Evening Star Newspaper, January 12, 1930, Page 86

| —— THE SUNDAY STAR, WASH]NGTO!EI, D. C, JANUARY 12, 1930. Hozw the Business Man, Deprived of Golf and Other Outdoor Recreation at This Time of Year, Can Maintain Bodily Vigor and Good Health—As Told by a Trainer of Athletes. [¥ BY LAWSON ROBERTSON. Track coach at the University of Penn- sylvania, head coach of the United States Olympic teams in 1924 and 1928, in youth a Jjamous athlete and now an equally famous athletic director and builder of physically fit men. ODERN man is like a bear in that / he goes into physical hiberna- tion during the Winter months. The difference between the hu- man and the animal, however, is that Mr. Grizzly can come out of his favorite tree stump at the first breath of Spring with- out feeling any ill effects from his long sleep, whereas Mr. Man's body is farther below par at the end of the Winter than at any other time during the year. This business of keeping fit in Winter is tremendously important, although the majority of persons do not seem fully to appreciate it. A man must fast, physic, exercise or become sick. Any annual report of vital statistics will disclose that there is more sickness and the death rate is higher in Winter than in any other proporticnal division of the year. Yet most of us are prone to do nothing about it. The advent of Winter «chases us off the golf course, and, except for a comparatively few days that are throwbacks to Indian Summer, keeps us off for at least three months. It cuts down on the amount of sunshine and, conse- quently, of healthful outdoor recreation. We go indoors for our hibernation and, unfortun- ately, most of us stay there until Spring comes around, forgetting that our muscles were made to use and our lungs to inhale good, fresh air that purifies our entire system. When Winter comes, it is not at all necessary for us to shut up our physical workshop and Jet it rust away for a dozen weeks or more. The process of keeping fit—of remaining right up to the mark—can be carried on just as easily when the snow is on the ground as when Old Sol is beaming down in all his Midsummer splendor. THE problem of keeping fit in Winter—if you want to call it a problem—may be solved by adherence to two cardinal rules. The first rule involves deep breathing and the second requires that the abdomen be kept rigid. When properly done, walking is an exercise that com- bines those rules. There are several minor points that it would be well to remember, but those two are pre- eminent—deep breathing and a sagless stom- ach. For if you want to keep a stiff upper lip, you have to keep your stomach stiff. The importance of the two rules I have mentioned will be proved by physicians or. any other person who is conversant with the make. up of the human body, who will tell you that deep breathing and keeping the abdomen rigid are the principal secrets of logevity. Then, too, there are some very simple and fundamental physical exercises that are valu- able adjuncts. They are not difficult to per- form and do not require much time in their execution. They go hand-in-glove with the necessity of keeping the stomach from sagging. The two exercises to which I have reference will require no more than 5 or 10 minutes a day to perform. If possible, they should be done twice daily, but that is not essential; once is really sufficient. They are alternate exercises and they are executed as follows: 1. Sitting up from a lying-down position with the hands behind the neck. This develops the stomaclh muscles. 2. Raising the legs from a prone position to &n angle of 45 degrees and lowering them slowly. This exercises the abdominal muscles. When a person first tries these exercises, he is soon convinced how little stomach and ab- dominal development is possessed by the aver- age human being, because some soreness will result from the first few days of effort. This is true of any muscle in the body that has been long in disuse. If these two alternate exercises are tried— and I strongly urge people who would keep fit to attempt them—they should not be done vio- lently at the beginning. Caution should be employed in the early stages of the exercising, which later should be increased gradually after the muscles have limbered up from their first touches of soreness. The best time to take these exercises is in the morning and again later in the day if it is possible. It is not beneficial to indulge in heavy physical work immediately before retir- ing, because this brings the heart up to a too rapid action and is not conducive to good sleep. At bedtime the heart action* should reduce gradually. However, the exercises I have de- scribed hardly can be classed as heavy ones, unless the individual himself makes them so, and it probably would not be injurious to take them at night if no other time during the day can be found for them. Walking is not strenu- ous and will not accelerate the heart action to Lawson Robertson, head coach of the United States Olympic teams in 1924 and 1928, famous athletic director and builder of physical fit men. a harmiul point if indulged in just before re- tiring. The belly of & human being may be fat— layers of fat may cover the muscles—but it shouldn't sag. If the two alternate exercises mentioned above are employed, the layers of fat are apt to disappear and the desired re- sults achieved. I cannot lay too strong stress upon the im- portance of deep breathing during the Winter. In cold weather people do not ventilate their bodies sufficiently, when, as a matter of fact, Lack of exercise, too little fresh air and overeating cause that tired. irritable feeling which so many American business men experience during the Winter. an air bath is almost as beneficial as a sun bath. The air bath for the lungs may be taken without any great effort. There are numerous benefits attached to deep and proper breathing. It freshens up the blood