Exercise

Until quite recently man has had to earn his living by means of hard physical labor. Primitive man had to run, climb trees, cover long stretches of land while hunting, then carry the prey on his shoulders. Our recent predecessors had to till the ground with primi­tive means, chop wood, walk long distances. While exerting them­selves they sweated profusely, thus eliminating waste matters from their bodies. Today, with our modern inventions and labor-saving appliances, division of labor, et cetera, in a majority of cases we need not exert ourselves too much while at work. As for walking — that is almost a forgotten art what with automobiles, trains, and airplanes conveying humanity everywhere in a jiffy. So we find that man who by nature was made to eliminate body wastes through sweating is nowadays retaining them, thus choking his body with poisons. Part of this big load is diverted to the kidneys, lungs, skin, and other channels of elimination. But overworking any one of these leads to their breakdown. Diseases of internal organs of eli­mination caused by their overwork are not uncommon today.

Of course, no one would deem it sensible to deny himself the wonderful advantages of our technical progress and go back to primitive toil. However, in order to do well we must produce free perspiration by substituting some other means for the physical exertion of work. For instance, we have shown in the article on bathing how a hot bath or hot sitz bath will induce free perspira­tion with very beneficial results.

Exercise is a simple and logical substitute for physical labor. In a short workout exercise will produce a good sweat, but it has also other useful advantages. Our muscles, as well as blood vessels, are made of pliable stretching material. In order to nourish the cells and remove all wastes our blood must get freely and quickly to all parts of our body. By tensing and relaxing our muscles we stretch the blood vessels and help the blood circulate better through our veins and arteries. This also makes the work of the heart easier, since it does not have to do all the pushing and squeezing of the blood through sluggish vessels. In exercising, just as well as in work­ing, we tense and relax the muscles and thus promote better blood circulation. This applies also to the inner organs which are stretched and squeezed by exercising and thus stimulated and in­duced to perform their functions actively and properly. Exercise even has advantages over some kinds of physical work insofar as developing every part of the body, whereas some kinds of work may exercise only a certain set of muscles while not affecting all the rest of the body. Other advantages of exercise are the development of muscles, reduction of fat, and the acquirement of flexibility and agility of body as well as of the mind. Exercise through a better blood supply improves not only our muscles but our brain and nerves as well. For a quick, sharp, brilliant mind do not underesti­mate the value of exercise.

Who is most in need of exercise? The child and adolescent get plenty of it from running about and playing in outdoor sports and in the gym at school. Just as soon as we are finished with school most of us drop exercising and “settle down” to inactive occupations and lose interest in moving around. Thus, the married and, particu­larly, the middle-aged are the ones most in need of exercise.

In starting to exercise one should be careful not to overdo it in the beginning and go according to one’s strength and limitations. Start with a few exercises and repeat them four or five times each, increasing the amounts and variety day by day. No exercise should be too violent or too prolonged or pain and discomfort may result.

There is no limit to the variety of exercises which can be devised. While all of them are beneficial, some do more, while others do less, for us. In choosing the types and systems of exercises one should have in mind the necessity of exercising every part of the body and, therefore, select in most cases an all-around system.

Doubtless, the first place in all-around exercises should be given to brisk walking with its mate — swimming. Since the latter is not always practicable we shall concentrate on walking. By walking we do not mean dragging one’s self, window-shopping, or museum-and country-fair crawling. What we have in mind is a lively, energetic walk that stretches and twists every muscle in your body, promotes deep breathing and gives you a feeling of vitality, zest, and throbbing energy all over. Walk with your back straight, your head and chest up, shoulders thrown back, your eyes looking straight ahead, and your body completely relaxed. Fill your lungs to capacity with every few steps. Exhale in short breaths whistling to a tune, expell­ing all bad air from your lungs. Swing your arms freely. Throw each leg out forward in long steps, legs far apart in marine march fashion. Always point your toes inward — never out. The latter is a sign of aging, an invitation to flat feet and a crooked spine. Walk with determination and purpose. It is well to combine walking with some small errand, shopping, visiting a library, et cetera, so that the walks will not become boring to you after the novelty has worn off. Walk to work and from work, if not all the way, then at least part of it. While walking have a cheerful state of mind. Affirm to yourself, “I am young, strong, healthy, and happy,” and soon you will actually begin feeling that way. A couple of miles a day of this type of walking will keep you in good condition and will contribute to a feeling of contentment and happiness.

