The times., 1899-03-19
ATHLETIC FEAfS
FOR new WOMEN
Every Home Should Maintain
Its Own Gymnasium.
Nothing Improves the Temperament
Like Physical Training.
He Neither Fat Nor Thin, Ner-
vOus Nor sluggish.

Any ordinary room in which there is
good air and sunlight will answer for a
gymnasium. The larger the better. The
beginner need have nothing more than a
pair OF dumb bells or pair OF clubs
Either of which she may buy for one dol
lar. bathing suit or a bicycle suit. II
loose and comfortable. makes very good
costume. A pair Of bloomers and blouse
we'll cut is also very practical. A pair OF
full woven black stockings and heelless
slippers are indispensable.
a long mirror in which the gynnast can
watch her own motions is great advan-
tage to a home gymnasium. But not es-
sential. From book on exercise by al
most any good author a woman can get any
number of motions and exercises, and she
must decide what is best and most necessa-
ry for her.
Excessive exercise is Injurious and should
be avoided. Excessive exercise and no ex-
ercise at all produce similar results Stop
exercising just before nature calls out
strongly against further bodily activity.
Just reach the tired point and stop before
exhaustion. No law can be laid down as
to how much exercise should be taken at
one time. Each individual must be a
guide to herself. woman should exer-
else chiefly with light weights and make
quick movements, and never. when out Of
training. try the limit of her strength.
The most important gymnasium for wo-
me in this country is under the manage
ment OF Watson L. Savage, VI. D.. medi-
cal director OF Columbia University on
West Fifty-ninth Street. Glasses begin
with the kindergarten and progress TO the
postgraduate teachers course. The wo-
men have the use of the gymnasium and
every privilege and advantage which is ac-
corded the men.
Every woman who enters is carefully ex-
amined in order TO discover just what form
of exercise will be most advantageous to
her. In cases where women of children are
very delicate or have some decided physi-
cal defect that needs rectifying. they ex-
ercise in the medical room of the gymna-
SUM under the personal supervision OF
Miss Marien Foye Carter. This is called
corrective work and is intended TO correct
all physical imperfections such as, curva-
ture of the spine, cramped chests or weak
neeks or backs. The gymnasium proper is
occupied during the day and the evening
by girls and women training to improve
their physical condition generally. Some
come to reduce flesh, others to reduce or
develop various parts OF the body.
Nothing could be more applicable or
practicable to the home gymnast than the
hints on physical health and training that
DIR. Savage advances to his normal classes,
of which the following are few:
THE best time to exercise is between 10
and Il o'clock in the forenoon and between
and o'clock in the afternoon. If exer-
cising before breakfast makes you feel
faint or weak then the early morning is
not the time for you to work Sometimes
glass of milk, a little oatmeal, OF toast
will make early morning exercise possible
without injurious effects II you exercise
at night let your exercise be at least one
half hour before bedtime. 1t is best to go
to bed with the blood in its normal circu-
lation: sleep is easiest under such condi-
tions.
THE minimum for brain workers to ex-
ereise is two hours per week, divided into
four days of the week. Their exercise
should be before the perspiration is reab-
sorbed by the body. Do not lounge around
until the suit and the skin become dry
again.
For nervous temperaments slow exer-
else is the best, while the rapid exercise is
recommended for the phlegmatic. For wo-
men with disposition toward melancholia
the most beneficial form of exercise
Addressing his normal girls on the sub
ject of food DR.. Savage said:
Never exercise just before or after
meal. At least one-half hour should be
allowed before. and two hours and half
after eating. Masticate the food thorough
ly, do not hurry through your meals and
eat rich foods with great discretion. Drink
plenty Of water between meals. but avoid
excessive drinking at meals. One glass of
water should be sufficient. 1t is better to
use hot drinks at meal times. and do not
drink ice tea at any time. A refreshing
drink to take during the intervals when ex-
ercsing is made by putting cooked oat meal
in water; let it soak and settle
In one of his talks on breathing Dr. Saw
age strongly advised his girls to breathe
through the mouth when extreme physical
effort makes it necessary. do not take
short, quick gasps for normal breathing
he said. breathe so as to fill every cell
with pure air. The largest and strongest
animals in the world breathe from six TO
ten breaths per minute. while the smallest
and weakest breathe from two hundred to
three hundred per minute. The manner in
which we breathe is one Of the most impor-
tant factors in developing human strength.
1t is a good practice TO take a long. deep
breath and hold it in the lungs few sec
onds: each day increase the time OF holding
the breath until one minute or one minute
and a half is reached. Breathing exercises
increase the exterior chest and develop the
Interior
Chapters could be written on sleeping.
DR.. Savage suggests the following rules,
Sleep on a mattress laid over spring.
sleep mostly on one side, breathe through
the nose and keep the mouth shut. Have
a certain hour for rising and a certain hour
for retiring Get up Immediately upon
waking.