Tobacco and alcohol are absolutely prohibited, the kind of food eaten
and the hours for retiring are compulsory, and a boy is taught not
only to train his muscles but to discipline his mind. Before a
candidate is allowed to take active part in the sport for which he is
training he must be “in condition,” as it is called.
There are a great many rules of health that will help any one to keep
well, but the best rule of all is to live a common-sense life and not
to think too much about ourselves. Systematic exercises taken daily
with setting up motions are very good unless we allow them to become
irksome. All indoor exercise should be practised with as much fresh
air in the room as possible. It is an excellent plan to face an open
window if we practise morning and evening gymnastics.
There are many exercises that can be performed with no apparatus
whatever. In all exercises we should practise deep regular breathing
until it becomes a habit with us. Most people acquire a faulty habit
of breathing and only use a small part of their total lung capacity.
Learn to take deep breaths while in the fresh air. After a while it
will become a habit.
Just how much muscle a boy should have will depend upon his physical
make-up. The gymnasium director in one of our largest colleges, who
has spent his whole life in exercise, is a small, slender man whose
muscles are not at all prominent and yet they are like steel wires.
He has made a life-long study of himself and has developed every
muscle in his body. From his appearance he would not be considered a
strong man and yet some of the younger athletes weighing fifty pounds
more than he, have, in wrestling and feats of strength, found that the
man with the largest muscles is not always the best man.
There is one question that every growing boy will have to look
squarely in the face and to decide for himself. It is the question of
smoking. There is absolutely no question but that smoking is injurious
for any one, and in the case of boys who are not yet fully grown
positively dangerous. Ask any cigarette smoker you know and he will
tell you _not to smoke_. If you ask him why he does not take his own
advice he will possibly explain how the habit has fastened its grip on
him, just as the slimy tentacles of some devil fish will wind
themselves about a victim struggling in the water, until he is no
longer able to escape. A boy may begin to smoke in a spirit of fun or
possibly because he thinks it is manly, but more often it is because
the “other fellers” are trying it too.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account