Next in importance are exercises of the spine. Our spine, as you may know, controls all our inner automatic body functions — those which are performed without our knowledge or our conscious effort. These are the digestion and assimilation of foods, blood cir­culation, the work of the various glands — among others. To work properly the spine must be normal in its structure and have a good supply of blood to nourish it. Exercise of the spine does just that. Curvature of the spine, bad posture, sacroiliac and a number of other spine ailments may be greatly relieved by the proper spinal exercises.

Spinal exercises involve stretching, bending and twisting of the spine. Stretching is one of the most beneficial exercises known. It is not only a promoter of good health, but a healer as well. Many painful symptoms such as nervous headaches, pains in the back, lumbago, eye and neck strains, pain in the shoulders, et cetera, are relieved through stretching.

To alleviate such pains lie on your abdomen, resting your chin on the palms of your hands with your elbows down on the floor or bed and read a book placed on the same surface for a period of five to ten minutes; at the same time keep all the muscles of your body relaxed. This position will stretch your spine in such a manner as to relieve the pressure on the nerve centers emerging from the spine thus correcting any abnormal condition arising from that pressure.

Perform this simple exercise at least once every day and you will rid yourself of many unpleasant aches and pains. Do it, even if you have no distressing sensations, to keep your body toned up for higher efficiency and better health.

Another basic exercise for stretching the spine (one about the value of which volumes could be written) is the following: Lie flat on your back; bring your feet over your head so that your toes touch the floor in the back of your head; hold this position without bending your knees. If done persistently, say once or twice a day for a few minutes over a period of several months, this exercise will correct the most stubborn cases of spine curvature or lumbago.

Chinning yourself on a horizontal bar, or just stretching your­self as far as you can with arms overhead in a standing or lying position, will also do a world of good for your spine. Stretching is a natural exercise in which all animals indulge. Watch a dog or a cat stretch lustily after a nap and you will understand the advis­ability of imitating them. All inner organs of the body are stimu­lated and forced to action by this simple procedure.

A slumped sitting position contributes a great deal to curvature of the spine and resulting body derangements. It is tempting to curl up in a comfortable half-lying position in a soft chair or soft car seat but this position cramps your spinal cord and puts it out of alignment. If continued for long periods of time the vertebrae of the spine will assume a permanent distorted position, and, by pressing on some of the nerves emerging from the spinal cord, will cause various body complications.

To strengthen your spine always try to sit in an erect position whether or not your back is supported. When driving an automobile it is advisable to keep a small cushion in back of your shoulder blades while the small of your back rests against the back of the seat. In this position the upper part of your spine is thrown forward; the small of your back, your head and shoulders — are all thrown slightly backwards — a position tending to correct all irregularities of your spine. Many a sacroiliac pain will disappear forever after a couple of weeks of this practice.

For those who do not drive, this procedure may be modified in the following manner: lie on your back with your knees up placing a cushion under your shoulder blades; relax in this position for ten to fifteen minutes daily, and watch the amazing results which will manifest themselves after a while. Keep this up indefinitely and you will never have any spinal troubles.

All bending and sitting-up exercises also benefit your spine greatly. For better results do not bend your knees when doing these exercises. In a standing position bend forward, backward and side­ways as far as possible. From lying on your back slowly raise your­self to a sitting position with your hands stretched forward and then go slowly back to the original position. Slowly lift one foot up and bring it down without bending your knee, then the other foot, then both together. Twisting the spine is accomplished by twisting the upper part of the body in a standing position left and right as far as you can; repeat in a sitting position.

Next in order of importance are all-around exercises. When doing your daily dozen after you are through with spinal exercises give all other parts of your body their due attention. Start with the neck, turning your head slowly left, right, forward, backward and in circles; then, for your shoulders, stretch arms sideways and make very small circles with your hands as far back as possible; for the chest and arms, bring your clenched fists in and out, forward and backward to your chest; for the abdomen — and this is a highly valuable one — alternately pull in and tense out your abdomen with your breath expelled; for your buttocks — tense and relax them alternately; for your legs and feet, slowly squat down and back to standing position.

There are a number of special exercises used only by those who have to correct certain deficiencies — like eye, ear and throat ex­ercises for instance. We will touch upon these in other chapters where special treatments are outlined.

In order to make your exercising successful it is advisable for you to make a chart of the exercises you favor and follow this chart daily. This will prevent forgetting or neglecting any of the exercises. After you have followed this chart for a while if you feel somewhat bored by the procedure make up another chart with different exercises to follow for another length of time. Whenever your time is limited you can pick out some of the exercises from the chart and leave out others. However, some most important exercises like walking, stretching of the spine, pulling in the abdomen, neck exercises, et cetera, must be adhered to all the time and done every day.