The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-06-04
SOME HEAVYWEIGHT LIFTING.
A Professional Gives Interesting Point
ers on How 1t Is to be Done.

rum HS CNtCugO @huH.
Speaking of dumo-bell work and heavy
lifting" said a well-known actor. who is
also well-known amateur athlete, to a re-
porter, ''let me tell you that these seeming
feats of almost superhuman strength are
greatly due for their success to sleight. A
certain amount of muscle and physical
strength is, of course, necessary, but well
and properly trained athlete no difference
Ii he be a slender man and not above the
average in strength, can accomplish with
ease feats of seeming muscular proves
which would be perfectly impossible to an
unframed man of thrice his power. For
an example of this theory, and to prove the
truth of my assertions, let me give an ex-
planatory instance. Come upstairs to my
ROOM l have a pair of dumb-bells there
which are just right for the purpose"
The reporter assembled the steps with the
Thespian Hercules to his apartments.
Here, now; look at this dumb-bell, said
the actor Now put it over your head
Whats Can't do it, Oh, yes, you can, after
L give you a few instructions. It only
weighs 65 pounds. See here" and with a
slow but steady movement the heavy
weight was hoisted, first to the shoulder,
then up over the head to arms length, while
the muscles of the arms and neck swelled
and stood out like whipcord under the
strain. Again and yet again the dumb-bell
was lowered and then raised TILL after the
third time, a little "winded". and red in the
face, the performer let the heavy iron balls
to the floor.
'There is required some muscle, to be
sure, but not more than the average young
man possesses. 1t is all in the knack of do
ing it-all in knowing how. Two minutes
ago you would have sworn that you could
not raise that dumb-bell to your Shoulder
with one hand, and yet in two minutes
more; if you have half the strength you APP
pear to have, you will be able to put that
bell up as easily as did Now catch it in
your right hand-the dumb-bell lying
parallel with your foot as you stand.
Straighten up. There, that's right. Now
stand firmly on both feet. toes out, feet a
little apart, and your weight resting on
your heels. Raise the bell, by contracting
the muscles of the arm, to the height of the
waist; now bring it in front of you. Turn
your hand so the tinger-tips, closed around
the handle, are uppermost Close the fore
arm tight upon the upper arm; now brace
yourself and lift slowly, steadily straight
upward"
The reporter did as he was told, and,
much to his surprise, with some exertion the
go pounds of cold iron went up past his
! right ear, heavenward, to the length of his
good right arm.
Now, let it down slowly-steady, there,
or you'll drop it-bring it down straight, as
it went up; turn your hand when opposite
the waist-there you are-now lay the
dumb-bell on the carpet and listen to me.
"Yo on don't know why you couldn't raise
that weight when you first tried it, do Youl
Didn't know howe That's just 1t; and about
ninety nine men out of every hundred are
just as ignorant in that regard as you were.
I'll tell you exactly why you failed on your
first attempt. You tried to swing the bell
up-to get il TO the height of your shoulder
by momentum gained by giving it a con-
stantly accelerating pendulous motion, to
be explicit. You couldn't do it. The CEN
trifugal force generated by that pendulous
motion would have thrown you off your
feet before it had acquired swing enough
to have thrown the bell through the arc
| triangulated by two straight hn5s-one
horizontally reaching from the point of the
shoulder forward, and the other perpendi-
cularly reaching from the point of the
shoulder up to the point where the bell
| must have been to have placed the center
of gravity of the bell directly above the
| shoulder. You felt the tendency of this
force and gave up the attempt in
suinctively. 1t is a second nature with any
unframed man in attempting to raise a
heavy weight to swing it up. If the weight
| to be lifted SURPRISES a certain ratio to the
| height and weight or the man swinging III
he either gives up the attempt or is thrown
to the ground That was the way you tried
to put that dumb-bell over your shoulder,
and that is the reason you failed. You see,
after you get the weight to a certain height
by slowly, steady, upward lift, by holding
| it as near in the line of gravity (which goes
through the bells down the arm, trunk and
leg to the ground, you get nice balance
on the shoulder point, which is strong
enough to bear great weight. Holding the
arm in that position for a moment the
weight is removed from the muscles of the
| arm to the bones and frame of the body.
This allows the muscles to change for the
straight upward movement of the shoulder
which brings into play an entirely different
set of muscles, and, gathering all your force
with the expectation of what is coming, it
Is steadily and gradually applied, and up
goes the weight.
''These simple laws were known and ap-
preciated by all athletes-though half of
them could not explain the reasons for the
different modes of using their muscles-and
it is this knowledge which enables them to
accomplish seemingly impossible feats of
strength.
1.-The old adage, knowledge is power is
aDtlv demonstrated is it uOtIb