Massage & Exercises Combined / A permanent physical culture course for men, women and children; health-giving, vitalizing, prophylactic, beautifying; a new system of the characteristic essentials of gymnastic and Indian Yogis concentration exercises combined with scientific massage movements; with 86 illustrations and deep breathing exercises

by Albrecht Jensen

Exhale this air through the mouth, while the body is being bent downward, in order to repeat the exercise.

If special or general deep breathing exercises are practiced between each massage exercise, natural breathing during this exercise will be sufficient. In the event that the reader has little available time and may wish to practice some deep breathing and exercises for a few minutes, this combination will be found admirable.

Analysis and Effects of the Combined Massage Exercise No. 5

This exercise is so combined that there is obtained the movements of the arms and the bending of the trunk forward and backward together with massage of the back and sides of the legs, the hips, the sides of the upper body, the chest and breasts, the abdomen and lower back, and the buttocks.

The movements of the trunk, arms and hands, in applying the massage movements, exercise the muscles and nerves of the arms, the shoulders and the entire upper body, including the abdomen. The organs of the latter are influenced in the same way. The muscles of the legs are here not exercised to the same extent as in exercise No. 3, but if the legs are kept straight in bending the trunk forward the great sciatic and other nerves of the leg are stretched in a natural way. The spinal cord is also stretched.

The massage influences the legs, but not to such an extent as in exercise No. 3, first, because each is here only massaged with one hand and secondly, because the muscles are kept more rigid by the bending of the body, for the reason that the weight of the body is upon them. It influences the muscles, nerves and vessels of the abdomen, the hips, the sides, the chest and breasts, the lower and upper back and especially the spine and the buttocks. It also influences the heart, the liver both from in front and behind, and the kidneys. It influences the digestive organs directly from in front and indirectly through the nerves in the back.

To call attention to the difference between scientific massage movements and rubbing, it may be pointed out that there are five principal massage movements combined with the movements of the body in this exercise, namely:

1. The stroking and pressing upward over the back of the legs.

2. The manner in which the right hand strokes and presses directly across the abdomen from the right.

3. The stroking and pressing with the left hand from the left side over the region of the heart to the opposite side.