Personal hygiene and physical training for women

by Anna M. Galbraith

Gymnasiums, Baths, and Athletic Association: a Fundamental Part of a Woman’s College and a Model Woman’s Club; the Vassar College Gymnasium; the Standardized Percentage Table for Physical Efficiency; Special Medical Blank for Women; Self-made Good Physique through Physical Training; Rules for Taking Exercise; Gymnastic Dress; the Configuration of the Foot; Correct Attitude in Standing.

Corrective Exercises: Exercises for Developing the Various Regions of the Body; Shoulder-blade Exercises; Respiratory Exercises; Exercise for Forward Projection of Chest and Retraction of Abdomen; Shoulder and Back Exercises; Leg Exercises; Squatting Exercises for Muscles of Spine and Abdomen; Alternate Kneeling; Abdominal Exercises; Balancing Exercises for Poise and Carriage; Balancing Exercises for Extending Depth of Chest; Lateral Trunk and Waist Exercises; Exercises for Muscles of Back; Exercises for Muscles of Abdomen; Swimming Exercises, for Back, Thighs, and Abdomen; Rope Pulling-exercises for Back, Chest, Waist, Legs, and Arms; Exercises in Trunk Flexions for Back, Abdomen, and Legs; Exercises with Chest Weights for Chest, Shoulders, and Arms; Boxing and Fencing; Classic and Esthetic Dancing an Essential Feature in Physical Training; Figures of the Dance with Some Simple Exercises.

Outdoor Exercises: Effect of Walking on the Heart and Lungs; Running; Mountain Climbing; Swimming; Horseback Riding as an Exercise; Rowing.

Athletic Sports: Croquet; Lawn-tennis; Golf; Hockey; Basket-ball.

Gymnasiums, Baths, and Athletic Associations a Fundamental Part of a Woman’s College and a Model Woman’s Club.—It has been repeatedly and conclusively proved, in a large series of cases, that the physique, carriage, and health of woman can be wonderfully improved by regular and systematic gymnastic exercises, combined with outdoor exercise and athletic sports.

Briefly stated, the facts in the matter are these: the bony and the muscular systems and the vital organs are the same in both men and women, and hence the general scheme of physical training, which has been found to be so highly beneficial to men, would, if properly modified, be equally beneficial to women, and such a training for women is urged by the most competent authorities of the day.

Two-thirds of the body weight consists of bones and muscles, and the development, growth, nutrition, and vigor of the muscular and bony system can only be maintained by such exercises as will call into play the action of all of the muscles of the body, that is, the stature, breadth of shoulders, and size of the chest, as well as firm, hard muscles, are dependent on regular and systematic exercises of every part of the body, and through the beneficial effects produced through exercise on the respiration, circulation, and digestion, etc., the brain, nerves, heart, lungs, in short, all the organs and tissues of the body, are kept in a healthy condition.

The life of the masses of women to-day is being spent under artificial and the most unhealthy conditions; for the most part in overheated, ill-ventilated houses, with very little time spent in the open air, and without any knowledge or practice in games and outdoor sports.

The occupation, or lack of occupation, of the majority of women scarcely calls into play the muscles of the upper part of the body. This lack of use of the muscles about the shoulders and upper part of the chest is fatal to the development of the chest and lungs.

Outside of housewives and domestics, the majority of professional, business, and working women live under a very high nervous tension, with but a very slight range of physical activity. What they all need is a sufficient variety of exercises to call into play all the muscles and the various regions of the body, together with plenty of fresh air, amusements, and recreations. And already some of our large, wide-awake, manufacturing establishments, convinced that the practical application of these truths in their own factories would both improve the health of their employees and be to the financial interest of the firm, are now providing well-equipped gymnasiums, under the direction of competent instructors, furnished with baths, resting-rooms, restaurants, etc., for their employees, and these experiments have demonstrated that the improved quantity and quality of the work, the lessened amount of sickness among the employees, more than compensate the employers for the expenditure of money and the time consumed in physical recreation.