# How to Get Strong and How to Stay So (1899)/Chapter 4

Chapter IV
Is it Too Late for Women to Begin?
But if the school-days are past, and the girl has become a woman; what then? If the girl, trammelled by few duties outside of school-hours, has found amusement for herself, yet still needs daily and regular exercise to make and keep her fresh and hearty; much more does the woman, especially in a country like our own, where physical exercise for her sex is almost unknown, require such exercise. Our women are born of parents who pride themselves on their mental qualifications, on a good degree of intelligence. Our educational system is one which offers an endless and ever-increasing variety of spurs to continued mental effort.
Are not the majority of our women to-day, especially in town and city, physically weak? The writers on nervous disorders speak of the astounding increase of such diseases among us, of late years, in both sexes; but especially among the women. General debility is heard of everywhere. Most of our women think two miles, or even less, a long distance to walk, even at a dawdling pace; while few of them have really strong chests, backs, or arms. (If they wish to test their arms, for instance, let them grasp a bar or the rung of a ladder, and try to pull themselves up once till the chin touches their fists. Not two in fifty will do it; but almost any boy can.) But whoever cannot do that has weak flexor ​arm-muscles. Hardly a day goes by when a woman's strength is not considerably taxed, and often over-taxed.
There is no calling of the unmarried woman where vigorous health and strength—not great or Herculean; but simply such as every well-built and well-developed woman ought to have—would not be of great, almost priceless value to her. The shop-girl, the factory operative, the clerk in the store, the book-keeper, the seamstress, the milliner, the telegraph-operator, are all confined for many hours a day, with exercise for but a few of the muscles; and with the trunk held altogether too long in one position; and that too often a contracted and unhealthy one. Nothing is done to render the body lithe and supple; to develop the idle muscles; to deepen the breathing and quicken the circulation—in short, to tone up the whole system. No wonder such a day's work, and such a way of living, leaves the body tired and exhausted. It would, before long, do the same for the strongest man. No wonder that the walk to and from work is a listless affair; or that she avoids it entirely and takes a car if she can. No wonder that, later on, special or general weakness develops; and the woman goes through life either weak and delicate; or with not half the strength and vigor which might readily be hers. You, a strong woman—or man either—just take, not the place of a young woman behind the counter; but a little cash-girl's place, in a department store, for one day,—where the haughty floor-walker stalks supreme;—where, if you dare to sit down, you will be ruthlessly disturbed, perhaps will lose your position—and say at night-fall—if you last till night-fall—if hers is not genuine, downright hard work;—too hard for any but a well-grown, strong, enduring person of either sex!
​And is it any better with the married woman? Take one of small means. Much of the work about her home which servants might do, could she employ them, she bravely does herself; willing to make ten times this sacrifice, if need be, for those dearest to her. Follow her throughout the day, especially where there are children: there is an almost endless round of duties; many of them not laborious, to be sure, or calling for much muscular strength; but keeping the mind under a strain until they are done; difficult to encompass because difficult to foresee. In the aggregate they are almost numberless. A man can usually tell in the morning most of what is in front of him for the day—indeed, can often plan so as to say beforehand just what he will be at each hour. But not so the housewife, and mother of young children. She is constantly called to perform little duties, both expected and unexpected, which cannot fail to tell on a person not strong. A healthy child a year old will often weigh twenty pounds; yet a woman otherwise weak will carry that child on her left arm, several times a day, up one or more flights of stairs, till you would think she would drop from exhaustion. Let sickness come, and she will often seem almost tireless, so devotedly will she keep the child in her arms. While children are, of course, carried less when they begin to walk; many a child two, or even three years old, is picked up by the mother, not a few times a day, even though he weighs thirty or forty pounds instead of twenty. Now for this mother to have handled a dumbbell of that weight would have been thought foolish and dangerous; for nothing about her suggested strength equal to that performance. And yet the devotion of a weak mother to her child is quite as great as that of a strong one. Is it any wonder that this overdoing of ​muscles, never trained to such work, must sooner or later tell? It would be wonderful if it did not.
Yet now, suppose that same mother had from early childhood been trained to systematic physical exercise suited to her strength, and increasing with that strength until, from a strong and healthy child, she grew to be a hearty, vigorous woman, well developed, strong, and comely—what now would she mind carrying the little tot on her arm? What before soon became heavy and a burden—a willing burden though it was—now never seems so at all; and really is no task for such muscles as she now has. Instead of her day's work breaking her down; it is no more than a woman of her vigor needs—indeed, not so much as she needs—to keep her well and strong.
