The Savannah morning news., 1903-07-26
TO GET STRONG
DURING VACATION
A Little Talk on the Part That
Brains Play in the Develop
ment of Muscle.

v.
Any boy, no matter how weak and
puny he is, can be % ne stronger and
get a good body.
Strength is not a gift. 1t is some
thing that can be acquired.
To acquire 1t, all that you need is
'brairs" and "gumption." Every one
of you has brains and gumption hid
den about you somewhere. The thing
that you reed is to pull them into
sight.
Look around you and see how many
persons, young and old, dawdle. They
dawdle when they walk, when they
work" even when they talk, Some
people can't even laugh heartily, be-
cause they haven't 'gumption" enough
to do anything heartily.
It's the same old thing that you see
in the maxims in your copy books
and in the proverbs in your readers:
Whatever you do, do it with all your
might.
1t sounds "preachy," but it is the
only way to succeed in anything
athletics, for instance. Just make your
brain watch sharply when you begin
to go through your exercises and see
if it doesn't catch your body trying
to shirk. That body of yours doesn't
want to do a bit of work. You must
make it.
Make your body do any exercise
correctly and with all your Nigh"
twelve times and you will gain more
than if merely plodded through the
same exercises one numbered times.
All you need to do is try it, watch
ing yourself all the time as you would
watch somebody else whom you don't
trust.
Lift a one-pound dumbbell and do
the biceps exercise with it in a nice,
easy, lazy manner in front of a mir
ror. Then set your teeth and brace
every muscle of your body as If some
body had hold of you and were trying
to throw you. Now do the exercise
and see how differently your muscles
are showing all over your chest, stom-
ach and arms.
The instruction to set your teeth
is one to observe carefully. Do you
know why people always believe that
@ man with square, firm jaws has lot
of grit and character?
1t is because no man can do any
Kind of work, and particularly physi-
cal work. without setting his jaws
firmly. 1t is one of the unconscious
muscular contractions that accom-
panies the contractions of other mus
cles of the body.
So, if you work with all your might
you will discover some day that your
jaw muscles have developed with the
rest You will have a firm mouth be-
cause you have hauled your ''gump-
ton" out of it's hiding place and made
it your ally.
With 'gumption," the simplest
forms of exercise in the world will
give you fine muscles. Without 1t
you can work steadily for years and
get it only slowly.
Take, for instance. the most simple
muscle developing motion that there
is. 1t is the motion of raising and
lowering the upper arm swiftly with
the elbows held tightly to the sides.
If you wish to see what can be done
with this and what cannot be done,
| look at the photographs showing the
same boy doing the same motion in
| the wrong way and then in the right
way.
When he posed for the photograph
showing the wrong way, he was in
structed to do the exercise in the
easiest way possible, and not to exert
himself in the least. Then he was
told to do it by bracing all his mus
cles. The photograph shows the enor-
nous difference. 1t is hard to believe
that the same boy could have posed
for both photographs.
Thus it is easy to see that the boy
who exercises indolently could not
possibly get the benefit from one hun
dred motions that can be obtained in
even half dozen done the right way.
1t is the same old story of the lazy
mans load" The boy who exercises
without ''gumption" must in the end
do any number of times the work that
would need to be done if he does
things with all his might.
To realize how important part the
'bracing" of the muscles plays in their
development, stand in front of a mir
ror again with your elbow held firmly
to your sides and your upper arm ex-
tended at q right angle. Now, without
| moving the arm at all. simply clench
your fists as tightly as you possibly
can. Clench them as if you were try
ing to force your finger tips through
the palm of your hand. Alternately
loosen and tighten the fist and observe
how your biceps and triceps muscles
and the muscles of the lower arm ex-
| pand.
After this experiment you will not
need to be told that you could make
your muscles grow merely by "brac-
ing" them.
This habit of getting a brace on"
your muscles shows nowhere to such
advantage as in rowing. The person
who rows with all his muscles work
ing properly makes a fine spectacle
The person who merely pulls the
boat, crouching in it and Juggling at
the oars looks like a rag alongside Of
the finished oarsman.
In the first place learn that the
thwart of the boat-the seat whether
it is a sliding seat or a stationary one
is there merely to let the body rest
on it. Theoretically an oarsman is able
to row just as we'll without a seat as
with it. In practice, of course, he
must be supported by the seat, because
otherwise his muscles would be taxed
too much in supporting his body. But
for the direct act of rowing, the seat
is not to be considered.
When the upper body is we'll pulled
back and the legs are extended in
front and firmly placed against the
"stretchers" the sticks that furnish
brace for the feet-the weight of the
body on the oars is practically suffi-
Gent to keep the oarsman in position.
In fact, in some countries the native
oarsmen rise from their thwarts when
pulling at their oars and do not sink
back on the seat till the blade leaves
the water and they begin to recover
the oar. Sailors in Whaleboats. and
other heavy ships boats, row in some,
hnf f17a con