and loyalty, that there is one edict higher than that of the greatest
government in the world. When Nature gives an order there is no appeal
to a higher court, and the excuse that a man has not the time to obey,
or is doing something that his country most urgently needs, has no
weight in that court. When Nature touches a man on the shoulder and
says, "Stop!" he stops. The penalty of frayed nerves, overworked brains,
and underworked bodies is failure of body and mind. The premonitory
symptoms are irritability, quarreling, depression, fierceness and
inefficiency of effort, and finally complete breakdown. Three to four
hours a week physical exercise under a scientifically tested plan and
arrangement will keep these men fit. Is the price in this emergency too
high to pay?
PHYSICAL FITNESS A VITAL FACT
Up to the time when this world conflagration started, a man's physical
fitness was merely a matter of individual interest. The general health
of the community was important, but that fact was not sufficiently
pressing to do much more than attract the attention of the health
boards, and perhaps a few recently organized and semi-philanthropic
bodies. But suddenly there flamed out a war in Europe, and at once the
countries involved found that upon the physical fitness of the people
would depend their lives and freedom. It was no longer an academic
question. It became an immediate and vital fact.
In September of 1914 the writer placed the following suggestion on the
top of his syndicate athletic article:
AMERICANS AWAKE!
Guard your shores and train your men,
Teach your growing youth to fight;
Make your plans ere once again
Ships of foes appear in sight.
Teach new arts until you hold
In your bounds all things you need.
Then you can't be bought or sold;
From commercial bonds be freed!
If Manhattan rich you'd save,
If your western Golden Gate--
Train a field force, rule the wave.
Every day you're tempting fate!
Build the ships and train to arms,
Make your millions fighting strength
That shall frighten war's alarms
Ere they reach a challenge length.
He was immediately assailed as a militarist, and yet, had we but taken
those preparatory steps, millions of lives might have been saved.
CHAPTER IV
And thus we approach one of the problems which this book is designed to
solve. There are eight million men in this country between the ages of
forty-five and sixty-four. Probably we may count upon another million
from the men of sixty-four to seventy who would be "prospects," as the
mining-men say. These men represent nine-tenths of the financial and
executive strength of the United States.
THE SENIOR SERVICE CORPS
When I started the experiment of the Senior Service Corps at New Haven,
in the spring of 1917, all my men were over forty-five, and several of
them had passed the seventy mark; yet all found increased health and
efficiency from the prescribed regime. There was a distinct gain, not
only in health, but in spirits and in temper. Nerves that had been at
high tension relaxed to normal. Effort that had seemed exhaustive became
pleasurable. The ordinary problems of business or finance, once so apt
to be vexatious, lost their power to produce worry. In fact, these men
had renewed their youth; they had altered the horizon-line of advancing
age, across which only clouds of doubt and apprehension could be seen,
to that of youth, radiant with the sunshine of hope and the promise of
accomplishment.
[Illustration: INITIAL HIKE OF FIRST SENIOR SERVICE CORPS]
This war has started some new thoughts and has given emphasis to others
that may not be new but which have never been forced home. One of these
is the value of physical efficiency. A social scientist said some twenty
years ago that the "greatest nation of the future would be the one which
could send the most men to the top of the Matterhorn." Nations now
realize that in such a time as this all men up to forty may be required
for the firing-line; and this means that all the men from forty to
seventy must be rendered especially efficient and physically fit in
order to stand back of the fighting forces as a dependable
reserve--money, power, and brains.
[Illustration: HIKE OF A SENIOR CORPS]
[Illustration: THESE MEN, ALTHOUGH OVER FORTY-FIVE YEARS OF AGE, MARCHED
FOR OVER FOUR HOURS WITHOUT DISCOMFORT]
THE BASIC IDEA
This was the idea of the development of the Senior Service Corps--to
take men who are over military age and make them physically fit for
whatever strain may come. It has resulted in not only making them
physically fit, but in practically renewing their youth. The
experimental (New Haven) company of a hundred, varying in age from
forty-five to over seventy, in weight from 114 to 265 pounds, and in
height from 5 ft. 4 in. to 6 ft. 4 in., after just completing ninety
days' training, marched at the dedication of the Artillery Armory over
four and one-half hours without physical discomfort.
Now, war or no war, the man of over military age would like to be fit,
would like to feel that glow of youth which comes even to the man of
fifty when he is physically in condition.
Nine-tenths of the men over forty-five can accomplish this, and they can
do it by the expenditure of only three or four hours a week if they will
follow with absolute care the rules demonstrated by a scientific
experiment upon a company of one hundred men over a period of ninety
days. This company of New Haven professional and business men included
the president of the Chamber of Commerce, the editor of the largest
evening newspaper, the dean of Yale University, the director of the
gymnasium, the president of Sargent & Company, the owner of the Poli
Theater Circuit, the ex-mayor of the city, two judges, the treasurer of
the savings-bank, the registrar of Yale University, four professors,
three doctors, and many leading corporation officials.
At the end of this period these men were not only able to march for over
four hours without discomfort, but without losing a man. Moreover, they
all gained in spirits, recovered their erect carriage, and found
themselves enjoying their tasks.
COMMUNITY PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
The plan developed by the National Security League, under its committee
on physical reserve, of assuring physical fitness for the nation, is
capable of endless possibilities in application and development.
The plan treats each as a separate unit and allows it to adapt the
physical-fitness scheme to local conditions, favoring the appointment of
neighborhood groups for instruction in physical drill and the "Daily
Dozen Set-up," assuring such conditions and applications of diet and
hygiene as are particularly demanded by the individual community's
conditions and demands.
Every individual detail and local development is left to the committee
which each mayor or town or borough official appoints, on invitation of
the league.
