Newspaper Page Text
NEW YORK AMERICAN, SUNDAY, JULY 4,' 1815
Profile View of a
Pose in the “Squat’
Exercise for the Leg
and Abdominal
Muscles.
Another “No-Corset
Exercise
That Willard
Recommends for
Growing Girls.
The Seventh in the Series
of Remarkable Athletic
Lessons and Health
Hints for Men and
Women
Boys
and Girls,
Written for
This Page By
the Physical
Champion
of the World
Jess Willard
A. Merritt—All foreign right* protected.
the shoulder muscles, are the one* you uee
when striking a blow. You can Illustrate this
for yourself If you want to. Walk over to the
wall of your room and press your right hand
against the wall. Keep pressing, and while
you are doing this feel your biceps with your
other hand. You will find them loose. Now
feel back of your right arm and you will find
the triceps rigid. The bleeps are brought into
play when you lift something, or pull against
anything, but in pushing or hitting it is the
triceps and shoulder muscles that do the work.
In the top picture the freckled-faced boy is
lying flat on the ground with his arms crooked
at the elbows and his hands out in front of
him, Just like pictures of the Sphinx that you
see in books and In the movies. That is the
first nnsition for the arm exercise. Position
Copyright 1915, by
E VERY boy, and man for that matter, wants
strong, muscular arms. It's human
nature. You might preach all day re
garding the benefits of big chests, strong legs
and well-developed abdominal muacle tissue, but
every boy’s thoughts fix on biceps when physi
cal culture is mentioned
Well, I for one, won't preach againBt them,
and so with my exercises shown to-day I Ulus-
development in conjunction with ox-
No girl or
but they do
. what these
if they follow
We are rapidly getting into
trate arm
ercisek for other larts of the body
woman wants big bleeps, I suppose
want well rounded arms, and that'
lessons will teach them to attain 1
them out carefully
the advanced stages of physical development
now, and you will find that my lessons are be
coming harder. But IT you have followed my
teachings closely you will welcome the more
difficult exerclsos as a quick step to perfect
physical form.
My big picture to-day shows another pose of
the “squat" that I described for you fully in my
article last Sunday. This exercise, as I told
you, Is more for the abdominal muscles than
anything else, although H haB a direct effect
on the calf and thigh muscles. Any boy or girl
who wants to become a Jumper should practise
this dally, and it also is a good exercise for
those who want to become runners, hut 1 don’t
want any boy reader of mine to go In for run
ning until they read what I have to say on that
subject. Running is very dangerous unless cer
tain rules are followed, and 1 want you to wait
until you see my article especially devoted to
running before you take it up. It will sur
prise you.
Another exercise that gives results similar
to those produced by the ‘'squat" is shown by
the two girls at the top of the page. After
you have practised the "squat” as described
in my previous article try the lesson Illu
strated by the girls. Stand up with feet close
together. Then step out sideways, oithor right
or left, spread the arms out straight and bend
over quickly, trying to touch the ground with
one hand. This exercise Is similar to that
shown by Mr. McIntyre is my last article,
but I show the pictures of these Evnnder
Child's High School girls so you can see that
girls can do this as well as the men. This is
s very excellent lesson for girls who are being
brought up not to wear corsets. It gives
them a strong, supple waist that needs no in
strument of torture like the corset to act as
a brace.
Now for the arms The freckled faced kid
posed in the centre of the page illustrates an
arm exercise that beats all the weight pulling,
bag punching lessons you ever heard of. And
more than that it develops your punching mus-
ele, boys, so that if you ever have to take care
of yourself you’ll be well able to do it.
Bob Fitzsimmons was said to have the hard
est punch of any man in the ring, but 1 think
If you’ll look up his measurements you'll find
that his biceps were only a trifle more than
the average for a man of his size. The ex
planation is that his triceps were the muscles
that he devoted his exercise to, for “Old Fits"
was one of the very few boxers who used their
brains as well as their bodies.
The triceps are muscles located at the back
of your arm, behind the biceps. They, with
r«rn • © 8v
A MciArrr
“Willard a
Wonderful Man,”
Says Dr. Sargent,
of Harvard.
