The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-06-29
BEAUTY BUILDING
WITH A BROOM


OF course you always knew that
you could get exercise with broom.
You viii say Immediately that mil
lions of women in this country young
women, middle aged women, and old
women. get considerable exercise with
a broom every day of their lives.
But what kind of exercise?
A great proportion of these women
are prepared to tell US that not only
through the use of the broom but in
many other ways they find a great
deal of exercise in their homework.
But again, what kind of exercisef
The truth is that many millions OF
these same women who dc plenty Of
housework each day are anything
but inspiring examples of the posi-
bilities of physical culture.
There is a fundamental difference
between work and exercise. even
though there are certain varieties of
work which constitute ideal exercise.
And even though too much exercise
or too much of one kind of exercise
may take the form of work.
Work carried to a certain point
amount of strength. Beyond that
point it is exhausting. Exercise is
far more effective for building the
body and developing strength because
it is especially designed for the pur-
pose, and within proper limits is re-
freshing and invigorating instead of
exhausting. It tones one up and
gives increased energy instead of con-
Stunning it.
Work commonly overtaxes certain
muscles or groups of muscles while
neglecting others. Exercise brings
into play the neglected muscles, cor
recting any special weaknesses or de-
fects and giving the entire body a
uniform development of strength and
symmetry.
Exercise promotes the f1exibility of
the spine and Of all parts of the body,
raising the chest, improving the car
rage and imparting tone and vigor to
internal as well as external parts.
Work, on the contrary, is usually con-
ducive to poor bodily posture, with
stiffness and rigidity of all parts, and
this particularly, applies in the case
of hOusework, Nearly all of the
physical activities of housekeeping
are of a nature to bend the back,
drag the shoulders forward, cramp
the chest and give one that dropping,
tired out appearance that Immediately
suggests the need of something in the
nature Of setting up exercise
Now it is true that so far as the
use of broom is concerned, ordinary
sweeping provides certain amount
of exercise that is far better than no
exercise at all. For instance, any
woman who has experienced the
physical degeneration incident to
Years of an easy and stagnant life,
avoiding physical activity of any kind
whatever, and who has therefore
grown stout and soft, will be benefited
by effort of any kind-even vigorous
sweeping with an ordinary broom
For in such cases even poor exercise
is better than no activity at all And
this is why housework, with all its
failings from the physical culture
standpoint may be recommended to
large numbers of women
Sweeping is indispensable in main
tanning neat and clean house if one
does not arrange to accomplish this
by the use of vacuum cleaner or by
some other method, but after sweep
ing it is a simple enough matter to
overcome the craHping of the chest
and any stiffness Of the body by
few minutes spent in refreshing and
stimp1ating wand exercises perform
ed with the broom handle. Whether
after sweeping, or irrespective of any
sweeping whatever, a broom makes
an excellent gymnasium DEVISE
The more action one is able to put
into his or her exercise, whether with
broom, in free movements or in any
other form of training, the greater
the benefit. No movement should be
performed in a half-hearted way.
Each movement should be done with
pronounced stretch of the muscles
involved and with the expression of
as much energy as may be justified
by the type of exercises involved.
Five repetitions of any movement
executed with energy and spirit
would be more effective than rs repe-
t1t1ons performed in a perfunctory
manner. - From Beauty Building
With ECoom," by Dorothy Pearl
Buchanan in June Physical Gull
ture''