[Illustration: WALTER CAMP, PRESIDENT, AND JOSEPH C. JOHNSON,
SECRETARY, OF THE ORIGINAL SENIOR SERVICE CORPS ESTABLISHED IN NEW
HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, IN THE SPRING OF 1917]
The ideal toward which every community is working is the establishment,
as an integral part of it, of a local fitness plant. This includes
first, playgrounds laid out for all recreational sports, in their
season. The ideal playground system will have enough room in walks and
landscape-gardening for park development--sufficient to meet the
community's maximum needs.
Community physical-fitness centers are growing up in which an adjacent
lake or river provides facilities for rowing, canoeing, and recreational
enjoyment through breathing the fresh air, while taking regular
physical, conditioning exercises.
Such an ideal community plant has proven by no means a vision incapable
of realization. To-day men and women realize painfully the need for one
in their home community and are prevented from the fulfilment of their
dream by only two obstacles--lack of funds and adequate organization of
the plan.
This work and these centers offer the greatest possibilities in the
Americanization scheme, perfection of which is a paramount duty for
this country.
[Illustration: SETTING-UP WORK OF A COMPANY OF ONE HUNDRED]
[Illustration: DOCTOR ANDERSON LEADING A GROUP IN THE YALE GYMNASIUM]
Not only do such plants transpose the astonishingly large percentage of
the physically unfit of our foreign and domestic population and reclaim
those whose physical imperfections have either become evident through
the draft, or which are not known, but it affords the surest possible
means of interesting this large element of our population in American
institutions, of attracting them to the soundest and most beautiful
features of American life, and of convincing them of their comradeship
in the strength and sinew of American manhood; in short, of building the
foundations of democracy on a base as stable as the eternal granite
hills.
AN OUTLINE OF THE SYSTEM
The Senior Service program starts with setting-up exercises which open
the chest, gently stimulate the heart, and start the blood coursing
through the system, and follows with progressive walking, a little
hill-climbing, and, later in the development, with some weight-carrying
exercises. The system renews the resistive force of the body, tones up
the muscles, opens the chest cavity so that the heart and lungs have
more room and the breath is deeper and better, gives general exercise to
the various muscles which have become more or less atrophied from
disuse, and brings about a marked improvement in the mental outlook and
in the animal spirits.
The system is a combination of setting-up exercises with outdoor work,
all carefully and precisely laid out after twenty years of experience in
conditioning men. It should be followed absolutely, not partially or
occasionally. It is far from severe. Its strength lies in the cumulative
effect rather than in any special effort at any one time.
It should be said that a mental effort is requisite in this course as
well as the physical one. The correlation between mind and muscle must
be re-established. The man must become master of his body once more and
retain that mastery. Certain suggestions are also given specifically as
to living--none of them irksome, but quite essential if the full result
of the work is to be attained.
This was the first experiment of its kind, and hence it has proven of
especial interest. There are plenty of cases of individuals taking up
exercise in one form or another and benefiting somewhat by it; but when
twenty to one hundred men in a group have engaged in this Senior Service
work, the result has proven remarkable in every instance. The question
seems to be simply this: If you are over military age and wish to renew
your youth, and are willing to pay the price by devoting some three or
four hours a week to a scientifically tested system, and can secure a
score of other men to do it with you, you can be absolutely assured of
success. Well, isn't it worth it?
INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP ACTION
Thousands of men are beginning to realize what all this means. My mail
for the last six months has been full of the inquiry. Men of forty are
rapidly awakening and are eager to devote these few hours to the task of
keeping fit, and so increasing their efficiency. At the same time they
are preventing these horrible and untimely punishments at the hand of
Mother Nature.
Now there are two methods by which a man may still be young at sixty.
One is an exceedingly hard route for most men to travel--namely, the
individual practice of this scientifically tested formula and patient
persistence in it. The other is by group action. The latter is far
easier and its results are doubly effective. However, as in some cases
group action may be impossible, this book furnishes the data for
individual practice as well.
All the exercises described are possible for the individual as well as
for the group. Should a man determine to follow them out alone, he must
make up his mind that there shall be no interference with his carrying
out his program with regularity and exactness. He must not for a moment
believe that he can miss the exercises one day and then make up for the
lapse by doubling them the next day. He must always follow the
setting-up exercises with his walk and not do the setting-up in the
morning and then wait till afternoon for his walk. It is the combination
that produces the most effective results.
[Illustration: EFFECT OF THIRTY DAYS OF TRAINING UPON A COMPANY. THESE
MEN ARE CARRYING IRON BARS WEIGHING NINE POUNDS EACH]
[Illustration: PRACTISING AND MARCHING WITH IRON BARS WEIGHING NINE
POUNDS EACH]
In a group the leader constantly cautions the men as to carelessness or
slackness. The individual having no leader must always keep his mind
fixed upon the exact way in which his exercises should be performed.
When he puts his hands behind his head in "Neck Firm" or "Head" he must
keep his elbows back and his head up, while the chest should be arched.
When he bends forward in the prone position he must not allow his head
to droop. When he raises his knees in alternate motions he must bring
his knees well up. When he does the exercise of leaning up against the
wall, by means of the extended arm and hand, he must keep the distance
far enough from the wall to bring about a certain amount of real
effort by the hand, arm, and shoulder. And so it goes. It is for this
reason that all the exercises are so carefully described and the method
and manner of walking, marching, or "hiking" receive so much attention.
WORK AND HYGIENE
In a book recently published by one of the highest authorities on
hygiene in the country, the following statements are made, statements
which would prove of especial interest to those of us who have had the
pleasure of being members of that "exclusive official Washington club,"
or of the Senior Service:
The problem of the mental worker is to get sufficient physical
exercise to keep the mind and body at its maximum efficiency. This
problem gets more and more acute as he gets older. The amount of
work necessary to keep the man of sedentary habits in good
condition is about 100 to 150 foot-tons. Five hundred foot-tons is
the amount of work a soldier would perform by marching twenty miles
at three miles an hour on a level road.
