89. Time for Exercise. It is not prudent to do hard work or take severe exercise, just before or just after a full meal. The best time is one or two hours after a meal. Vigorous exercise while the stomach is busily digesting food, may prove injurious, and is apt to result sooner or later in dyspepsia. On the other hand, severe exercise should not be taken on an empty stomach. Those who do much work or study before breakfast, should first take a light lunch, just enough to prevent any faint feeling. With this precaution, there is no better time for moderate exercise than the early morning.
In the case of children, physical exercises should not be undertaken when they are overtired or hungry. Neither is it judicious for adults to take vigorous exercise in the evening, after a long and arduous day’s work.
90. Walking, Running, and Jumping. Walking is generally regarded as the simplest and most convenient mode of taking exercise. Man is essentially a walking animal. When taken with a special object in view, it is the best and most pleasant of all physical activities. It is suited for individuals of all ages and occupations, and for residents of every climate. The child, the athlete, and the aged are all able to indulge in this simple and effective means of keeping the body in health.
In walking, the muscles of the entire body are brought into action, and the movements of breathing and the circulation of the blood are increased. The body should be erect, the chest thrown out, the head and shoulders held back, and the stride long and elastic. It is an excellent custom to add to the usefulness of this fine exercise, by deep, voluntary inhalations of pure air.
Running is an excellent exercise for children and young people, but should be sparingly indulged in after the age of thirty-five. If it be accompanied with a feeling of faintness, breathlessness, and palpitation of the heart, the exercise is too severe, and its continuance may do serious harm. Running as an exercise is beneficial to those who have kept themselves in practice and in sound condition. It brings into play nearly every muscle of the body, and thus serves to develop the power of endurance, as well as strength and capacity for rapid movement.
Jumping may well be left to boys and young men under twenty, but skipping with a rope, allied to jumping, is an admirable and beneficial form of exercise. It brings into action many muscles without putting undue strain upon any particular group.
91. Skating, Swimming, and Rowing. Skating is a delightful and invigorating exercise. It calls into play a great variety of muscles, and is admirably adapted for almost all ages. It strengthens the ankles and helps give an easy and graceful carriage to the body. Skating is especially valuable, as it can be enjoyed when other out-door exercises are not convenient.
Every child above ten years of age should be taught to swim. The art, once mastered, is never forgotten. It calls into use a wide combination of muscles. This accomplishment, so easily learned, should be a part of our education, as well as baseball or bicycling, as it may chance to any one to save his own life or that of a companion.
In many respects rowing is one of the most perfect exercises at our command. It expands the chest, strengthens the body, and gives tone to the muscles of the abdomen. It is very suitable for girls and women, as no other exercise is so well adapted to remedy the muscular defects so marked in their sex. Even elderly persons can row day after day without difficulty. The degree of muscular effort required, can be regulated so that those with weak hearts and weak lungs can adjust themselves to the exercise.
92. Bicycling as an Exercise. The bicycle as a means of taking exercise has come into popular use with remarkable rapidity. Sharp competition bids fair to make the wheel more popular and less expensive than ever. Its phenomenal use by persons of all ages and in all stations of life, is proof of the enthusiasm with which this athletic exercise is employed by women as well as by men.