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How to Mave Mealth and
Muscles Like Mine —
By Jess Willard, —:
Eighteenth of an Instructive and Valuable Series of Remarkable
By Jess Willard
NOW come to one of the most important
I articles of my series, which deals with the
care and development of the feet, ankles
and legs.
There is probably no part of the body that
is 80 neglected as the feet. Why this is so is
a 4 mystery to me. This neglect brings misery
that may become permanent, causes ill-temper
and its consequent troubles. It is not a nice
thing to have to say, but it is the truth that I
have konwn people supposed to be refined and
cultured who never thought of cleanliness as
essential in this direction.
It is also true that there is no other part of
the body that needs such constant attention
as the feet. It must be remembered that t'hey
are seldom exposed to the air, that they are
kept encased all day long and into the night
in leather, and that they are kept working
nearly every minute that their owner is awake.
There are three abominations in dress—
corsets, stiff collars and tight shoes, and the
greatest of these is tight shoes. Avoid patent
leather as you would a person with smallpox.
Don’t choose shoes for appearance's sake, but
for comfort. I don't have to tell you how much
you will suffer if you disobey this advice, be
cause nearly everybody has let vanity over
come their common sense in this direction,
and has been forced to pay the penalty.
Would you believe that if everybody saw to
it that their shoes gawe their feet room enough
to breathe—l mean that literally—there would
be no corns, bunions or other foot troubles in
the world? That is absolutely true. It is tight
shoes that give the corn doctors their living.
It everyone paid as much attention to their
feet as they do to their face and hands the
chiropodists would be mobbing poor houses
trying to get in.
Here's another wrinkle for you. Always
have two pairs of shoes. Don't throw away an
old pair if they will stand resoling. I'll tell
you why. You can get more rest, instan
taneous rest, by changing from one pair of
shoes to another after you come home from
work in the evening than if you lay down and
slept for an hour. To change your shoes is
as invigorating as a cold shower. Don't be
lieve me?—just try it to-night.
If you can afford it, change your socks or
stockings every day. Change your shoes once
a day. And last, but by no means least, keep
your feet constantly clean. Because they are
always covered up don't forget them. If you
do they will remind you very soon by complain
ing in a way that you won't like, If the grow
ing boy and girl takes this advice they will
never have a corn or other foot complaint all
their life. I'll promise that.
If you have been “breaking in” tight shoes
all your life, and have been suffering accord
ingly, but you have resolved to take my advice,
heed this exercise that I am going to tell you
about. It is meant especially for those with
feet that have become cramped from neglect
until toes and instep are sore and tender.
My two pictures on this page to-day show a
swaying exercise that will bring you foot
health if you practise it daily. It consists
simply of alternately going from tiptoe to rest
ing on your heels. In the top picture I am on
my toes, and at the bottom I have swayed
back on my heels. Do this exercise
twenty times the first week. Increase
it ten times every week thereafter
antil you are doing it fifty times
day. You must sway back and
forth quickly or you will lose your
dalance.
Down in the left-hand corner of
the page you will see a pretty girl
{llustrating one movement in a leg
wxercise that not only strengthens
ihe leg muscles, but helps to keep the
Yps to their proper proportions. It
sonsists of standing with feet close
‘ogether holding a stick, as she ig
“Practising This Daily
Will Not Oaly Develop
the Leg Muscles, but
Keep the Hips to Correct
Proportions,” Says Wil
lard.
doing, with both hands. First raise one leg
and clasp the stick over it, as the picture shows
you. Hold your balance for a few seconds, pull-
Ing on the stick hard. Then let your leg down,
and do the same thing with your other one.
Keep this up until you feel you are getting
tired, then stop.
The other exercise {llustrated at the top of
the page is one of the hardest known to phys
ical culture, although it seems absurdly easy
to read about. It is so hard and such a strain
that I don’t advise the beginner to practise it
more than once for each leg each day during
the first week. Then twice daily for the sec
ond week. After that as many times as you
like until you feel yourself getting tired. Heed
my words on this or your legs will ache like
they never ached before.
Do not use a piano stool, as the girl in the
picture is using, wnless it has been screwed
down tightly and you are wearing rubber
soled or gymnasium shoes, or you are liable to
slip off and hurt yourself. The kitchen chair
with its wooden seat is best, as you have to
bear your whole weight on it.
Careful attention is needed on the part of
'the read.er or this exercise will not produce
the results intended. The girl in the picture
illustrates the starting position for the exer
cise, so I don't have to describe that. The
next movement consists in raising yourself oft
the floor with the strength of the leg that is
resting on the chair. The other leg must be
kept rigid and the foot flat. You must not
give the slightest spring upward, but must
force the leg on the chair to do all the work.
If you spring up the slightest little bit the ex
ercise amounts to nothing.
After you have done this once with both legs
you will find yourself all out of breath and
perspiring freely unless you have exception
ally strong leg muscles. 1 have seen men with
powerful arms and shoulders groan and stretch
trying to do this exercise, which on the face
of it looks so simple. If you find it hard to
keep your balance stretch your arms out in
front of you while rising instead of holding
them as the model has hers.
I am in receipt of a letter from a young man
who asks me not to use his name, which reads
in part, as follows:
“I want to stop smoking cigarettes. In fact,
I want to stop smokipg altogether, but every
time I try I get so irritable that my friends call
me a crank. I know Ido get cranky and ner
vous, but as soon as I start to smoke again I am
all right. My mother wants me to give up the
habit, and to please her 1 would like te, but I
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don’t seem able to do it. Do you
know of any cure?