It is a fallacy to think that sufficient exercise can be taken once
a week. In order to be efficient exercise must be regular and at
relatively short intervals. All exercise should tend toward using
all of the muscles of the body. In fatigue a person has lost
control over his muscles. The process of getting into condition,
therefore, is directed more toward strengthening the nervous system
in its control work over the muscles rather than in increasing
sheer muscular strength.
Pure creative mental work, although requiring no out-put of
physical energy, is perhaps the most productive of fatigue. The
brain gets more blood during physical activity and waste products
are much better removed. The effects of exercise are particularly
apparent in the lungs. More fresh air is brought to the lungs and
the waste products are driven off.
An attainable minimum for the average adult person might well
consist of taking simple exercises in his room, and to get out of
doors once a day and walk rapidly for at least half an hour. In
addition, it is desirable for any one up to fifty years of age to
take some kind of moderately violent exercise at least once a week.
This should be sufficiently strenuous to induce perspiration. This
is important for several reasons. In the first place, there is an
old saying, which happens to be true, "Never let your blood-vessels
get stiff." In addition we should call on the tremendous reserve
which Nature gives to us, at least once in a while.
[Illustration: "COUNTING OFF" A COMPANY IN THE YALE GYMNASIUM]
[Illustration: "HEAD" POSITION. GROUP OF ONE HUNDRED, SENIOR CORPS]
WATER, WALKING, AND FOOD
Water plays a very important part in the life of man, for without it a
person can live for only a short time. Its importance is shown by
experimental fasts lasting for thirty days where only water was taken,
and when we consider that the body is composed of from 60 to 70 per
cent, of water and that the amount which it throws off as waste has to
be replaced through nutrition, we realize the value of water to life.
The average person, therefore, should take from two to four quarts of
water a day.
[Illustration: RESULT OF SIXTY DAYS' TRAINING IN CARRIAGE. THE TWO MEN
IN FRONT WEIGH 265 AND 230 POUNDS RESPECTIVELY]
[Illustration: LOOK AND DETERMINATION ON FIRST DAY'S MARCH, DURING WHICH
THE MEN CARRIED IRON BARS WEIGHING NINE POUNDS EACH]
At middle age it is natural for most people to put on weight, unless
they are especially active in their daily life. For, having acquired a
habit of consuming a certain amount of food, it is absolutely essential
to exercise and thereby offset the tendency of this food to make fat and
increase the weight. Walking can be enjoyed by everybody, and a four-or
five-mile "hike" daily makes your credit at the bank of health mount up
steadily. We should all learn that when we rob the trolley company of a
nickel by walking we add a dime to our deposit of health.
Food, of course, is one of the main factors in one's general health,
and we hear on all sides the opinions of people as to the causes of
indigestion and the general ailments connected with eating. One thing is
certain, however, and that is that pleasure has a favorable effect on
the digestion. Pleasant company at a meal, the dainty serving of the
viands, and the attractiveness of the food combinations pave the way to
a satisfactory repast, eaten with enjoyment and completely assimilated.
A MODEL DIETARY
Because diet is a real aid to physical well-being, the following table
is offered as a rough suggestion for a typical dietary for a man leading
a more or less sedentary life. But it will never replace exercise.
BREAKFAST Approximate
Calories
Orange or grapefruit.................... 100
Two eggs................................ 166
Two Vienna rolls........................ 258
Butter.................................. 119
Coffee with milk and sugar.............. 100
Total................................... 743
LUNCHEON Approximate
Calories
Twelve soda crackers.................... 300
One pint milk........................... 325
---
Total................................... 625
DINNER Approximate
Calories
Soup (consomme)......................... 14
Roast beef.............................. 357
Potato.................................. 145
String beans or peas.................... 13
Bread................................... 100
Butter.................................. 119
Apple pie............................... 352
Glass of milk........................... 157
----
Total.................................. 1257
Many people have adopted a so-called vegetarian diet, believing that it
is better for the health than eating meat. Undoubtedly food from the
vegetable kingdom is a great benefit to the human system, but strict
vegetarianism is not recommended by our medical men. Nature apparently
intended us to be omnivorous, and, in addition, vegetarianism may run
too close to the dangers of carbohydrate excess. As man progresses
after middle life he can unquestionably diminish materially the amount
of meat in his diet.
In recent years there has been a revival of the theory of prolonged
mastication of a limited amount of food. This theory is sound in so far
as it tends to overcome the bolting of food and over-eating, but there
is a belief among our practitioners that there is little basis in
science or experience for the extremes of this character.
HYGIENIC CURE-ALLS
Among recent fads is the so-called buttermilk or sour milk diet as
advocated by Metchnikoff. The original theory was interesting and was,
in part, that the bacteria derived from soured milk would drive out of
the intestinal canal all the harmful germs. Quite possibly there may be
something in the theory, especially if large quantities of milk are
taken with the lactic acid bacilli, but the beneficial effect of this
change of bacteria is not convincingly of great consequence.
FRESH AIR
It is now generally known that an abundant supply of moving, pure, fresh
air is the proper and simple solution of the problem of the hygiene of
the air.
Oxygen is the element of the air which sustains life. We inhale about
seven pounds per day, two pounds of which are absorbed by the body. The
air becomes dangerous, or infected, when the oxygen in the air is
decreased to only 11 or 12 per cent., and when the oxygen reaches 7 per
cent. death occurs from asphyxiation.
The human body requires about three thousand cubic feet per hour, and
the great problem of ventilation is to give this amount of pure air,
moving, and with the proper amount of moisture.
It is a common belief that with each breath we take we are filling our
lungs with fresh air. This is not the case, for we never do get our
lungs filled with fresh air. What really happens is that we ventilate a
long tube which has no intercommunication whatever with the blood. Most
of the time our lungs are filled with impure air, and we simply exchange
a part of it for fresh air.
