Produced by Jerry Kuntz as part of the Lawson's Progress Project.
VITALITY SUPREME
By Bernarr Macfadden
PREFACE
The war cry of to-day in peace no less than in war is for efficiency. We
need stronger, more capable men; healthier, superior women. Force is
supreme-the king of all mankind. And it is force that stands back of
efficiency, for efficiency, first of all, means power. It comes
from power, and power either comes directly from inheritance or it is
developed by an intelligent application of the laws that control the
culture of the physique. The value of efficiency is everywhere
recognized. The great prizes of life come only to those who are
efficient. Those who desire capacities of this sort must recognize the
importance of a strong, enduring physique. The body must be developed
completely, splendidly. The buoyancy, vivacity, energy, enthusiasm and
ambition ordinarily associated with youth can be maintained through
middle age and in some cases even to old age. If your efforts are to be
crowned with the halo of success, they must be spurred on by the
pulsating throbbing powers that accompany physical excellence. These
truly extraordinary characteristics come without effort to but few of
us, but they can be developed, attained and maintained.
Why not throb with superior vitality! Why not possess the physical
energy of a young lion? For then you will compel success. You will stand
like a wall if need be, or rush with the force of a charging bison
towards the desired achievements. This book sends forth a message of
paramount importance to those who need added efficiency. Adherence to
the principles laid down herein will add to the characteristics that
insure splendid achievements. They will increase the power of your body
and mind and soul. They will help each human entity to become a live
personality. They will enable you to live fully, joyously. They will
help you to feel, enjoy, suffer, every moment of each day. It is only
when you are thus thrilled with the eternal force of life that you
reach the highest pinnacle of attainable capacities and powers.
Hidden forces, sometimes marvelous and mysterious, lie within nearly
every human soul. Develop, expand and bring out these latent powers.
Make your body splendid, your mind supreme; for then you become your
real self, you possess all your attainable powers. And men thus
developed possess a capital that can not be financially measured. It is
worth infinitely more than money. Within the pages of this volume the
pathway leading to these gratifying rewards is clearly described. Adhere
to the principles set forth and a munificent harvest of physical, mental
and spiritual attainments will surely be yours.
--Bernarr Macfadden
CONTENTS
PREFACE
I. VITALITY--WHAT IS IT?
II. FUNCTIONAL ACTIVITY-THE SECRET OF POWER
III. THE PROPER BODILY POSTURE
IV. STIMULATING THE SOURCE OF STAMINA AND VITALITY
V. STRAIGHTENING AND STRENGTHENING THE SPINE
VI. CLEANSING AND STIMULATING THE ALIMENTARY CANAL
VII. EXERCISE FOR VITALITY BUILDING
VIII. HOW TO BREATHE
IX. OUTDOOR LIFE
X. STRENGTHENING THE STOMACH
XI. PRESERVING THE TEETH
XII. HOW TO EAT
XIII. WHAT TO EAT
XIV. FOODS IN THE CURE OF CONSTIPATION
XV. PRESSURE MOVEMENTS FOR BUILDING INNER STRENGTH
XVI. BLOOD PURIFICATION
XVII. HINTS ON BATHING
XVIII. SOME FACTS ABOUT CLOTHING
XIX. SUGGESTIONS ABOUT SLEEP
XX. MIND--THE MASTER-FORCE FOR HEALTH OR DISEASE
XXI. THE LAUGH CURE
XXII. SINGING-THE GREAT TONIC
XXIII. THE DAILY REGIMEN
CHAPTER I: Vitality--What is it?
Vitality first of all means endurance and the ability to live long. It
naturally indicates functional and organic vigor. You cannot be
vital unless the organs of the body are possessed of at least a normal
degree of strength and are performing their functions
harmoniously and satisfactorily. To be vital means that you are full of
vim and energy, that you possess that enviable characteristic known as
vivacity. It means that you are vibrating, pulsating with life in all
its most attractive forms. For life, energy, vitality-call it what
you wish-in all its normal manifestations, will always be found
attractive.
A vital man is at all times thoroughly alive. The forces of life seem to
imbue every part of his organism with energy, activity and all
characteristics opposed to things inanimate. A vital man is
naturally enthusiastic. He can hardly avoid being ambitious. And
consequently success, with all its splendid rewards, comes to such a
man in abundance. Life to such a man should be resplendent with worthy
achievements.
No one belittles the importance of success. Everyone is guided to a
large extent by the desire to succeed. When a child toddles off to
school the training which he secures there is given for the single
purpose of bringing success, but this goal cannot possibly be
reached without throbbing vitality. In fact, you are not yourself in
every sense unless you possess vitality of this sort. The emotions and
instincts that come to one when thoroughly developed, with the vital
forces surging within, are decidedly different from those which
influence one when lacking in stamina. Many who have grown beyond
adult age are still undeveloped, so far as physical condition and vigor
is concerned, and this lack of physical development or vitality
means immaturity-incompleteness. It means that one is short on manhood
or womanhood. This statement, that one's personality, under such
circumstances, is not completely brought out, may seem strange to some;
but careful reasoning will soon verify its accuracy. Success of the
right sort, therefore, depends first of all upon intelligent efforts
that are guided day after day, with a view, first of all, of developing
the physical organism to the highest possible standard, and maintaining
it there.
