The San Francisco call. [volume], July 05, 1903, Image 14

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

Image provided by: University of California, Riverside; Riverside, CA

                
For those who play the piano, ths fol
lowing exercise Is very beneficial: Bit on
a chair and place the wrists on the knees.
Extend the lingers to the utmost, cramp-
ing : them Ifks claws ¦ and . bringing tnem
back to the palms; and continue ths move
ment. . . '
We had an eminent doctor here recently
-Dr. Lorenz — who tells us that In every
city there are ¦ thousands of deformed
children. It would "be well If science
should Investigate the causes of these de-
married lite the uswulncss of the body
and . the charm which belongs to their
girl life.
• ' The first sign of loss of form In woman
is the depression between the point of the
•houfder and the neck. To remedy It. the
'following exercise is suggested. The arms
are held rigid, the toes turned out and
, legs rigid. The shoulders are lifted up
toward the ears with great pressure.
Take a long breath as the shoulders- are
raised and as they are pressed down the
•breath is expelled. In this exercise the
arms are pressed against ths stomach.
The next beauty exercise Is as folio tee:
Place the hands on the hips, lifting ths
chest clean up from the hips, inhaling
and throwing the elbows as far back as
ybu can. In expelling the breath, bend
e lightly and extend ths hands across tfis
abdomen, pressing heavily in order to ex
pel the breath from the chest entirely.
Another movement: Place the hands
on the hips and lower the Wp to ths right
and make a complete circle of ths head
• and chert to the right" and left and thea
• reverse it. ?
Place the hands behind ths back, grasp
the left wrist firmly with the right hand,
allowing ths wrist to rest ca the lower
Stand perfectly upright on ens lsg. and
with ths other leg make a circle, bringing
the foot back to Its original position—al
ternating.
Lock ths hands in front and gradually
raise them with the arms pushing to ths
extreme front with all the pressure possi
ble, taking the breath and expelling it.
This will strengthen the shoulders and
back and equalize the strength in the
arms.
well up in the air, the head thrown well
back, repeating until tired. If you feel
giddy from these last few movements,
stop and begin again.
For an even, development of ths arm
without muscular knots, hold the arms
rigid etraicht out from tho shoulders,'
with tho bands closing and turning them
until the knuckles are turned outward
and then reverse the movement until ths
knuckles are turned upward.
The same movement may be executed
with the legs. Stand perfectly upright
and turn th« foof to ths right, twisting
the leg and making the same movement
which has been described for ths arms.
This will give easiness of carriage and
prevent that wobbly movement which de
forms many women.
Taken with a view of relieving ths pu
pils from too great a strain, most of thus.
In a confined ssaos.liks a sick room.
where air is none too plentiful, ths value
of a sound pair of lungs in a: strongly
buttressed chest Is easily understood.
What Is called ths swimming movemsat
Is specially Intended for ths development
of the chest and lungs." As lifting. Is ons
of ths most frequent exercises put Into
operation by the nurse it Is necessary that
her back and arms should be trained to
lift heavy weights without a strain upon
herself, hence ths exercise.
formltle*. Ths result of ta* Investigation
would show, perhaps, tuat ths assumption
of maternal functions by woman utterly
unfitted for that office was ths caisf
causa. — ¦
Ths various forms of exercise given to
ths nurses are, with slight modifications,
suitable to all women not organically
weak. Each exercise given to ths nurss
has a special purposs In view. To meet
ths requirements for ths special demands
for soms particular part of ths body
which should b« called Into play In their
actual work, special development is pro
vided. Taksths exercise for the chest,
for Instance. Deep breathing adds to the
lung power, strengthening and adding to
the cells whlls building up ths muscles
of ths chest.
The ordinary callsthenic movement *c
raising ths hand over the head, bringte*
ths head down and touching ths floor
with ths hands. Is dons with tsnss mus
cles and Is dons rapidly but briefly. Ttda
movement Is modified by turning ta ths
For strengthening the shoulders proper
ths upper portion of the back or for ds^
veloplng the neck ths pupil lies upon the
floor and throws ths feet over ths head,
touching the floor behind,. ths head with
the toes and thea springing straight ua
on the feet.-
The whole body Is strengthened and all
the muscles developed by bending ths
knees, locking ths fingers and swinging
ths locked hands over ths head with a
pump motion, bringing them down to ths
full length In front.
Some of these movements are dons with
the muscles tenss. soms with ths muscle*
relaxed, but all with a purpos*. In or
der to strengthen the abdomen and to de
velop the muscles of the legs ths knss*
are brought up to the chest alternately.
It Is a movement that healthily sJTeeti
all ths muscles of the body.
ing the legs, raising and lowering the for
ward part of the feet on the heels, raising
and depressing the toes.
The knees are strengthened by making
a half circle to right and left, keeping the
lower portion of ths legs rigid, ths upp«r
portion relaxed.
exercise* are given whils the pupils are
seated on the floor. These movements
have the effect of Increasing cot merely
the strength of the back but the elasticity
of the muscles. They also Increase the
muscular development of the neck and
shoulders,v strengthening the arms and
fully developing the muscles of the abdo
men. That the development of the abdo