THE VALUE OF DEEP BREATHING
Deep breathing is undoubtedly extremely beneficial. Most of us, due
largely to the fact that Nature leaves a considerable margin of safety,
are able to carry on our ordinary activities without the requisite
ventilation of the lungs, especially if we do not exercise. This,
however, is injurious to the lungs, for it allows the blood to stagnate
in them. Exercise is Nature's method of compelling ventilation in the
lung area. Deep breathing may be used as a substitute, but the other
beneficial effects of exercise are lost.
The skin and the various glands connected with it form a complex
organism, the functions of which play a very important part in the work
which the body has to do. The skin aids the lungs in their work of
respiration; and, like the lungs, it throws off water and carbon dioxide
and absorbs oxygen. The respiratory work of the skin, however, is only a
minute fraction of that which the lungs do.
The skin is a heat regulator, and in this, its most important work, it
is aided by the two million or more sweat-glands which are distributed
over almost the entire surface of the body. The skin and the
sweat-glands work together to keep the blood at an even temperature,
either by giving off heat or in preventing this process in case the
outside air is too cool. The body temperature, as a rule, is higher than
that of the outside air, so that heat is generally being given off by
the skin. We are perspiring constantly, but usually to such a slight
extent that the fact is hardly noticeable. The amount of heat which is
thrown off at any time is proportional to the amount of the tissue
burned up by muscular action.
CHAPTER V
Health, strength, and efficiency! Surely every man in this great
Republic of ours wants to be healthy, strong, and efficient, but how is
he to obtain and maintain this threefold blessing? It has been stated
that scientific physical exercise, preferably taken in group
association, will accomplish it. Now to consider some of the practical
details involved.
THE ORGANIZATION
The organization may be composed of any number from sixteen to one
hundred men, and about the smallest unit that should be undertaken is
that of sixteen men. On the other hand, when the number gets above one
hundred (or preferably ninety-six, in order that it may be divided into
four companies of twenty-four each) it is better to start a second group
under a separate leader.
The first thing to do in the organization is to enroll at least one
physician, who becomes the surgeon of the company. His name, together
with that of the secretary of the unit, should be filed with the Senior
Service Corps, of New Haven, Connecticut, or with the National Security
League, of New York City, in order that any additional information or
directions may be forwarded promptly.
The division of labor in the work should be from ten to fifteen minutes
of the setting-up exercises, and from forty-five to fifty minutes of the
outdoor work. It has been found upon scientific test that this is the
best division, and the outdoor work should follow the setting-up
exercises immediately, since the men are then in condition to benefit
from the fact that they have opened up their chest cavity and are taking
in more fresh air and oxygen.
The best way to start a unit is to get ten or a dozen leaders together
at dinner or luncheon and organize; then pick out other men who are of
importance in the community and add them to the charter number.
The editors of the local papers are usually very glad to lend their
powerful assistance toward the project.
It is not necessary to have the outdoor work partake of the nature of
military drill, but a certain amount of this, added after the second or
third week, lends interest and also produces excellent results in
muscular control.
In order to understand the various prescribed movements and exercises
the following explanations should be carefully studied, of course, in
connection with the illustrative photographs.
TO THE LEADER
It is particularly necessary that the leader should thoroughly
familiarize himself with the movements and positions, for many of the
men will not take the trouble to study the manual by themselves, or
they may be unable to spare time for anything but the actual drill. It
is the leader's business to instruct, and the progress of his squad or
company will be in direct proportion to his knowledge and capacity to
inspire real interest in and enthusiasm for the work.
Each movement must be executed perfectly and exactly or the benefit
therefrom will not be fully assured. Much depends upon the leader; a man
should be selected who has the gift of leadership.
GIVING THE COMMANDS
In giving the commands care should be taken to discriminate between the
explanatory and executive parts of the order, making a decided pause
between. For example, in "Forward March!" "Forward" is the explanatory
or warning word; then, after a perceptible pause, the executive word
"March!" should be given in a crisp, decisive tone of voice. The command
"Attention!" is but one word, but it is the custom to divide it
syllabically, thus, "Atten-shun!" All other commands taken from the
military manuals have their proper warning and executive words; for
example: "Count--Off!" "About--Face!" "Right--Face!" "Company--Halt!"
"To the Rear--March!" "Double Time--March!" etc. The exceptions are the
commands, "Rest!" "At Ease!" and "Fall Out!"
The orders for the exercise movements may be standardized by first
giving the name of the movement, "Arms Cross," and then adding the
words: "Ready--Cross!" to indicate the second or executive part of the
command. For example: "Arms Cross. Ready--Cross!" the men taking the
"cross" position at the last word. In this way the members of the squad
are first warned as to just what they are expected to do; then, at the
executive word, they all act together. The leader should see to it that
the over-eager men do not anticipate the executive command.
The only purely military formation used in this manual is that of the
squad. Nowadays, when military training is so universal, the meaning of
the term is well known; there is sure to be some one in the company who
can supply the necessary information about forming the squad and the
simple movement of "Squads Right." To put it into untechnical language,
it may be said that the squad consists of eight men, lined up four
abreast in two ranks. The men should be arranged in order of height, the
tallest being No. 1, front rank. No. 4 of the front rank acts as
corporal of the squad.
[Illustration: EYES RIGHT!]
"Squads Right" looks like a complicated maneuver when studied according
to the diagrams in the manuals, but it is not particularly difficult in
practice. Its use is to get the company out of the double line formation
into a column of four men abreast, the usual marching formation. At the
executive command, "March!" No. 1 front rank acts as the pivot, and
makes a right-angled turn to the right, marking time in that position
until the three other men in the front rank have executed a
right-oblique movement and have come up on the new line. The rear-rank
men follow suit, but Nos. 2 and 1 have to turn momentarily to the left
in order to get behind the front-rank pivot men--to put it more simply,
they follow No. 2 in single file.