And, besides escaping the bodily tire and exhaustion; look at the happiness it brings her in the exhilaration which comes with ruddy health; in the feeling of being easily equal to whatever comes up; in being a stranger to indigestion; to nervousness, and all its kindred ailments. This reserve vital force, sparing her many of the doubts and fears so common to the weak, but which the strong seldom know—enables her to endure patiently privation, watching, and even bereavement. And who is the more likely to live to a ripe old age; the woman who never took suitable and adequate exercise to give her even moderate vitality and strength; or she who, by a judicious and sensible system, suited to her particular needs, has developed vigor and power?
But, while this is all well enough for young girls; is it not too late for full-grown women to attempt to get the same benefits? The girl was young and plastic; and, with proper care, could be moulded in almost any way; but the woman already has her make and set; and ​these cannot readily be changed. Perhaps not quite so readily; but actual trial will show that the difficulty is largely imaginary. To many, indeed to most women, the idea is absolutely new; and they never supposed such change possible. But why so, when here and there all over our land skilled physical directors are building up, in barely an hour each day for one short year, here a thin arm, there a poor neck; here a weak back, there a flat chest; turning out in-turning feet; and substituting blooming cheeks for a dried-apple skin? Indeed in many cases are turning a weak woman into a tower of strength.
But is great and unusual strength, especially of the arms, desirable in most women? Not at all. If these could and did thus lay in such a stock of strength and vigor; and others of whom we do not hear are quietly doing the same thing; they are doing more by far than would be needed to make most women, not as strong as acrobats and performers; but—a far more important matter—reasonably and comfortably so; sufficiently to keep nervous disorders away; to enable them to be far better equal to the daily duties; and to spend life with an appreciation and zest too often unknown by the weak woman; finally, to preserve for a woman the bloom and healthy look and charm which once in a while she sees—but only once in a while—even in a woman of advanced years; and which would be her own in her later life if she uses the means to have it.
And what should a woman do to get this health and strength and bloom? Just what is done by the young girl. Indeed, there are a hundred exercises; almost any of which, faithfully followed up, would help directly to bring the desired result. With her, as with girl or man or boy, the first thing is to symmetrize; to bring ​up the weaker muscles by special effort, calling them at once into vigorous action; and to restore to its proper position the shoulder, back, chest, or other part which has been so long allowed to remain out of place. The symmetry once gained, then equal work for all the muscles, taken daily, and in such quantities as are found to suit best.
The variety of exercises open to woman, especially out-of—doors, is almost as great as to man. Every one knows some graceful horsewoman, and it is a pity there were not a hundred where there is one. One of the most expert of our acquaintance is the mother of one of the most gifted metaphysicians in the land, and he already is a middle-aged man. There are a few ladies in this country, and a good many in England, who think nothing of a five or six mile walk daily; and an occasional one of twice that length. Indeed at Smith and Wellesley there are always a few girls who can walk twenty miles a day for several days together. And we knew of one lady, wife of a New York editor, who in the White Mountains walked two hundred miles in a week; yet she had a son twenty-one years old. Once in a while a married woman here will do some long-distance skating. In Holland, in the season, it is with many an every-day affair. Some of the best swimmers and floaters at the watering-places are women, and happily there are far more of them than there used to be; and they certainly do not look much troubled with nervousness. More than one woman has distinguished herself in Alpine climbing. The writer once saw a woman, apparently about twenty-eight, a handsome, vigorous, rosy Englishwoman, row her father from Putney to Mortlake, on the Thames, a distance of four miles and three furlongs; not at racing pace, to be sure, but at a lively ​speed. The measured precision of that lady's stroke; the stately poise of the body and head; and the clean, neat, and effective feathering, would have done credit to an old Oxford oar.
What woman has done, woman may do. Bind one arm in a sling, and keep it utterly idle for a month; meanwhile ply the other busily with heavy work, such as swinging a hammer, axe, or dumb-bell; and is it hard to say which will be the healthier, the plumper, the stronger, the handsomer—the live arm, at the end of the month? And will this only apply to men's arms, and not to women's? Who has usually the stronger, and almost generally the shapelier arm—the woman who, surrounded with servants, takes her royal ease; and has American notions and ways of exercise; or the busy maid in her kitchen? If the latter's arm is large, yet not well proportioned; it simply means that some of its muscles have been used far more than the others.
