Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1888-09-13
EXERCISE FOB WOMEN.
Important Points That Must He Noted
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Important Points That Must be Noted at
the Very Outset.
| The graceful young lady invited me
one day to go out rowing with her. and
soon discovered that, in addition to
| other accomplishments. she was an ex-
pert oarswOman. And when, a few
days after, 1 returned the complim emit
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 rot 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 a 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 of
properly training the body as well as
the mind is now fully recognized, and
sturdier manhood is the result And
| it is 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 ard
exercise.
The chief difficulty is in making a
| beginning. What is the best form of
exercise? is a question frequently ask
ed. And there can be but one reply:
''Such exercise as will develop alike
all portions of the body" 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 a girls mind by forcing her to
follow single line of study, as Latin
Or mathematics, for example, would
be no greater folly than to try to de-
velop her physically by the practice of
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, l would advise that a
dozen or more ladies in community
form woman's athletic club, fit up a
small gymnasium and employ a COM
petent instructor a 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 sealslzin
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
standing with the arms and hands ex-
tended before you, and after taking d
full inspiration, touch the knuckles 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-
dered. Keep the head erect and the
shoulders thrown back, filling the
lungs as fully as possible at each
breath; make practice of doing so,
and before long the chest will begin to
expand, the lungs will demand more
air, and with the blood better oxygen
ated. the eye will grow brighter. the
cheeks more ruddy and the brain clear
er.-C. r. Dodge, in Wonaa's