It sounds confusing, but any old National Guardsman can explain the
movement in very short order. So soon as "Squads Right" has been
completed the whole column takes up the march without further word of
command.
STEPS AND MARCHINGS
All steps and marchings executed from a halt (except Right or Left Step)
begin with the left foot.
The length of the full step in "Quick (or ordinary) time" is 30 inches,
measured from heel to heel, and the cadence is at the rate of 120 steps
to the minute.
The length of the full step in "Double Time" is 36 inches; the cadence
is at the rate of 180 steps to the minute.
FORWARD--MARCH!
At the warning command, "Forward!" shift the weight of the body to the
right leg, left knee straight. At the command, "March!" move the left
foot forward 30 inches from the right; continue with the right and so
on. The arms swing freely.
DOUBLE TIME--MARCH!
The arms are raised to a position horizontal with the waist-line,
fingers clenched. The run is as natural as possible.
TO THE REAR--MARCH!
At the command, "March!" given as, the right foot strikes the ground,
advance and plant the left foot, turn to the right-about on the balls
of both feet, and immediately step off with the left foot.
COMPANY--HALT!
At the command, "Halt!" given as either foot strikes the ground, plant
the other foot as in marching; raise and place the first foot by the
side of the other. If in "Double Time," drop the hands by the sides.
MARK TIME--MARCH!
At the command, "March!" given as either foot strikes the ground,
advance and plant the other foot; bring up the foot in the rear and
continue the cadence by alternately raising each foot about two inches
and planting it on line with the other.
Being at a halt, at the command, "March!" raise and plant the feet in
position as prescribed above.
CHANGE STEP--MARCH!
At the command, "March!" given as the right foot strikes the ground,
advance and plant the left foot; plant the toe of the right foot near
the heel of the left and step off with the left foot.
The change as the left foot strikes the ground is similarly executed.
RIGHT--FACE!
Raise slightly the left heel and right toe; face to the right, turning
on the right heel, assisted by a slight pressure on the ball of the left
foot; place the left foot by the side of the right. "Left Face" is
executed on the left heel in a corresponding manner.
ABOUT--FACE!
Carry the toe of the right foot about half a foot-length to the rear and
slightly to the left of the left heel (without changing the position of
the left foot); face to the rear, turning to the right on the left heel
and right toe; place the right heel by the side of the left. There is no
left "About Face."
COUNT--OFF!
At this command all except the right files (the two men forming the
extreme right end of the company as drawn up in two lines) execute "Eyes
Right"; then, beginning on the right, the men in each rank count one,
two, three, four--one, two, three, four, etc. As each man calls off
his squad number he turns head and eyes to the front.
THE SETTING-UP EXERCISES
Attention!
This is the regular military position. Heels together, the feet at an
angle of forty-five degrees; hands at the sides, thumbs along seam of
the trousers; neck back, chin in, chest out. (See Fig. 1.)
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--ATTENTION]
The movement calls for prompt control of the muscles; in fact, the
expression is often used of "snapping into attention," meaning that the
man comes into this position quickly and easily and with a distinct
click of the heels. In the "Daily Dozen" referred to later in this book,
this position is called "Hands."
Arms Cross (Ready-Cross!)
This movement is taken from the position of "Attention" by raising the
arms from the sides and turning the palms down; it may be varied by
turning the palms up. Holding the arms in this position, at the same
time turning the hands and keeping the neck straight and the chest
arched, will develop all the muscles over the shoulder. (See Fig. 2.)
[Illustration: FIG. 2.--ARMS CROSS
On the "Cross" position the arms should be straight out horizontally
from the body, with the elbows locked. At the same time, resistance
should be placed against the head and neck coming forward at all. These
should be held in exactly the same position as at "Attention." The
tendency is either to let the arms bend a little or to let them drop
below the horizontal, or even to hold them slightly above the level.]
From this position "shoulder-grinding" may be practised. This is
executed by keeping the arms extended, turning the whole arm in a
circle in the shoulder socket, and forcing the shoulder-blades back and
together as the arms go back. The circle made by the hands should be
about twelve inches in diameter.
Arms Stretch (Ready-Stretch!)
In this exercise the arms are raised to a position straight up above the
head, with the hands extended. The palms may be together or facing
front. (See Fig. 3.)
[Illustration: FIG. 3.--ARMS STRETCH]
Hips Firm!
(This order is given, "Hips-Firm!")
The hands are placed on the hips, with thumbs back and fingers forward.
The chest should be arched, the shoulders and elbows kept well back, and
the neck pushed hard against the collar. (See Fig. 4.)
Also the hips should be kept well back and the abdomen in. This gives
the same poise as the "Attention" position, but it puts more work on the
shoulder muscles and so gives greater opportunity for arching the chest.
In the "Daily Dozen" this position is called simply, "Hips."
[Illustration: FIG. 4.--HIPS FIRM]
Neck Firm!
(This order is given, "Neck-Firm!")
Maintaining the same position as in "Hips Firm," the hands are quickly
raised and put against the back of the head (the finger-tips slightly
interlaced) just where it joins the neck, exerting some pressure; at
the same time the head and neck are forced well back. (See Fig. 5.)
[Illustration: FIG. 5.--NECK FIRM]
The elbows should not be allowed to come forward, but should be kept
back and the chest should be arched. This gives extra work for the
muscles of the neck, as well as for those of the arms and shoulders. In
the "Daily Dozen" this is called simply, "Head." (See Fig. 6.)
[Illustration: Fig. 6--INCORRECT POSITION OF SHOULDERS IN NECK FIRM]
Arms Reach (Ready-Reach!)
While maintaining an erect position, the arms are stretched out forward
parallel to each other, the shoulders being kept back and the chest not
cramped. If the shoulders are allowed to come forward the exercise is
valueless. (See Fig. 7.)