Now, to her who knows what exercise will develop each of the muscles of that arm; and who can tell at sight which are fully developed or developed at all, and which are not; it is easy to bring up the backward ones; and so secure the symmetry and the consequent general strength. The same rule holds good of all the other muscles, as well as those of the arm.
Plenty of active out-door work will go far towards securing health. But it will only develop the parts brought into play; and there ought to be exercise for all.
Now what daily work, and how much of it, will secure this symmetry, erectness, and strength; supposing that, at the outset, there is no organic defect; but that the woman is simply weak, both in her muscular and in her vital systems? In the first place, let it be understood that the connection between these systems is intimate; ​and that the judicious building and strengthening of the former, and the keeping up that strength by sensible—not violent—daily exercise, tells directly on the latter. Vigorous muscular exercise, properly taken, enlarges the respiration; quickens the circulation; improves the digestion; the working, in fact, of all the vital parts. Dr. Mitchell says it is the very thing also to quiet the excited nerves and brain.
The amount of that exercise daily depends on the present strength of the woman. If she is weak generally; for the first fortnight, the exercise, while general enough to bring all the muscles into play, must be light and easy. Then, as a little strength is gained, the work advances accordingly. If partially strong at first; invariably the first thing to do is to adapt the exercise mainly to the weaker muscles till they catch up.
Suppose the right arm is stronger than the left; as frequently happens, because it has more to do. For the first month—or, if necessary, for the first two months—let the left arm have nearly all the exercise, and that exercise as vigorous as it can comfortably take. Then, when it is found that it can lift or carry as heavy a weight, and pull or push as hard as the right; keep at it, by means of exercise, until both arms can do the same amount of work, and are equal. But suppose the arms are already equally strong, or, rather, equally weak—that both the back and chest are small; that is, not so large or well proportioned as they should be in a well-built woman of your height—then all that is necessary is to select work especially adapted to strengthen the back; and other work telling directly on the chest. For the first fortnight, very mild efforts should be made, and the advance should be gradual; taking great care never once to overdo it. Let the advance be made as ​the newly acquired strength justifies and encourages it. What particular exercises will effect the strengthening and development of any given muscles will be pointed out in the chapter on Special Exercise, at the latter part of this book.
How about the length of time this daily exercising will take? It is all easy enough for the rich, whose time is their own, and who could spare four or five hours a day if necessary; but how is the woman to manage it who must work from seven to six, or even far into the evening as well? She can hardly get time to read about horseback riding and Alpine climbing; much less take part in them. Well, it is a poor system which cannot suit nearly all cases. The woman who works steadily from early morning till well into the night, especially at employment at all sedentary and confining, is undergoing a test and a hardship which will certainly call for a strong constitution, good condition, and a brave spirit as well; or the strain will surely break her down, and bring to her permanent weakness. If so many hours must be spent in labor; then let her secure ten or fifteen minutes, upon rising, for a series of exercises in her room. At the dinner-hour, again at supper-time; shortly before each meal; and once about mid-morning, and again at mid-afternoon, three or five minutes could generally be spared for a few brisk exercises (see page 229) calculated to limber and call into vigorous action the back, and many of the muscles so long held almost motionless until they stiffen from it. If there is a whole hour at dinner-time, and the half of it after dinner could be spent in easy walking; if possible with a cheerful and lively companion, who would make her forget the dull routine of her day—taking care to do one simple thing, namely, to inhale long breaths—through the nose, not through the mouth, and ​hold each breath in till she has taken at first ten steps; but gradually more till she does twenty steps in one breath; also to always hold her neck firmly against the back of her collar; she will find a quickened pulse; driving the morning's thoughts out of the mind; scattering low spirits to the winds—and a pleasant feeling of recreation and change besides; and the benefit from such a walk would be immediate and marked.
Is this asking much? A mile or a mile and a half could easily be covered in that time; while the dinner would taste twice as good for the exercise. Another mile, or better yet three of them, might be walked just before supper-time, and at a brisk pace now, for the stomach is not busy. If the confinement is so close as not to permit even these few snatches of time for a little recreation or the walk home to supper, never mind. Do not give it up yet. The ten minutes on rising were made sure of anyhow. Yes, another chance remains. When at last the work is ever, even though it is time to retire; get out-of-doors for half an hour's smart walk with brother or friend, and see how refreshing it will prove; and then eat some light simple food. The jaded body will almost forget its tire; and the sleep which follows, while it may not be quite as long as before, will make up in quality; and the new day will find a far fresher woman, one better up to her duties, than if no exercise had been taken.
