The Savannah morning news., 1901-01-06
COMMON SENSE EXERCISE.
ENGLISH EXPERT on ATHLETICS,
TELLS HOW TO GET EXERCISE.

Indoor Exercise should he Taken in
nasiums Too HOt-Light and Loose
Clothing should BE WOrn-use the
Large Muscles as Much as Possi-
BILE, Pay Attention to Your Breath-
ing, and Above All, Don't Worry
While Neutrality-suspicious. Are the
Best Form of Exercising, Because
of the Element of Enjoyment nn6
Competition.
Copyright, 1901 by f. Miles
New York, Jan. 4--Probabiy no sane
person would deny the value of exercise.
Practically every one believes that exer-
else is essential to health. But few peo-
pie get one quarter of the exercise that
they could. l wish here to suggest UNI
Ter what conditions exercise is least tir-
ing, and, therefore under what conditions
a greae deal of exercise can be got
through without exhaustion.
Health is, of course, all-imnortant and
in my own case the state OF health de-
Ponds On the diet l get my nourish-
ment entirely from 1eshless foods, but to
attempt any general rules of diet is futile
What suits one man may be quite unit
for another Sleep, again, is very i'm
portant. After a sleepless night people
soon get tired. Occasional sleepless nights
may be to some extent inevitable, but
they are less fatal to endurance if the
air of the sleeping room be fresh.
A most important point is the breathing
Many people get out of breath chiefly be-
cause they breathe wrongly. Special
breathing exercises should be practiced,
the nose being the means of sucking in
the air. The breathing should fill the
chest upward and outward. And the
clothing has considerable effect upon ia
tigue. 1t should be as light as possible,
and should not be too light, especially
around the waist. The shoes should be
of the right shape, setting themselves to
the lines of the foot, and should not be too
tight, nor too loose.
OF course, exercise done correctly is far
less firing than exercise done incorrectly
Notice how any one who learns to cycle
will use up three times the amount
of force that the experienced cyclist
have to be done correctly, and
they have to be combined cor
rectly. 1t is this coordination, this divis-
len of labor this economical way OF
working the muscles end nerves, that
makes expert exercise far less exhaust
ing than inexcert. The more the correct
movements become easy and. automatic,
the less nerve force is needed. And, be-
sides, these automatic foundation move
ments, if the expression may be used, re,
lieve the mind from drudgery. AS soon
s~eal nd
mental effort, the mind can give itself
over to enj ying the exercise, whatever its
form may be- He who can bicycle without
any thought about his balance, ETC., can
enjoy the scenery.
But the best athletic enjoyment comes
through games, partly because OF >thelf
social value. In games properly played
there is always the element OF enjoyment
and this seems almost to double the
amount of work which the body can gel
through. Competition, which also enters
in, is another potent antidote to tatlgue
From the heart we may learn great
lesson. The Work it does is almost meal
culable. and vet we do not feel fatigue
in the heart, in spite of all the ways II
which we misuse it; for example, Whci
we put poison into the blood. one reason
why the heart works so well is that II
is a practiced organ. 1t does its work IT
the shortest and best ray. But another
reason is that its action is rhythmlcal ono
regular Rhythmical exercise is only nan
as firing as irregular exercise. Hence
music and singing may be great help
and may actually keep away fatigue.
Another secret of endurance is to use
the large muscles of the body as muct
as possible 1t is jast as firing to Wig
gle the little finger a thousand times
as to do some huge movement, Tor IL
stance, with the hips and shoulders
which may be hundred times better eX-
ercise. A golf swing, or stroke at
game, may bring into play ever so many
huge muscles, and yet be not in the Ieas'
fetiguing This is particularly so be
cause the muscles are large and capapic
of enduring heavy work.
This is why walking, which, if we con
slider the weight carried and the total oil
muscular eXertiou, must be accounted
heavy work is not firing. Another reason
why walking is such good exercise is that
each great movement is a preparation fol
the next. An instance of this continuitJ
of effort is the court tennis or racke
stroke An ordinary stroke may be mad
with the body facing sideways; the han(
moves from behind and above, and makes
sweep with the racket, and then ends
up with the racket in the air and tn,
body facing nearly forward. This l.
just the position which we wish to have
between the strokes of the games. Thu
the stroke itself leads to the waiting po
sition.
Another secret of good exercise is 4
stop before fatigue has reached seri
Gus stage. We can cover fully three timel
the stretch of ground If we run, a littl'
and then walk three times that dstanc'
and then run again, and so on. o
course, different exercises require differ
ent rules, but there are many forms o
exercise which are better done in a mum
Der of short spells rather than in on
long, persistent effort.
Worry and hard work use I'D nnucI
nerve force, and SO leave less nerve force
for exercise. But, on the other hand, tn,
exercise will free the blood from som,
of its impurities, and thus counteract tn.
effect of worry. 1t seems almost as /
pure blood were as valuable to exercis,
as strong blood is. The blood of the In
dams, who can run fifty miles in the day
is not strong, at least, ii Is not strong
because of much food, but it is apparent
ly very pure.
In conclusion, then, If you would talk,
| much exercise with ease and enjoyment
| here is a summing up of the main points
| Be careful and temperate in Diet go [,
| bed early; breathe correctly: use ligh
| clothing and proper shoes; do the exer
else correctly; especially practice the in
! dividual parts Of it by themselves before
| hand, till they become easy and half uu
tomato; play games or use some othe
form of competition; move rhythmicaly