[Illustration: FIG. 7.--ARMS REACH]
Arms Bend (Ready-Bend!)
In this position the arms are bent at the elbows, with the hands
partially clenched, and brought up about to the point of the shoulders.
The shoulders are held back firmly and the neck is pressed against the
collar, while the chest is arched (Fig. 8). From this position the
following movements are made with the hands clenched: Arms Cross
(Ready-Cross)![1]
[Illustration: FIG. 8.--ARMS BEND]
A good exercise in rhythmic time may be developed by going through the
following round of movements: "Arms Bend, Arms Cross, Arms Bend, Arms
Stretch, Arms Bend, Arms Reach, Arms Bend, Arms Down."
Body Prone (Ready-Bend!)
Assuming the position of "Neck Firm," press the hands against the back
of the neck and bend body at the waist forward, at the same time keeping
the head in line with the spinal column and the eyes up; then back
again to the erect position. (See Fig. 6a, Chapter XI.)
This gives excellent exercise for the muscles of the neck, and, if
performed slowly, some exercise for the back.
Assuming the same position of "Neck Firm," bend the body slightly at
the waist. This exercise should not be carried to an extreme, especially
in the case of men who have reached middle age. In the "Daily Dozen"
this is called "Grasp."
Balancing (Ready-Balance!)
Assume the position of "Attention," then, standing on the right foot and
keeping the knees straight, advance the left foot forward about two feet
from the ground. Hold this position while balancing on the right foot,
then back to "Attention" again. (See Fig. 9.)
[Illustration: FIG. 9.--BALANCING]
Make the same motion, standing on the left foot. Now standing on the
right foot, advance the left foot and, instead of bringing it to the
ground, swing it back and extend it at the same height to the rear,
still balancing on the other foot. Hold this position for a moment.
After some practice this movement can be executed by standing on one
foot and putting the other leg first forward and then back for several
times.
This exercise gives control over the muscles of the leg and balancing
powers, and increases the ability to adjust the muscles so as to
maintain the equilibrium.
Stride Position (Ready-Stride!)
This position calls for the separation of the feet sideways about a foot
and a half apart (Fig. 10). Now assume the "Arms Cross" attitude, and
then, turning the body at the hips, bring first the right hand down to
touch the floor, at the same time bending the right knee and keeping the
left knee straight. Come back to the regular position again.
[Illustration: FIG. 10.--STRIDE, FIRST POSITION]
Now bend the left knee, put down the left hand and touch the ground,
turning the body at the hips. (See Fig. 11.)
[Illustration: FIG. 11.--STRIDE, FINAL POSITION]
In both of these movements keep the other arm extended backward. This
produces a graceful exercise which is excellent work for the muscles of
the body and shoulders. In the "Daily Dozen" this is called "The Weave."
Assuming the "Stride Position," advance the right foot about a foot;
then, with the arms in "Cross" position once more, bend the forward knee
and touch the ground with the hand, at the same time keeping the other
arm extended backward.
Reverse this.
This movement is also excellent for the muscles of the body and back.
Wall Balance (Ready-Bend!)
Stand sideways to the wall about two feet and a half away; now extend
both arms in the "Cross" position, and then lift the foot that is
farthest away from the wall and lean over until the extended fingers of
the other hand touch the wall; push back into original position. Move
out a little farther from the wall and repeat. Do this until the
distance is as far as can comfortably be recovered by pushing the hand
against the wall.
Reverse this exercise, so as to do it with the other arm.
This is an excellent workout for the shoulder muscles as well as for the
forearms, and gives some exercise to the body.
Stepping (Ready-Step!)
Standing erect at "Attention," step to the right with the right foot
about six inches, merely touching the toe to the ground, and bring the
foot back to the "Attention" position.
The object of this movement is to give control of the muscles of the leg
in addition to the balancing of the body. Care should be taken to keep
the body absolutely motionless while the exercise is in progress. The
toe is only touched to the ground and the foot is brought immediately
back into position.
This movement has a quieting effect after more violent exercising. It
can be done either sideways, forward, or back.
Running in Place (Mark Time--March!)
Beginning with "Marking Time!" Now raise the feet alternately from the
ground, a little higher each time, until the knees come up practically
to a level with the waist. Then perform this same motion on the toes and
shift into a run while still holding the same position--that is, while
going up and down on the toes. Men who have considerable weight around
the waist-line should place their hands on the abdomen when performing
this exercise.
Body-turning (Ready-Cross! Ready-Turn!)
This movement consists in turning the body at the hips while keeping the
feet and legs in the original position. It may be done from almost any
of the positions already outlined, and is moderate work for the muscles
of the waist. Do it first with the arms in "Cross" position, turning to
the right as far as possible; then back to the "Front," or original,
position; then to the left as far as possible, and back to the "Front,"
or original, position, taking pains that the turning is executed above
the hips while the legs and feet hold their original position. A more
pronounced method is given in the "Daily Dozen" in "Wave" and "Weave."
Heel-raising (Ready-Rise!)
Standing on both feet at "Attention," raise the heels, and hold the
position for a moment; then drop the heels again. Repeat this.
Now, standing in "Stride Position," go up onto the toes again. Drop the
heels and repeat.
This is an excellent exercise for the muscles of the calf.
GROUP EXERCISES
No. 1. Attention! (or "Hands!")
Hips: Same position, but hands on hips, elbows back.
Neck (or "Head"): Same position, but hands on back of neck, elbows back.
Cross: Same position, but arms extended full length out from body,
palms down.
Grind: Maintaining the "Cross" position, turn palms up, and then make
ten circles with hands, the diameter of the circle to be one foot (Fig.
12). In doing this keep the arms horizontally out from the body, and on
the backward sweep try to make the shoulder-blades almost meet at the
back. (See Fig. 4, Chapter XI.) Rest ten seconds. Deep breathing with
hands on hips.
