Red River prospector. (Red River, Taos County, N.M.) 1900-190?, 1905-04-27

WORK FOR HEALTH
8 Exercise Absolutely Necessary to Keep the
Body in Proper Physical Condition 8


The %sedentary man is like a stag
nant pool, while the active man is like
the mountain stream. In the stag
nant pool reptiles of many descrip-
tons crawl and croak, and from it
noisome doors rise. The mountain
stream is pure and sweet and crystal
clear.
The body is a form through which
a stream of matter flows. Exercise
is the means by which the movement
of the stream is accelerated so that
the blood is kept pure and the tissues
clean. The Bible says that he that
will not work shall not eat, and Ma
ture says the same. A man who in
sists upon eating, even though he
does not work, pays the penalty for
his violation of natural law. The food
he eats becomes poison in the it's
sues; his body is not only like the
stagnant pool, but it becomes even like
a cesspool, and ready food for germs.
Exercise increases the ability of the
body to resist a disease. 1t encour-
ages every bodily function, creates
appetite for food and the ability to
digest when eaten. 1t strengthens the
heart, clears the brain and enlivens
the spirit.
How much must one exercise? How
much muscular work must one do to
maintain good health? According to
recent English authorities the average
man should do, daily, work equiva-
lent to climbing a perpendicular lad
der one-half mile, or twenty-six nun
dred feet high. If one lived in the
vicinity of Leukerbad, Switzerland, or
in the neighborhood of certain deep
mines, he might actually climb such
a ladder. Ordinarily, some other more
convenient method of exercise must
be adopted. 1t has beer determined
that walking twenty feet on a level,
at the rate of three miles an hour, is
equivalent to lifting the body perpen-
dicuiarly the distance of n foot.
Hence, n may, if he chooses, walk
ten miles, instead of climbing a lad
der half a mile high. OF course, hill
climbing and mountain climbing will
accomplish the same thing as ladder
climbing, and if one chooses t. do
the work indoors, he may work out his
task in stair climbing. Going up and
down a flight of stairs ten feet high is
equivalent to raising the body about
twelve feet perpendicularly. Hence,
one might do the required amount of
work by going up and down such a
fight Of stairs one hundred and sew
enteen times. But, first, he may do
tho uyorl~ xuhf1a cfonlfnn l., oor-a.
and raising himself on his toes. In
such exercise the body is elevated
about three inches. Hence, four heel
raisings would be eqUira'ent to rails
ing the body one foot, and to raise the
body half a mile, or twenty-six hun-
dred feet, it would be necessary to
rise upon the toes ten thousand four
hundred times. One might easily ex-
ecute this movement at the rate of
n a second, which would be fifteen
feet a minute, or nine hundred feet
an hour. At this rate the days task
would be accomplished in about three
hours. But it would be very tiresome
to do the work in this way, for almost
the entire amount of work would be
thrown upon a single set of muscles.
By placing the hands upon the back
of a chair or upon a table the arms
may be used to assist in lifting the
body so that the movements can be
executed much more easily. More or
less weight can be thrown upon the
arms.
By raising upon the heels and bend
ing the knees, the body may be alter
nately raised and lowered through a
distance of about two feet. The exc
cution of such a movement requires
nearly four seconds. or fifteen to the
minute. The body would thus be lift
ed thirty times a minute, and an hour
and a half would be required to do
the days work. By placing weights
upon the shoulders the rate at which
the work is lone would be increased,
and time shortened. But, on the whole,
there is no method of accomplishing
the work so good as walking, and par
ticularly climbing a hill with a mod
erately steep grade.
Bicycle riding, if not o~verdone, is
excellent exercise. To accomplish the
same amount of work riding a bicy-
Gle, one must cover about four times
the distance required for walking.
Most city people, outside the labor
ing classes, take far too little exer-
else. AS a result the deficient oxida-
ton of the body wastes and the accu-
mutation of uric acid and other tissue
poisons after a time result in rheum-
atism, neurasthenia, apoplexy, prema-
ture old age and a great variety of
disorders which may be traced more
or less directly to uric-acid accumula-
tiOn.