men playm an Important part In all phys
ical exercises. has bees r too long Ignored.
Tbe>n!* people who seem .'to' understand
the.valus of abdominal muscular'develop
ment j are > singers, who build -v j> th« mna
' cles-of the abdomen by I deep breathing.
In order.- that the abdomen may support
the chest when the singer Is taking & high
note. This muscular development Is best
secured' by. the exercises already referred
to. .. v. ! . * £
The overhead exercise*, that Is* wh«re
the arms . are circled over the head,
strengthen the sides of the body, bnlld up
the chest muscles and secure to the pupil
strong, well developed muscles) ta the
calves and sides of the legs.
The rowing movement. ls given by wre»
en clasping hands while seated and g»*
tlr.r the resistance from each other by
pulling the upper portion of the body each
toward the other. The streztgtheslas; of
the wrist and" forearm Is seemed by
bringing the bands of. the pupils to bear
upon each other'a
Ths ankles are atrecstsextsd fcr eattend-
Cla^p the hand* over the back of th«
neck and move the elbows backward and
forward in front of the face with great
strength.
For th*> development of the throat and
for increasing the flesh pads and filling up
the holes between the shoulders and neck,
the following movement is excellent:
Bring the roint of uae cnin to the right,
turn thp point of the thin over the shoul
der. This movement must be done very
slowly. The other is to raise the chin
portion of the spine. Then raise the body
on the toes and press the hands firmly on
the back, coming down to a sittln? posi
tion and maintaining the body on the
toes. While in that position, raise and
lower the body twel^> Inches, then come
slowly up to the ordinary standing posi
tion.
$7 WILLIAM GREER HABRISO2T.
Y" AID down as a general principle.
1 the man or voman who docs not
I 1 work should not eat more than one
: J-«l meal a day; but the healthy man or
woman who exercises or works un
•der healthy conditions may eat sufficient
food to supply the necessary strength for
the work for uhich he Is engaged. Every
.atom of fi.»oJ in excess of what nature
demands la not merely wasteful, but
mischievous. This pai»er Is written not
for workir.gmen. that is. mechanics and
laborers, but for people who Jive more
or less a sedentary life, and Is especially
intended for women.
' The law of athletics Is this: If you elim
inate by exercise, cleansing the 6toroach
fced opening the pores of the skin daily,
the question of how much or how little
you eat Is of minor importance. Again,
a jyoman wi'.l do more work in a day and
srft less cood out of it than a man will
Co In two days. She will walk up and
dv^n stairs, she will perform a whole lot
if eocial functions until ehe gets' pros
trated and yet apparently has done noth
*Eg. Why? Because she is n«/t using her
'brains In her work. Instead of strength,
.she gets exhaustion. If a woman would
£ake fifteen minutes* exercise every
jmori.ir.g, using her mind equally with
her' muscles, nervous prostration would
be a thing she would know nothing at all
.jtbout.'NThe method of taking the exor
bis* and the kind of exercises to be taken
kr'e submitted and recommended.
•2 The sovereign duty of motherhood de
tcands trat every woman should prepare
hereelf for that duty; and no woman has
any right to bring children into this life
as mere inheritors of her own weak
•nesses. In my experience r.o woman
wants to do wrong or desires to do
wrong. Nevertheless, the goes on doing
"wrong simply because ehe is ignorant of
.her own weakness and of the best means
"of strengthening her body and getting rid
cX'her Ignorance and preparing herstlf
for the most godliko function in nature,
namely, motherhood. For as the mother
fi, to will be the child. Surely it is not
loo much to ask our splendid young girls
to" consider what their duty as mothers
demand from them.
-;1 know of no more charming, no better
jCcveloped race of young women in the
World . then we have In the city of San
Francisco. If they could preserve the
development of girlhood there would be
ns> need of my advising or anybody else
advising, but unhappily they do not. And
.ft - is to help them to preserve through
OUT at the City and Connty Hospital are three score nurse* wh«
are enjoying heal^Ji and adding to their physical beauty by reason
of exercise* they are taking under the direction of William Gree*
Harrison of the Olympic Club. Mr. Harrison} seeing the need of healthy
young women who are devoting their lives to the care of the sick, ad
vised with the head nurse, and at her. urgent .request prepared a course
of exercises. He instructed George S. Miehling, the wrestling teacher
at the Olympic Club, and the latter has devoted many hours showing the
nurses how to breathe properly, how to walk, hold their heads and de
velop the muscle* of their body in order that they might handle heavy
patients without danger of injury to themselves.
They all wear bloomer costumes while exercising. The room **t
aside for them is a large, airy apartment. There is little or no appa
ratus for them to use, and it was this lack that led Mr. Harrison, t©
formulate the following course of exercises tr meet the demand.
Mr. Harrison is president of the Olympic Club, one of the great
est athletic institutions in the world. He has made a life-long study
of the upbuilding of both sexes. He is a shining example of what
proper training will do for a man. Although over 6O years of age, h»
is as nimble and dear skinned as any man of 30. He is capable of out
walking any athlete in the dub.
Therefore the following artide from his' pen, specially illustrated
by the nurses at the City and Counts' Hospital. U of rare scientific value,
THE SUNDAY CALIi.
14
TRAINING NURSES FOR THE CITY AND COUNTY
HOSPITAL