Health: How to get it and keep it.: The hygiene of dress, food, exercise, rest, bathing, breathing, and ventilation.Woods, Walter V.
Science
Health: How to get it and keep it.: The hygiene of dress, food, exercise, rest, bathing, breathing, and ventilation.
Woods, Walter V.
Health; Hygiene
It is said of President Roosevelt that the only exercise he really
enjoys is of that strenuous character which, to most men, would be hard
work. Gladstone could give him no points in felling trees, and the
cowboys of the plains, after numerous tests, were satisfied that he
wore the title of “Rough Rider” by right. It was on one of his western
hunting trips that he went two days with two ribs broken, not deigning
to mention the circumstance lest it might offend cowboy etiquette to
speak of such insignificant matters amid the excitement of the final
round-up.
Few men carry the burden of a weightier responsibility than the
President, or have more exacting demands made upon their time. No one
would have a better right to plead pressure of business as an excuse
for taking no physical exercise. On the other hand, no one has greater
need of a strong body and a clear brain. Appreciating this fact, his
vigorous ride on horseback becomes almost as indispensable as his meals
or his sleep, and it is rumored that this is often supplemented by a
quiet bout with the gloves. Remembering that, as a child, his body was
rather frail, his present rugged health bears strong testimony to the
value of persistent vigorous exercise.
=Walking.=--Rapid walking is one of the best methods of physical
exercise. It not only develops the muscles of the legs and thighs, but
increases the capacity of the chest. One of its chief advantages is
that it is an out-door exercise. Running is still more stimulating, and
gives increased activity to the muscles of the limbs and body, and to
the organs of respiration.
By combining walking and running with some simple form of in-door
exercise, as dumb-bells, Indian-clubs, or pulley weights, a person will
have nearly all the advantages of a fully-equipped gymnasium.
=Over Exertion.=--Severe labor and violent exercise should be avoided.
Many cases of broken-down health are due to excessive strain, the
result of track races on wheel or foot, and similar indiscretions.
=Age, Occupation, and Habit.=--Physical exercises must be chosen with
reference to the age, occupation, and habit of the individual. The
young, the middle-aged, and the old will each, as a rule, require some
direction as to kind, and some modification as to length and intensity,
of the exercise.
=Childhood and Youth.=--Healthy children are never at rest except
when asleep. This is the prompting of their nature. Their games and
plays should therefore be directed, but not too much restrained. If,
however, the natural increase in size and weight of a child’s body
does not keep pace with its years, it would be well for the parent to
inquire whether that result is due to excessive exercise, or to some
other cause.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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