Keeping fit all the way : $b how to obtain and maintain health, strength and efficiencyCamp, Walter
Science
Keeping fit all the way : $b how to obtain and maintain health, strength and efficiency
Camp, Walter
Hygiene; Physical education and training
I have referred to Nature's order, "You must earn your bread by the
sweat of your brow." Almost every one, in these modern days of
civilization, is earning his bread in some other way; well, he must make
up for this by some kind of exercise or else Nature will surely take
her toll. When men were earning their bread by the sweat of their brows
they were not always sure of getting a surplus of it, and that was not a
half-bad thing. In fact, it was far better for the race than present
conditions under which so many men have given up physical work
altogether. But instead of cutting down on their food they double up on
it.
SOMETHING OUT OF A BOTTLE
The usual temporary panacea for these ills of the flesh is to get some
so-called "specific" in the form of a medicine and gobble it
religiously. Thousands of men and women, who are unwilling to take five
or ten minutes' exercise two or three times a day, will swallow
something out of a bottle on a spoon before each meal, with a splendid
satisfaction and confidence. Perhaps temporarily it produces improved
results. At any rate, it gives a sense of mental satisfaction, and that
something stands off the trouble for a while. There is still another
method which has some show of reason in it, although, after all, it does
not compare with the wiser, saner course. A man or woman is persuaded
that if he or she will only give up some particularly attractive
self-indulgence the result will be increased health and vigor. For
instance, there is a common belief that tea or coffee is the cause of
many ills. Perhaps this is true, but the giving up of tea or coffee will
never cure the ills that come from lack of exercise, loss of fresh air,
over-eating, and over-indulgence. The mere fact that a person is giving
up something that he likes does not make him immune to the penalties
which he incurs day after day by other offenses against the laws of
Nature.
CONSERVING THE PRESIDENT'S HEALTH
Rear-Admiral Carey T. Grayson, personal physician and health director to
President Wilson, says:
"You may make the statement, in so many words, that physical exercise
has been the means of making a normal, physically perfect man of the
President. And when a man is in a normal condition he is in perfect
health and physical trim. That was the initial intention in this case,
just to make the President physically fit, and to keep him so."
Richard M. Winans says:
"The Admiral told me that when he first took charge of the President,
Mr. Wilson was not a little averse to taking any sort of exercise.
However, Doctor Grayson early succeeded in impressing upon Mr. Wilson
that good health was an absolutely important factor in dealing with the
grilling duties which would face him during the coming four years, and
that his physical well-being was vital not only to himself, but to the
welfare of the entire country."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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