I found this a hard letterto.n: er
for the reason that 1 have never
been a smoker myself, and, thare
fore, have never experienced the
craving that goes with it. For the
benefit of this young man, however,
B TTy TETOR C s T TOC ey S S N O
! inquired among some of my Iriends, whom 1
knew had sworn off smoking and | was able
to learn how they did it.
One man I know for a time chewed gum,
which 1 don't approve of, but which is, never
thelss, not as harmful as cigarettes. Another
carrled a little bag of lemon drops around with
him and every time he felt like a smoke he
would take a lemon drop. After a while, he
told we, he found he could do without either
smoking or lemon drops.
That sounded like a first-rate scheme 1 like
lemon drops myself and I never heard of them
doing anybody any barm. So I would advise
my young friend to try the lemon drop cnre for
a white, or the chewing gum if he prefers it,
wlthough I think one of the ugliest sights in the
world Is to see a lot of boys or girls workink
their jaws llke a lot of monkoys eating peanuts,
I have received letters from both boys and
girls asking mg what I consider the proper
amount of sleep for the average person. If
you figure on eight hours, Winter and Summer,
you will have nothing to worry about, but some
of my inquirers want to know if it {sn't true
that & person should sleep more in the Winter
and 'ess in the Summer,
Perhaps If they follow the rule that I APpLY
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No. 1-—Rising on the Toes.
Athletic Lessons and
Health Hints for
Men and Women,
Boys and Girls,
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to myself it will suit them, for 1 sleep nine
hours in the Winter, and about seven in the
Summer. Try it If you wish, but my advice is
to take eight hours all the year round. I have
found that the programme I have laid out for
myself seems to suit me, but it might not suit
everybody else, while a uniform stretch of eight
hours cannot be anything but correct. It is my
opinion that too much sgleep is harmful, but not
as harmfui as too little sleep. Too much sleep
makes you lazy and weakens the body, but too
little sleey is liable to bring on all kinds of
troubles. The nerves suffer first, and if it s
carried to extremes may bring on a nervous
brain affection,
1 have also been asked questions concerning
the food to eat and the number of meals a day.
I must refuse to make any set rules. I think
that if persons are physically healthy they can
and should eat anything they want to. Re
stricting oneself to a diet is never necessary, I
have found, unless some physical allment has
to be considered. For instance, rheumatic peo
ple may benefit themselves by leaving meat out
of their daily diet, but I am not a vegetarian
and 1 do not believe that a strictly vegetable
diet is good for everybody.
I have no less an authority than Dr. Sargent
to back me up In this. Dr. Sargent told me
that he personally tried the vegetarian diet for
Written for
This Page by
the Physical
Champion
of the World
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8 R ”3
No. 2—Sway
ing Back on
the Heels.
This Exer
cise Is
Recom
mended by
Willard for
Those Who
Have Tor
tured Their
Feet with
Tight Shoes
Until They
Have Be
come
Cramped
and Tender.
An Exercise for Developing-All the Leg
Muscles and Making the Feet Flexible.
a year, and while he gained in weight he ap
peared to lose a certain amount of vim and
energy. A man ought to figure it out for himy
self. If certain foods disagree with you, cut
them out.
Before ending this article I want to tell you
of the value of the hot foot bath. There are
many “remedies” for tender feet on the mar
ket, but nothing is better than a foot bath ot
water as hot as the feet can stand it. Afte{
soaking them for fifteen or twenty minuteg
plunge them into cold water and then drg
thoroughly. You will bless me for this advice
if you have been a sufferer,
Patent leather shoes worn all the time are
very bad for you, and I would rather wear a
pair of very stout water-tight shoes than rub
bers. In fact, I never wore a pair of rubbers
in my life. and I never get my feet wet when
Bsnow is on the ground. So next time you go
to the shoe shop get a comfortable pair of
shoes or go somewhere else.
Next week Willard continues his advice on
leg exercises, showing his readers some novel
methods for strengthening the lower limbs an¢
keeping the hips to correct proportions.
JOSEPH DI NUNCIE, Newark avenue, Jer
sey City, N. J.—ln the first place I would ad
vise you to put your mind on something else
besides prize-fighting. You say you want to
become a boxer, but your letter signifies that
You want to go into the ring to become a prize
fighter, which is very different. You are at
the age now where what you do will control
your whole life. Take my advice and cut out
the idea of entering the ring. Aside from that
I would say that you will need a 16t of train
ing to ever be fit in the way that you desire.
From your measurements you are greatly in
need of chest exercise. Your expansion is too
small. Your arms do not show the proper pro
portions, the biceps and forear!.m being the
same. I imagine you look like a stocky, well.
set-up young fellow, and you probably think
you would make a great fighter, but I don’t
think so. Your letter and its spelling show
me that you have neglected your education.
Education of the mind is fully as important
as training the body. Why don't you try to do
something worth while instead of throwing
your whole life away In a game that has
wrecked hundreds of fine young fellows?
. e
ALDEN SMITH and MARSHALL McCLUNG,
Monsey, N. Y.—Read my two articles devoted
entirely to running, and also my swimming ar
ticle, all three of which have appeared. They
will give you the information you want,
\ asiidingas
MISS VERA WALKER, Ottumwa, la.—Send
me some of your pictures in athletic costume,
Address me in care of the editor of this news.
paper. '
Puoto- BY _
COATES- STUDIO?
Willard
FRED MARTIN, Brooklyn, N.
Y.—Do all the trapeze work you
can for the coming year, do not
smoke or drink, and get plenty
of sleep. Exercise with dumb
bells and pulleys and keep your
self in the best of trim. In one
year you will have attained your
full height, and you can hope for
no more, but by living a clean,
healthy life for the next year
you will aid nature.