KEEPING FIT

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 79, 3 April 1926, Page 13

KEEPING FIT

RECREATION AND EXERCISE

ESSENTIAL TO HEALTH

ADVICE TO THE MIDDLE-AGED,

(Written for "The Post" by "Aesculapius.") .

Recreation 13 the great relief from the pressure of life; which pressure, as we all know to our cost, is daily increasing. In every department of life it is the same) more competition, more struggle, more worry, leas rest. Ever the pace grows quicker—we are continually "speeding-up"; and nervous "hustle" replaces steady "drive." Even the 1 schools are affected, and immature nun J 3 and bodies are being injured by a system of cram. In too many homes mother is jrritable and "edgy," the children are "nervy," or 1 father is threatened with a "nervous breakdown." In sane and healthful recreation we find, at any rate, a partial,remedy for all this. What does the word mean? '' Creation . means forming, ' | re-cre-ation" forming, anew—a renewing of the vital energies. Leisure time.and its appropriate employment serve to repair the machinery which has been impaired by excess of work. Recreation, then, is something which is undertaken for the.subsequent power, which it generates and ( the subsequent profit which it ensures. ' ■ The word is often misused, and many ftirms'of amusement which are not truly, recreative are'commonly called by this name; these are.those amusements which make still, further calls upon energies already tired by the day's work. Sleep is 'the great recreative agency, for in sleep the whole being, mind as well as body, nerve as well as muscle, rest and are restored. If our occupa-, tions were such that in them nerve and muscle > were used equally in congenial and happy labour, then perhaps sleep would be the only recreation required. To the country man, whose life is more natural, and whose work is active and healthy, this article will not appeal, and-indeed it is ;not written for him but for the overstrained city worker, the ■ nature of whose employment makes heavy calls upon his nervous energy, and whose sedentary life precludes, to a great extent, healthful muscular activity. Eecreation for the city worker then resolves ' itself largely, into a'question of : EXERCISE. We do not require science to teach us that this is the most lucrative form •et' recreation for those whoso labour is apt of: a bodily kind; it is sufficiently obvious how immense must be the benefit of muscular exercise, for not only does it allow the brain to rest when exhausted, by mental work, but by increasing the circulation of the blood all over the body, it helps the body to get rid of waste products and promotes nutrition. It thus'refreshes the whole being in all it» parts; it increases, by use, the strength" and endurance of the muscles, and it maintains the heart And lungs at the highest point of their, natural efficiency. : sAll 'fqrms.pl: exercise are not equally tjerieficial for any, givfen , individual—' '' One. mani's meat is; an oth er.yinan 's poi-"-son," and th'o exercise vvnicli may prove highly beneficial to one may. be. to another wearisome, ond ' exhausting. ;It is in that word "wearisonj '. that .-./e find the key to this problem, -.vhich" is a psychological one. To be truly recreative, .the form of exercise adopted must be enjoyed by the one who indulges in it. Tood which we like is better digested than food which we do not like;.so, too, exercise which is congenial and which produces a feeling of eager-enjoyment does' us more good, than routine exercise undertaken for "the good of the liver." Herein lies the almost invariable failure off exercises of the Sandow type; they do not interest and are undertaken as a duty Tather than as a pleasure, with the result that they are seldom persisted in. The "Physical Culturists" have for years told us that that middle-aged protuberance may be got rid of by simple exercises performed for a few minutes daily, but do we notice any great improvement in the figures of those of us who are past our first youth? Only a few minutes daily, but —well,-to tell the truth, an extra few minutes in bed is enjoyable and exercises are boring, so our good, resolutions do not last, and we now merely sigh over our increasing girth. A group of business men in a certain New Zealand city have adopted a more, excellent way— on one day a week, the morning work being over, they slip out to the golf course, enjoy a good round, and return to their offices in time to sign their correspondence. And they'are wise, for we only neglect exercise at our peril, EXERCISE AND LONG LIFE. There are pergous who will tell you that they never take any exercise and that they do not suffer any ill-effects. Quite so, not at present, but they will later. And this brings up a very, important pomt —our feelings are no true guide as to what we do and what we dV not require in the way. of exercise. The body is wonderfully adaptable; it can be trained t to undertake great physical labours without the least feeling of discomfort, nay rather, with an increased sense of well-being; on the other hand, when exercise is habitually neglected the body, after a short time, ceases to protest—it adapts itself to the conditions under, which it has' to exist. Herein lies the danger. ■■ Howr ever strong and well a man may feel Botwithitanding his neglect of exercise, h» - ought to remember that he is playing a most dangerous game; and sooner or later his fin will find him out, in the l»m either of dyspepsia, liver, kidney, or other disease, which so surely creep upon the offender against Nature's Laws of Health. If one wishes to enjoy a healthy old-age, regular and sufficient exercise i» essential, and this exercise, to be of the greatest benefit, ■uut be enjoyed in. IHE OPEN AIB. During exercise we breathe quicker and more deeply, and it is obviously of Importance that the air that we are drawing into our lungs should be pure and fresh. More, the mere fact of belilg out of doors is good for us—the sunihine and the wind are Nature's own ■timulants and restoratives; the continually varying conditions out of doors, the warm sun, the cool shade, the gentle breeze, or the boisterous wind are just the things required to counteract the monotony of indoor conditions. In India it is considered essential to the health of every European resident that he should have his regular daily out-of-door exercise, and doctors tell us that this habit has done a very great deal to promote the health and happiness of the white community. To keep well in the Tropic* the white man must keep himself phy-sically-fit. It would be useless to try and compare all the different forms of exercise; and it has already been indicated that each individual will be wise to follow his own inclinations in the matter. The young man will be naturally drawn to the more violent games—football, rowing, boxing, and so, on; older men will prefer something quieter, and while one will indulge in.a game of golf, an-

other will find, in the work of the garden all the muscular activity that he requires. Two forms of exercise, however, are liable to be • neglected or under-rated, and we .will do.well to remind ourselves of them. In these days of the übiquitous motor-car we are forgetting that walking is one of the things which Nature intended for us; and we may also with advantage call to mind the dictum of the physicians of the bygone age that "The best thing for the inside of a man is the outside of a horse."