Sacramento daily record-union., 1890-09-16
pERsuAD1Ne BACK THE WAIST.
The Philosophy of Taking Of Fat from
the Loins and Abdomen.


It is not so much mans weight that
troubles him as the part of the body where
the weight is located A man may not be
tall and may weigh over 180 pounds, but
will not trouble him anything like so
much as if he were taller and lighter with
thin arms, thin legs, a small chest, and
big stomach. This is often overlooked by
people in getting down their weight By
following any of number of systems per-
sistently mans weight may be reduced,
but the proportions of his figure may not
be altered. What most people who have
too much weight are after is not only to
lose the excess of fat, but to attain to a
neat figure. A big-boned man naturally
weighs more than small-boned man. The
big-boned man may weigh thirty or forty
pounds more and still have the better
figure.
Exercise, care in diet and abstinence
from fluids with meals will bring mans
weight down; so will sickness. Yet no
one wants the loss of weight that C mes
from sickness. That is because the waste
is supplied by the tissues all over the
body, by the arms and the legs as well as
the waist. In some forms of sickness the
waist may even increase while the weight
diminishes.
Based on this, several new systems for
reducing the weight and preserving the
figure have come up. They are consid-
cred by the directors of the large gymna-
Sums in advising their pupils as to what
exercise to take.
A man with spindle legs is told to go
through exercises which will enlarge his
calves and thigh muscles a man with a
small chest takes chest exercise man
with small arms takes arm exercises.
This is more trouble than most people
care to go through They have not the
time or the energy and persistence.
Neither would it seem proper and digni-
fed for member of the Union Club to
run around track, or for one of the
Matriarchs of the 400 to jump up and
down on spring board or to pull big
weights at arms length. These people
have reached an age when they do not
give much attention to the symmetrical
development of the muscles of the body.
That might do for their children or their
grandchildren, but they have not enough
years to live to spend them at it.
To suit these pei DE some exercises have
been devised which may be practiced to
advantage by other people as well. They
are not complete, and they do not develop
all the muscles of the body but taken
with care, they do not do any harm, and
they will anyhow do good to the digestion,
if to nothing else. 1t is always desira-
bic thing to have a neat trim waist, or if
not neat, trim waist, to have some waist,
instead of larger circumference where
the waist should be than around the
chest. If the surplus fat is removed from
the waist, it improves the figure and does
not require the great care and exercise
which a thorough system Of weight-re
duction needs, unless it is taken under the
supervision of some specialist who fur
nishes the advcse and the care.
Naturally there is a certain symmetrical
proportion between the waist measure and
the other measurements of the body. This
proportion is not the same at all ages, nor
for people of all builds, but it may
roughly be stated in the case of man that
the waist measurement and the inside
trousers seam should be the same. That
is, if the trousers leg is thirty-two inches,
the waist should be about thirty-two
inches. A margin of one or two inches
does not matter much, and will usually be
found in the case of very tall or very short
men. This ratio of the waist holds good
in ordinary cases.
The way to reduce the waist is to sweat
it and to exercise its muscles Exercising
the muscles of the arm increases their size,
but if it is the arm of a fat man 1t will not
increase the weight of the arm. The cir
conference may be greater at the point Of
greatest expansion when the muscle is con-
tracted. But the arm will not have the
same roly-poly appearance that it had
before, and it will not weigh so much.
Even il the weight should be same, there
will be some decrease there and great ad-
vantage in strength and appearance.
There are several exercises good for re-
ducing the waist One of the best of them
is to, lie down full length on the floor and
to pull yourself up with your abdominal
muscles. The exercise strengthens these
muscles and gives them greater power Of
contracting. 1t also works the fat off them.
1t is advisable during part of the exercise
to wear a flannel or wooden bandage
around the waist, in order to work the fat
of more rapidly. The wearing of flannel
or woolen bandage on horseback also re-
duoes the waist. This is the case even
when the riding is so mild as not to
reduce the general weight. The
general weight may even increase
with great reduction of the waist. Any
bouncing or friction of the abdomen tends
to work off the fat. The fat accumulates
in the muscles because they are not used
enough to work it of. Fat has tendency
to deposit in the least used muscles and its
deposition tends to still less frequent use
of the muscles, and in turn to greater
accumulation of fat. 1t is not necessary to
hire rubber or to go Turkish baths to get
the friction. Any man can pound upon
his own stomach. He can also rub his
sides and back with rough towels and flesh
brushes.
This treatment need not be violent or
tiresome, only it should be persisted in a
few minutes at time will do. A little
exercise Of the abdominal muscles in get
ting up in the morning and before going to
bed, with rubbing and pounding of the
abdomen, sides and back, will reduce the
waist to its proportionate size in few
months Gross eating and drinking can
neutralize this treatment, but no change in
diet is needed under it. 1t will assist the
reduction if iermented liquors are not
drunk with meals, and it will greatly as
sist it if no fluids are drunk with meals,
but they can be taken and worked of.
ROUND ABOUT FOLSOM.