You are using your muscles every day, and this helps them to grow.
Once I saw a little girl who had been very sick. She had to lie in bed for many weeks. Before her sickness she had plenty of stout muscles in her arms and legs and was running about the house from morning till night, carrying her big doll in her arms.
After her sickness, she could hardly walk ten steps, and would rather sit and look at her playthings than try to lift them. She had to make new muscles as fast as possible.
Running, coasting, games of ball, and all brisk play and work, help to make strong muscles.
Idle habits make weak muscles. So idleness is an enemy to the muscles.
There is another enemy to the muscles about which I must tell you.
WHAT ALCOHOL WILL DO TO THE MUSCLES.
Muscles are lean meat. Fat meat could not work your joints for you as the muscles do. Alcohol often changes a part of the muscles to fat, and so takes away a part of their strength. In this way, people often grow very fleshy from drinking beer, because it contains alcohol, as you will soon learn. But they can not work any better on account of having this fat. They are not really any stronger for it.
REVIEW QUESTIONS.
1. How are the joints moved?