stream and accelerates the circulation of the blood. Then, too, it helps to carry off the divers and sundry poisons accumulated from overeating--and few will deny that most per- sons overeat in the Winter. DEEP breathing is a matter of training, yet it is not a difficuit thing to learn. The well trained sprinter, having been schooled correctly in this essential, takes his breath at the starter’s words, “Get set!” He holds his breath the gun is fired and, what's more he continues to hold it almost throughout the course of his 100-yard dash. The 10-second runner would be slowed down more than the average person realizes if he were to take a breath every few strides. The importance of giving an air bath to the body cannot be emphasized too strongly. When combined with a few simple movements of the arms, inhalation tends to force air into the apices of the lungs—the tops of the lungs— where tubercular germs are apt to start their work if oxygen does not enter. In exhalation the points I have outlined below will, if followed out, tend to force out some of the residual air which always is pres- ent in the lungs. It is common knowledge that virtually two-thirds of the residual air is rarely used unless exercise of some sort is indulged in. Of course, it would be impossible to deflate the lungs entirely and still live, but the point I make is that the forcing out of some of this residual air and the taking in of new, fresh air is a purifying process of inestimable value. IN all breathing exercises, Inhalation should take place through the nose and exhalation should be made through the mouth. This is quite important. Here is a set of breathing exercises that will achieve the desired results and will not require too much time to perform: 1. During inhalation through the nose, raise the arms sidewise and upward without bending the elbows, so that the palms of the hands touch above the head. While exhaling through the mouth, lower the arms slowly to When Winter drives thousands of office-icorking golfers off the courses they are all too apt to go inio hibernation jor several months, allowing themselves to get fax below par physically. the sides so that they traverse the same route through which they were raised. 2. During inhalation, raise the arms fore ward until the hands are level with the shoul- ders. While still inhaling, bring the elbows as far back as possible, keeping the elbows, the hands and the shoulders on the same plane. This is a movement that forces fresh air into the apices of the lungs and tends to cleanse them. While exhaling, thrust the arms for=- ward more or less violently, with the body bending over parallel to the ground and with the arms extended and swinging downward and backward. This is the exercise that tends to force out some of the residual air, for in this position the lungs are as nearly deflated as is humanely possible. Unfortunately, as a nation, America is for=- getting how to walk. Therein, incidentally, I believe is to be found one of the major rea- sons why the United States’ long-distance runners have been making a poor showing in th Olympic games staged within recent years. Nowadays, instead of walking, we're all too eager and ready to hop into an automobile, a trolley car or a taxicab in order to reach destinations that are a comparatively short distance away. We imagine ourselves as time=- savers when, as a matter of fact, we are labore ing under a sad misapprehension. At the mo- ment we may be saving time, but in the final analysis we are really cutting down our al- lotted span of years. For, make no mistake about it, walking is a tremendously important aid to a long life. I have found walking very pleasant, indeed, and I know of innumerable cases in which it has been a health builder. About three miles a day is sufficient, but if that requires too much time, then two miles will do. However, I per=- sonally advocate a walking schedule of not less than 20 or 25 miles per week. We are an inconsistent people. Walking is the main activity of iife, yet most of us do not know how to walk correctly. In the rush and bustle of this workaday world we overlook the strengthening powers that walking provides for the lungs, the heart and other vital organs. In learning to walk correctly, let us take a tip from primitive man. We are told that he used the straight foot in action because his life consisted of pursuit and flight. Yet this modern civilization of ours has produced the everted foot! Walk with your feet pointed straight ahead! That is recognized by most authorities as the proper method. Our best track athletes run that way—I've known some of the greatest of them to be even pigeon-toed. This business of turning the toes outward is all wrong. Id has been the leading reason for the breaking down of the foot structure, a thing that is truly wonderful in its formation. With its 26 bones and the complicated arrangement of the muscles, it is susceptible to a high degree of training—witness ballet dancing and fancy skating. But, of course, the feet are not the only portion of our body that are used in walking. The legs, the hips, the knees, the arms, the spine and the chest all enter into this exer- cise. The carriage of the upper part of the body is dependent upon the position of the chest, which should be forward and high. The spine then becomes erect, the breathing power is increased and the head and shoulders natu- rally assume the proper positions. lN walking, the weight of the body should never be borne on the heels. The leg is thrown outward from the hips, with the knee acting in harmony and the heel touching the ground first. but the weight should be so quickly trnsferred to the ball of the foot that the heel makes no noise. Noisy walkers are ungraceful and improper walkers. While the heel should not support the weight of the body, you should mot wa'k literally on the ball of the foot. (Copyright, 1930.)