But if you now ride home from work, and the distance is three miles or less; why not walk it, and save your fare—quite an item in a year? And if more than three miles—why not walk three miles of it? What is ​a three-mile walk to a well-built, healthy women? If Madame Anderson walked 2700 quarters of a mile in 2700 consecutive quarters of an hour; why should a trifling three miles once in twenty-four hours disturb you?
To her who does not labor so long, but has her evenings to herself, unless already broken by disease, there need he no trouble about getting strong and healthy. Let her do the little exercise above mentioned till evening; then, first eating a hearty supper, beginning an hour later with such distance as she can walk easily, add to the distance gradually, until she finds herself equal to four or five miles at a smart pace for her—say three and a half miles to the hour. (The professional masculine pedestrians do eight miles an hour, to be sure; but Miss Von Hillern, for instance, has done about six.) This, taken either every evening; or, say, four evenings a week; will soon give tone, and make the woman feel strong instead of weak; will enable her to digest what she eats; and will visibly improve her appetite. Let her give five or ten minutes for exercising the arms and chest before retiring (see pages 193 et seq.), and she has had abundant exercise for that day; while any trouble she has had in the past about sleeping is at an end.
But sufficient as the evening walk is; of course if it can be had in daylight and in the sunshine, it is all the better. Few mothers are so placed that they cannot each day, by good management, get an hour for the care of their health. Let them be sure to take a quick, lively walk for the whole time, not with arms held motionless, but swinging easily as men's do—of course, for the first month taking less distances, but working steadily on; and—an important thing—with the chest always held high, as near the chin as you can get it, and ​always breathing through the nose—long breaths too. They will be astonished at the very gratifying difference in the result between it and the old listless walk; and how much easier the day's duties come now.
THE WHTTELY EXERCISES
​and a half around the upper arm; of three and a half inches in the girth of the chest; of fifteen pounds in weight;—-would not these work marked changes in any young woman; and would they not nearly always be most desirable changes? It is not a matter of inches and pounds alone. This increase of girth and weight is almost sure to tell most beneficially on the health and spirits as well—in short, on the general vigor.
If, with the increase in size and strength, care has been taken to practise special exercises to make and keep her erect, to at all times, whether sitting, standing, or walking, hold the head and neck where they should be; that is with the neck always pressing slightly against the back of the collar, and: no matter what you are at to breathe say a thousand full deep breaths every day, holding the air in a little at each breath—there is not much doubt but that, even in one short year, the difference in any girl, not strong or straight at the beginning, will be very marked. It really lies with young women of this class to make themselves physically—in proportion to their height—almost what they will. And so well is it now known how to develop any part of the body or the whole of it—better known indeed than ever before in the world's history; that every girls' college in America can, if it will, guarantee that it will take every student, and if she has no organic weakness or defect, in the four years' course will bring her out a strong, hearty, well-built woman; lissome, graceful, fleet of foot; with bright eyes; clear skin; and a degree of personal magnetism always found with a superb physique.
And is there any need of pointing out to a spirited girl the value of a sound, healthy, and shapely body? Is there any sphere in woman's life where it will not stand her in good stead, and render her far more ​efficient at whatever she is called on to do—as daughter, sister, wife or mother, teacher or friend—and far more attractive as well? Nor is the benefit limited even to her own lifetime, but her posterity are blessed by it as well. Would she like to have inherited consumptive tendencies, for instance, from her parent? Will her children like any better to inherit the same from her? In our Christian lands, we find, if history be correct, that the great men have almost invariably had remarkable mothers, while their fathers were as often nothing unusual. The Sandwich Island proverb, "If strong be the frame of the mother, her sons will make laws for the people," suggests truths that will hold good in many other places besides the Sandwich Islands. Let every girl and woman in this land bear in mind that, from every point of view, a vigorous and healthy body, kept toned up by rational, systematic, daily exercise, is one of the very greatest blessings which can be had in this world; that many persons spend tens of thousands of dollars in trying to regain even a part of this blessing when once they have lost it; that the means of getting it are easily within reach of all, who are not already broken by disease; that it requires no money; that it is never too late to begin; and that one hour a day, properly spent, is all that is needed to secure it.
* ↑ See (page 159) how Mr. Bryant used those morning minutes, and how well he was repaid for it, too!
* ↑ See page 140.