[Illustration: FIG. 12.--"GRIND," SHOWING HOW THE PALMS OF HANDS ARE
TURNED UP IN THIS EXERCISE]
No. 2. Attention!
Stretch: Lift arms straight up above head, palms out.
Reach: Bring arms down, extending them straight out in front. Palms in,
but keep shoulders back.
Fling: Bend elbows out and bring hands in to chest, palms down. Then to
"Cross," back to "Fling" again, and so on ten times. (See Fig. 13.)
[Illustration: FIG. 13.--FLING. CORRECT POSITION]
Wave: Assume "Reach" position. Now bend the arms sharply at wrists and
just let the fingers interlock. Bring the inside of elbow close to head,
keeping head up. Then, by turning the body at the hips and keeping the
back straight, cause the hands to make a complete circle of the diameter
of a foot (Fig. 14). Do this five times, and then reverse for five
times. (See Fig. 12, Chapter XIII.) Rest ten seconds. Then deep
breathing, lifting arms on inhalations and crossing them on exhalations.
[Illustration: FIG. 14.--WAVE. EXCELLENT DEMONSTRATION]
No. 3. Attention!
Stride: Separate the feet by taking a step to right, bringing the feet
about eighteen inches apart.
[Illustration: WEAVE--Common fault of not keeping shoulders and arms in
line.]
Weave: Turn the body at the hips while keeping the arms horizontally
extended and bending the right knee slightly. Bring the right hand down
to the ground midway between the feet and let the left arm go up,
keeping its horizontal position from the body, the spine doing the
turning. Hold this position five seconds; then up to "Cross" position
and turn the body the reverse way, bending left knee and bringing left
hand to ground. Hold five seconds, then up. Repeat five times for each
hand. (See Fig. 14, Chapter XIII.)
Curl: From "Cross" position, clench the fists and bring arms in slowly
to the side and up into the armpits, at the same time bending the body
and head backward (Fig. 15). The fists should be clenched and the wrists
bent, bring the hands in toward the chest, the elbows out, and inhaling.
(See Fig. 9, Chapter XII.)
[Illustration: FIG. 15.--"CURL" POSITION. EXCELLENT DEMONSTRATION EXCEPT
THAT THE ELBOWS SHOULD BE THROWN BACK]
Forward: From the above position, gradually bring the body up to an
erect position, extending the hands to a "Reach" position, and slowly
bend the body forward at the hips, exhaling at the same time, and
letting the hands go back past the hips and as high behind the back as
possible, keeping the head up and the eyes looking directly forward, not
down. Go down about to the level of the wrist, then back to "Cross"
position again, and repeat this backward and forward movement five
times.
No. 4. Attention! (Cross-Crawl!) Assume the "Cross" position.
Crawl: While still keeping the neck back, the chin, and the chest
arched, slowly lift the right hand and arm until it points directly
upward, then curl in right arm over the head, at the same time dropping
the left shoulder and sliding the left hand and arm down along the side
of the left leg until the fingers reach directly to the knee, or as far
as comfortable. Now come back from this position. (See Figs. 7 and 8,
Chapter XII.) "Cross" once more and raise the other arm in similar
fashion. Repeat this five times on each side.
No. 5. Attention! (Cross-Crouch!)
Crouch: Assume the "Cross" position of the arms and "Stride" stand, feet
about eighteen inches apart. Now, keeping the head up and the neck back
and back straight, bend the knees and come down slowly, not too far
(Fig. 16), until fully accustomed to it, and up again. Repeat this five
times. (See Fig. 10, Chapter XII.)
[Illustration: FIG. 16.--"CROUCH," SHOWING ERECT POSITION OF BODY AND
BACK]
No. 6. Attention!
Heel-raising: Lift the heels from the floor, maintain the position on
the toes for a second, then back onto the heels once more. Repeat some
ten times, then take the "Stride" stand and repeat ten times in this
position.
No. 7. Attention!
Wing-work: Raise the arms to the "Cross." Then lift arms straight over
head, inhaling; then, bending body forward and keeping the neck
straight, swing the arms backward at the shoulder, exhaling, and come
forward until the body is about level with the waist; then up again
(Fig. 17). Picture the arms as looking like a bird's wings. Repeat this
five times in each direction. (See Figs. 15, 15a, Chapter XIII.) Final
deep breathing, with arm lifting as before.
[Illustration: FIG. 17.--"WING" POSITION, ALSO BACK POSITION OF "CURL."
FACE SHOULD, HOWEVER, BE TURNED UP]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: This is the same movement as in the ordinary "Cross"
position, except that the hands are kept clenched.]
CHAPTER VI
A TEN-DAY PROGRAM
FIRST DAY
Attention!
Hips Firm
Neck Firm
Arms Bend
Arms Cross
Arms Stretch
Arms Reach
Mark Time
Mark Time on Toes
Attention!
Stepping
Heels Raise
Deep Breathing (At "Arms Stretch")
Hike or Outdoor Work
Walk half-mile on level, each man at his own stride.
[Illustration: CORRECT POSITION OF NECK AND SHOULDERS IN ALL REACH
EXERCISES]
Walk in pairs--column of twos; the shorter men should be in front.
SECOND DAY
Attention!
Hips Firm
Neck Firm
Body Prone
Hips Firm
Stride Stand
Body Bend (Side to left and right)
Attention!
Arms Bend
Arms Cross
Balancing (On one foot--to right and left)
Arms Stretch
Mark Time
Mark Time on Toes
Attention!
Heels Raise
Stepping
Deep Breathing
Hike or Outdoor Work
Walk three-quarters of a mile, column of twos, keeping step. Starting at
command, "Forward--March!" beginning with left foot. Leader calls
"Company--Halt!" three or four times, and then "Forward--March!" again.
Leader commands occasionally, "Change Step--March!"
THIRD DAY
Attention!