In other words, it is our first duty to be men, strong and splendid, or
women, healthy and perfect, if we are desirous of securing life's most
gratifying prizes. Many actually go through life only half alive. They
are, to a certain extent, doped by their physical deficiencies. They
have been handicapped by a lack of the energy that comes with physical
development. They need to be stirred by the regular use of the physical
powers of the body. When the body is complete in all of its various
parts it is truly a marvelous organism. Throbbing vitality stirs the
imagination, gives one courage and capacity, thrills one with the
possibilities of life, fires the ambitions. The efforts involved in
one's daily duties, be they ever so important, then become mere play.
To such a man inactivity is impossible. Every day must be filled with
active, interesting duties, and progress in such cases is inevitable.
Such a man grows, he improves, he ascends. He becomes a positive
dominating force in the world.
Can pulsating, vibrating, vitality of this kind be developed? Can one
who lacks enthusiasm and organic vigor obtain these valuable forces?
If you have failed up to the present to become a complete man, or a
splendid woman, can you achieve these extraordinary rewards in the
future? You can rest assured that if the necessary efforts are made a
revolution can be wrought in your physical and mental powers. You, too,
can feel these throbbing vital forces stirring your every nerve,
thrilling your very soul. Go to work, in an intelligent manner,
realizing that fundamentally the attainment of these great rewards
comes from the development of the highest degree of physical excellence.
You must have strength of body. You cannot have too much strength. The
more nearly you feel like a strong man the more you can achieve in the
desired direction. All successful men are, and have been, men of
tremendous energy. Their achievements have been simply the expression of
the vitality and nerve force which can no more be repressed than the
power of an engine when it has been once liberated. Success is due to
the dynamic quality of energy. It is true that physical energy and
bodily strength are not sufficient for success in all fields. One must
have aptitude for his chosen work. Your energy must be directed in the
proper channels, but without this energy and vitality you can accomplish
virtually nothing.
Take the one particular characteristic known as vivacity. How we envy
those who possess in abundance this great gift! No matter how
irregular one's features may be, even though they repel, if a smile
shows vivacity associated with a keen, intelligent personality,
one cannot be otherwise than attractive. John Bunny, with features
rough, unchiseled, ugly, almost uncouth, yet possessed a personality
that spread its contagious good humor to millions of people in all
quarters of the world who mourned his recent death as that of a personal
acquaintance. On the other hand, even though a man or woman possess
regular features, the lack of animated expression, of vivacity, causes
the person to be regarded as "cold" and "repellent." Speaking in the
vernacular, it puts you in the class of the "dead ones." One may say
that magnetism and all the desirable qualities that draw others to
us are closely associated with the supreme development of the forces of
life. No vivacity, then no personality.
The average individual goes through life without living. In other words,
he scarcely exists. He has never felt the throbbing exultation of a
keen joyous moment. Nor on the other hand has he ever suffered the
tortures that are supposed to be associated with the damned, for we
must remember that the power to enjoy carries with it a corresponding
power to suffer. But we should also remember that the possession of
these extremes, the ability to enjoy or to suffer, indicates the
attainment of what might be termed the most complete human development.
If we wish to find a perfect picture of the phlegmatic temperament, we
can study a pig to advantage. And yet there are many human beings
incapable of manifesting life-forces equal to those of this humble
animal.
But why not be alive, vital, vivacious? Why not be alert, keen,
energetic, enthusiastic, ambitious, bubbling over with fiery
ardor? The possession of these pulsating, vibratory forces proves that
one's physical development has closely approached to perfection. To
such vital individuals life opens up opportunities that are almost
countless.
But those who have never lived in this "world" of fiery ambitions and
throbbing powers, who have never been stirred by the keen, satisfying
joys that go with these extraordinary, vital qualities, may ask if these
invaluable powers can be developed. Are these stirring, vital forces
the possession of favored classes only, or may they be obtained by
anyone and everyone? In other words, can they be cultivated or
developed? My reply, in nearly all cases, would be in the affirmative.
There may be exceptions. There is a limit to the development of the
physical force, but health is attainable by the majority. So long as
there is life you should be possessed of sufficient vitality to attain
a normal degree of health. It really takes more power to run a
defective machine than it does to operate one in which all parts are
working in harmony, and the same can be said of the body and its
parts or organs. Therefore, if you have vitality enough to continue to
live even though diseased, rest assured that you have enough to
acquire health if you conform to Nature's enactments. And this kind of
health usually brings a physical and mental exaltation that is
truly beyond description.
It is my purpose in these pages to help the reader to solve the problems
associated with the attainment of vitality and health at its best. By
following out the suggestions which you will find in this volume, by
stimulating the life-forces in connection with the thyroid gland,
by straightening and strengthening the spine, by toning up the
alimentary canal, and by adopting other suggestions set forth in these
pages, you should be insured the attainment of vital vigor really
beyond price. Do not be satisfied with an existence. If life is worth
anything, it is worth living in every sense of the word. The building
up of one's physical assets should be recognized as an imperative duty.