A Practical Physiology: A Text-Book for Higher Schools

by Albert F. Blaisdell

Mechanical skill has removed most of the risks to health and person which once existed. A good machine, used by its owner with judgment, is the most convenient, the safest, and the least expensive means of traveling for pleasure or exercise. It is doing more than any other form of exercise to improve the bodily condition of thousands whose occupations confine them all day to sedentary work. Dependent upon no one but himself, the cyclist has his means of exercise always at hand. No preparation is necessary to take a spin of ten miles or so on the road, during a summer evening or before breakfast.

Bicycling brings into active use the muscles of the legs as well as those of the trunk and arms. It seems to benefit those who suffer from dyspepsia, constipation, and functional disorders of the liver.

A special caution must be used against overdoing in cycling, for the temptation by rivalry, making a record, by social competition on the road, is stronger in this form of exercise than in any other, especially for young folks. Many cases have occurred of permanent injury, and even loss of life, from collapse simply by excessive exertion and exhaustion.

93. Outdoor Games and Physical Education. While outdoor games are not necessary to maintain health, yet we can scarcely overestimate the part that the great games of baseball, football, tennis, golf, and croquet, play in the physical development of young people. When played in moderation and under suitable conditions, they are most useful and beneficial exercises. They are played in the open air, and demand a great variety of vigorous muscular movement, with a considerable amount of skill and adroitness of action. These games not only involve healthful exercise, but develop all those manly and wholesome qualities so essential to success in life.

A vigorous body is well-nigh essential to success, but equally important are readiness of action, sound judgment, good temper, personal courage, a sense of fair play, and above all, a spirit of honor. Outdoor games, when played in a reasonable and honorable manner, are most efficient and practical means to develop these qualities in young people.

94. The School and Physical Education. The advantages to be derived, during the school period, from the proper care and development of the body, should be understood and appreciated by school officials, teachers, and parents. The school period is the best time to shape the lives of pupils, not mentally or morally alone, but physically as well. This is the time, by the use of a few daily exercises at school, to draw back the rounding shoulders, to form the habit of sitting and standing erect, to build up strong and comely arms and chests, and otherwise to train pupils to those methods which will serve to ripen them into vigorous and well-knit men and women.

Teachers can by a little effort gain the knowledge requisite properly to instruct their pupils in a few systematic exercises. Gratifying results will follow just as the teacher and pupils evince interest and judgment in the work. It is found by experience that pupils are not only quick to learn, but look forward eagerly to the physical exercises as an interesting change from the routine of school life.

There should be a stated time for these school exercises, as for any other duty. There can be practiced in the schoolroom a great variety of interesting and useful exercises, which call for little or no expense for apparatus. Such exercises should no more interfere with the children’s usual games than any other study does. Under no circumstances should the play hours be curtailed.

95. Physical Exercises in School. Physical exercises of some sort, then, should be provided for pupils in our schools, especially in large towns and cities, where there is little opportunity for outdoor games, and they should form a part of the regular course of study. The object should be the promotion of sound health rather than the development of muscle, or performing feats of agility or strength. Exercises with dumb-bells and wands, or even without any apparatus, practiced a few times a day, for five minutes at a time, do a great deal of good. They relax the tension of body and mind, and introduce an element of pleasure into the routine of school life. They increase the breathing power and quicken the action of the heart.