The Arizona sentinel., 1888-09-29
EXERCISE FOR WOMEN.
Important Points That Must Be Noted at
 the Very Outset.

Important Points That Must Be Noted al
 the Very Outset.
 The graceful young lady invited me
 one day to go out rowing with her, and
 1 soon discovered that, in addition to
 other accomplishments, she was an ex-
 pert Oarswoman. And when, a few
 days after, returned the complim ent
 by inviting her to take front seat on
 my tandem tricycle. for short spin,
 she still further won my admiration by
 accomplishing distance of over eight miles with so little fatigue she was
 sorry on her return that she had not
 made a longer run.
 While many people are naturally graceful, as others are by nature awk. ward, there are few who will not be- come more supple, stronger, healthier. and therefore better able to resist dis. ease by judicious physical training; and to girl or woman exercise is far more essential than to boy or man, because so much of woman's life is spent with in doors, and her employments are so exacting and oftentimes so wearying. At our universities the importance ol properly training the body as well as the mind is now fully recognized, and sturdier manhood is the result. And it is a favorable sign of the times that the women of America are each year showing a greater degree of interest in the athletic movement, and begin to realize the possibilities for better health through plenty of fresh air and exercise.
 The chief difficulty is in making a beginning. What is the best form of exercise? is question frequently ask ed. And there can be but one reply: ''Such exercise as will develop alike all portions of the body.n If one has hollow chest and round shouldered the chest must be expanded and the lungs increased in size. If the arms and back are weak these muscles must be strengthened; and if the muscles of the lower limbs are in such condition that one must always rely upon carriage or street car-unless there is organic trouble-they must be brought under the hardening process.
 Thus it is seen that there is no one "best form of exercise" To attempt to train girls mind by forcing her to follow a single line of study, as Latin or mathematics, for example, would ben greater folly than to try to de- velop her physically by the practice of single form of exercise, as walking or swinging Indian clubs. For one who has never taken exercise system atically the gymnasium is the best place to make a beginning, and in many of our large cities now there are gymnasiums either specially fitted for women's use, or where ladies can practice and receive instructions dur ing certain hours. Where there are no such places, would advise that dozen or more ladies in community form a woman's athletic club, fit up small gymnasium and employ con- petent instructor few hours each day; and my word for it, the small outlay will prove far better investment in a very few months than if put into Western mining stock or a sealskin cloak.
 But here is an important point to note at the very outset. One can not indulge in any form of physical exer- else in tightly-fitting garments or stays and receive benefit from it. If you do not believe it, put an animal into stays and see with how much grace it will walk-until it falls or lies down.
 The first thing to ascertain is the ca pacity of the lungs. How often do you draw full breath? Can you, when with the arms and hands ex- tended before you, and after taking full inspiration, touch the knuclkles be- hind the back without the tendency to coughP Can you touch the backs of the hands at all in this position, or even make the elbows meet without assist ance? Try it, reader, not once, but often; if you can not accomplish it at first keep at it until it is accomplished, and you will be surprised in time to find you are not quite so round-shOul- 1ered. Keep the head erect and the shoulders thrown back, filling the lungs as fully as possible at each breath; make a practice of doing so, and before long the chest will begin to the lungs will demand moro air, and with the blood better oxygen ated, the eye will grow brighter, the checks more ruddy and the brain clear ,r.-C F. DOd0e. i21 WOD2a31.