The Boy's Own Book of Indoor Games and Recreations / A Popular Encyclopædia for Boys

by C. Stansfeld Hicks; John Nevil Maskelyne; Gordon Stables

FIG. 3.

For the fourth exercise begin at attention, and keeping the elbows against the sides, double up your arms so as to bring the bells against your shoulders. Open your chest as far as you can, throw your shoulders well back, and while in this position take a long deep breath ([Fig. 8]). In fact, in every exercise take long free breaths as often as possible, so as to expand your chest from within as well as from without. Bring the bells up and down ten times both together. You are now ready for the fifth exercise, which consists in bringing the bells from attention up to the shoulders, as in the fourth exercise, and then thrusting them up straight overhead ([Fig. 3]). Hold them up as high as you can, keeping your feet on the ground and body erect. Then do the twists ten times together, ten times with the left, ten with the right, five together; then with ‘one’ to the shoulder, and ‘two’ to the hang, you recover your starting position.

FIG. 4.

In the sixth exercise you bring the bells to the shoulder, and keeping your chest well open, thrust your arms, not overhead, but straight in front of you ([Fig. 4]), and again do the thirty-five twists. In the seventh ([Fig. 12]) you bring the bells to the shoulder and open your arms right and left, holding them out high and well back at full length, then recovering to the shoulder, and then down. Then ‘up,’ ‘out,’ ‘in,’ ‘down’ again, and so on for ten times. Keep your shoulders well back during this exercise, and do not lose your uprightness! It is a most important and obviously good practice, should be done with care and regularity, and forms a fitting end to lesson number two.

FIG. 5.

In our third batch we have said good-bye to the twists. For the eighth exercise stand at attention, bells to side as before, and always start from attention. Let this be understood, and it will save repetition. Bring the bells up under the armpits as far as you can get them ([Fig. 5]). Bring them up together ten times, then ten times with the left hand, ten times with the right, and five times together.

In the ninth exercise bring the bells up to the armpit, and then extend the arms right and left, starting with the bells brought up in front of the shoulder and reaching the same position as in exercise seven. Then bring the bells back to the armpits and recover. Do this ten times; that will be quite enough for the first trial.