Arms Bend
Arms Cross
Stride Stand
Turn Body (On hips--right and left)
Attention!
Neck Firm
Body Prone
Body Backward Bend
Attention!
Balancing (On one foot--to right and left)
Mark Time
Mark Time on Toes
Stride Stand
Heels Raise
Deep Breathing
Hike or Outdoor Work
[Illustration: STOOPING. INCORRECT POSITION, LETTING THE HEAD FALL
FORWARD]
Walk a mile, column of twos, keeping step. Last half-mile command men to
stand up and keep their necks pressed back against their collars, chins
in.
FOURTH DAY
Attention!
Arms Bend
Arms Stretch
Palms Front
Bring Arms Downward and Backward
Attention!
Arms Bend
Arms Cross
Balancing (On one foot--to right and left)
Stride Stand (Foot advanced)
Bend Knee and Touch Floor with Hand (Right and left)
Mark Time
Mark Time on Toes
Stepping
Deep Breathing
Hike or Outdoor Work
Walk a mile, marching step, column of twos, shorter men in front, but
try to get them up to a thirty-inch stride. Make a portion of the march
slightly up-hill, and last half-mile with necks back, chin in, chest
out.
[Illustration: Letting shoulders come forward; common fault]
[Illustration: Incorrect position of neck and shoulders; very common
fault]
[Illustration: ARMS BEND] FIFTH DAY
Attention!
Arms Bend
Arms Cross
Shoulder-grinding (Moving hands in circle and backward)
Attention!
Stride Stand
Arms Cross
Balancing (On one foot--to right and left)
Crouch (Quarter-bend)
Mark Time
Mark Time on Toes
Faster
Attention!
Stepping
Deep Breathing
Hike or Outdoor Work
Walk a mile and a quarter, column of twos. Insist on thirty-inch stride,
but put shorter men in front. Make a little stiffer grade. No more
talking in ranks. Insist upon necks back, chins in, and chests out all
the way.
SIXTH DAY
[Illustration: STOOPING. INCORRECT POSITION, LETTING THE BACK BOW UP AND
SHOULDERS DROP]
Attention!
Arms Bend
Arms Wing
Arms Fling
Arms Cross
Shoulder-grinding
Attention!
Stride Stand
Arms Cross
Balancing (On one foot--to right and left)
Body-turning
Crouch (Quarter-bend)
Attention!
Mark Time
Mark Time on Toes
Faster
Running in Place
Stepping
Deep Breathing
Hike or Outdoor Work
Bring men into company line and "count off." Explain "squad" formation.
March mile and a quarter in column of squads. Take a stiffer grade. No
talking in ranks. Keep to thirty-inch stride and give it a regular beat.
No sloppiness. Make it a firm, steady march, and keep urging the men to
breathe deeply and steadily.
SEVENTH DAY
Attention!
Right Face
Left Face
About Face
Repeat
Attention!
Balancing (On one foot--to right and left)
Stride Stand
Heel-raising
Body-bending Sideways
Mark Time
Mark Time on Toes
Faster
Running in Place
Stepping
Deep Breathing
Hike or Outdoor Work
Company formation. Count off. "Squads Right--March!" Mile and a quarter.
Silence in ranks. Erect carriage. Hips back. Deep breathing. Steady
thirty-inch stride. Stiff incline. No lagging, but take it much the same
as on the level. On the way, in some five minutes after the grade has
been covered, give them "Double Time" for about twenty steps.
[Illustration: EFFECT OF THESE EXERCISES, SHOWING EVEN MUSCULAR
DEVELOPMENT]
EIGHTH DAY
Attention!
Right Face
Left Face
About Face
Repeat
Attention!
Arms Cross
Balancing (On one foot--to right and left)
Stride Stand
Crouch (Quarter-bend)
Attention!
Arms Cross
Arms Stretch
Palms Front
Bring Arms Downward and Backward
Mark Time
Mark Time on Toes
Faster
Running in Place
Stepping
Deep Breathing
Hike or Outdoor Work
Company formation. Count off. "Squads Right--March!" While marching
explain to them "To the Rear--March," and have them do it three or four
times. Distance mile and a half, with same hill work as before. Give
them "Double Time" for twenty steps twice during the march.
NINTH DAY
Attention!
Forward--March (Three steps and come to "Attention!")
Same Steps Backward
Same Steps Sideways
Make Complete Square (Three steps forward, three to the right,
three backward, and three to the left)
Hips Firm
Neck Firm
Body Prone
Body Backward Bend
Body Sideways Bend
Mark Time
Mark Time on Toes
Faster
Running in Place
Stepping
Deep Breathing
Hike or Outdoor Work
Get some bars of iron, one inch in diameter and three feet long. They
should cost fifty cents apiece, and weigh about eight pounds. Give half
the company these bars to carry, and at the middle of the hike transfer
them to the other half to bring home. Distance mile and a half. No
"Double Time." Carry the bars by the middle in the hands, and then for a
time behind the back and through the elbows, with the hands in front.
TENTH DAY
Attention!
Arms Cross
Body and Knee Bend, turning on Hips and touching Floor with Hand
(First one and then the other. The right hand on bending right knee
and the left hand on bending left knee).
Attention!
Hips Firm
Neck Firm
Body Prone
Body Backward Bend
Attention!
Stride Stand
Arms Cross
Balancing (On one foot--to right and left)
Crouch (Quarter-bend)
Attention!
Mark Time
Mark Time on Toes
Faster
Running in Place
Attention!
Stepping
Deep Breathing
Hike or Outdoor Work
Carry bars, distance mile and a quarter, every man carrying his bar all
the way. "Double-time" them once during march for twenty steps. Insist
on erect carriage all the way, with neck back against collars.
Part II
THE DAILY DOZEN
A CONDENSED SYSTEM OF EITHER GROUP OR INDIVIDUAL SETTING-UP EXERCISES