No. 1—First
Position in the
Lesson for
Strengthening
the Arms and
Back.
sihle. Try not to bend them at the elbow, hut
Just raise and lower the centre of the body
from the floor to the straight position shown
on the left. For any weakness of the back
and shoulders you will And this wonderful.. 1
don’t expert yon will be able to do this many
times the first day, but try It ten times. Then
increase it to fifteen after a week, and then to
twenty. That will he plenty.
The stoop-shouldered clerk, or dressmaker,
will thank mo if they practise this exercise
regularly for a month or more. It will force
them unknowingly to stand, sit and walk prop
erly, and lake away that danger of lung trouble
that every stoop-shouldered person runs the
risk of. 1 want to again repeat that with all
my exercises breathe regularly as 1 have tried
to teach you. For Instance, when In the posi
tion of my chair picture on the left, have your
lungs expanded to the utmost. Hold your
breath until your hack touches the floor, then
exhale and take another full breath as you
rise again. Do all these exercises slowly.
Take your time. There's no hurry. One of
the chief causes for nervous ailments nowa
days Ls needless hurrying.
That reminds nte of the story of the man
who had been sentenced to jail tor life and
was having his picture taken for the Rogues'
Gallery. The photographer was one of those
nervous, hurry-up chaps who is always fussing
around. "Say, young feller,” said the prisoner
to the photographer. “Don't hurry on my ac
count. I've got lots of time.”
A fine set of photographs showing New York
City firemen in exercises as described by Jess
Willard accompanies next Sunday's article. The
article proves plctorially how easy physical
lessons have helped to build up the fine body
of men that New York's Fire Department
boasts of.
By Dr.
Dudley
Allen
Sargent
pamphlets on physical education, and has been
connected with Harvard In his present capacity
for about thirty-six years. Dr. Sargent re
cently made a thorough scientific examination
of Jess Willard, pronouncing him a "perfect
specimen of physical manhood.” Here are Dr.
Sargent’s comments on Willard and his table
of measurements:
D R. SARGENT, director of the Harvard
University gymnasium, is generally
recognized as the foremost authority on
physical culture in the United States. Besides
inventing more than thirty pieces of body-
developing apparatus, he is the author of many
valuable books, magazine articles and
No. 2. Second
Position With
Body Raised
and Arms
Rigid.
Posed for
Willard by a
Pupil of the
Gymnasium
Class, St.
John’s Catholic
Home,
Brooklyn.
Girth thigh, right
Girth thigh, left........
Girth knee, right
Girth knee, left
Girth calf, right........
Girth calf, left
Girth ankle, right
Girth ankle, left
Girth instep, right
Girth instep, left
Girth upper arm. right
Girth upper arm, left...
Girth elbow, right
Girth elbow, left
Girth fore arm, right..
Girth fore arm, left...
Girth wrist, right
Girth wrist, left.........
Depth chest
Depth abdomen
HAVE examined and made measurements
of Jess Willard, and he is a wonderful man.
He is a perfect specimen of physical man
hood. and his proportions are all in perfect
harmony and symmetry. His weight is very
evenly distributed, and he ought tc hold his
title for several years. His long, stringy
muscles denote great endurance, and it is a
surprising feature of his make-up to see that
none of them are hunched. Willard shows a
striking evidence of clean living. A man can
not drink liquor and dissipate and keep him-
Belf in such condition.
Here is my chart of measurements of this
remarkable man:
Age 28
Weight 250
Height standing 77*4
Elbow-tip, left 21 5
.Length foot, right 11.1
length foot, left 11.1
Stretch of arms 81.1
Height sitting 39.4
Height knee 19
Height pubic arch 37.8
Height navel 46.7
Height sternum - 64.7
Girth head 24.8
Girth neck 16.5
Girth chest 43.7
Girth chest, full , 46.1
Girth ninth rib 41.3
Girth ninth rib, full. 42.9
Girth waist 37
Girth hips. 43.3
No. 2.—Body
Lowered, Chest
Deflated.
No. 1 — First Pose of the Chair Exercise, Showing
Body Raised, Chest Expanded.