The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-06-28
HOW TO GET STRONG
Vacation Time Talks to Show
Boys How They May Become
Athletes Within a Few Months.

Every boys first thought, when he
considers athletics, is to get a big
muscle. OF all the muscles of the
body that can be made big by exer-
else, he prizes most highly the biceps,
the muscle on the upper arm, and most
boys are content once they are able
to show an egg" when they bend their
arm and make the biceps tense.
Now of all parts of the human anat-
omy, the muscles are the easiest to de-
velop, and of all the muscles it is the
most easy to develop the biceps.
Any boy, no matter how puny he
may be, can develop his muscles, or
any set of them, so that they will be
big enough 10 command respect any
where. And he can do it in an amazing
short time if he will stick to il and
work steadily.
Steady work is the secret. To do
hard exercise for few days until you
are completely tired out, and then to
do nothing al all for few succeeding
days, is useless. The muscle grows,
not from being subjected to heavy
strains. but from being moved con-
stantly.
makes MUSCLE. nat Is les
son No. l TO remember.
Motion exercises can be used for the
biceps more readily than for any other
muscle. You can exercise the biceps
and other arm muscles even when
walking along the street. Merely hold
your arms fairly rigid so as to make
all the muscles tense and then open
and shut your hands in rapid success
sion.
10 IL
exercise is to brace both upper arms
very firmly to the sides of the body,
exercising enough pressure to squeeze
the ribs soundly. Then bring the low
er arm with fists tightly clenched
swiftly up as far as you can double il
without moving the upper arms. Do
this a few hundred times in succession
at least once a day and you will find
that you biceps is beginning to take
on the noble knots and bumbs of a
champion strong man.
But remember that in this exercise,
as in practically every other the best
part of the result is not attained If you
are lazy enough to do it with fabby
and lax muscles. You must clinch your
fists and brace your arms as they
would be strained if you were trying
to lift a heavy weight.
"Laziness" is the secret of the nom
success of most persons who try ath-
letics and fail to develop any really
satisfactory muscle. By this is meant
not the laziness that makes a person
loaf and dodge work, but the uncon-
scious laziness that makes him use
only one muscle or only one set of
muscles for work that should be done
by the use of all the muscles.
Lots of boys and men exercise in
gymnasiums without really straining
their muscles. They PULL at heavy
weights and at apparatus instead of
LIFTING. They PUSH the punch
ing bag instead of STRIKING. They
FOUNDER UP the rope or the in
clined ladder instead of CLIMBING.
So, if a boy thinks that he is doing
the short arm exercise just described,
when he stands slouched and loose
jointed, and flaps his arms up and
down. he is extremely mistaken. He
is not doing athletics. He is Laying"
even while he imagines that he is
working like a Trojan.
An objection to this short arm ex-
ercise is that it does not do more than
to exercise the biceps muscle. There
fore. the use of light weights in both
hands is to be recommended
Many professional athletics instruc-
tors advice against the use of dumb
bells weighing more than one-half
pound, but there is no real reason why
boy of average muscular strength
should not use one or two-pound
dumb-bells with advantage.
AS soon as any such weight is used
with the short arm exercise, you will
find that your abdominal muscles are
called on suddenly and strongly. And
that is even a greater advantage than
the advantage of the arm muscles.
Now don't make the mistake that is
made by many men and boys of trying
to avoid the use of the abdominal
muscle under the impression that you
Will rob the arm of the work that you
wish to give it. The more you can
make all the muscles act in conjunc-
ton. the more you will be making
real athlete of yourself and-the bet