STREAMLINED FIGURES Improving The Neck

Southland Times, Issue 23308, 18 September 1937, Page 16

STREAMLINED FIGURES Improving The Neck

By

DONALD LOOMIS

The problem of the thin neck seems to be actute, especially among younger girls. The above exercise shown by Jean Chatbum will develop the back of the neck, give it a prettily rounded contour and get rid of those unsightly cords so many young people or thin people have. Start with the head forward and down, the hands clasped at the back of the neck. Force the head back, resisting all the time with the hands, but not so hard that you hurt yourself. This gives work to the neck muscles. Robert Taylor had a terribly thin neck when he first came to the studio. He was just a young boy with no physique, no poise, and he was terribly underweight. I put twenty five pounds on him, with diet and exercise; his chest developed from four and a-half to five inches from that time to this, his neck is no longer thin —it measures sixteen inches now —and he has acquired perfect poise. But Robert Taylor co-operated with me. He would never have accomplished so much if he hadn’t been ready and willing to do his part. Anything can be done with a person who wants to be helped, but little can be done for those who aren’t willing to make an effort themselves.

Rotating exercises for the neck are also good for the girl with the thin neck. You rotate your head in a circle from left to right across the chest, then from right to left across the back. Repeat in alternate direction.

Mr Loomis is a physical director at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios. He has charge of such people as Joan Crawford, Jeanette MacDonald, Norma Shearer, Robert Taylor, Clark Gable and Robert Montgomery.

But don’t concentrate on neck and throat exercise alone. Stir up your system with regular daily all-round exercise if you would have a streamlined figure. Take long walks in the open air, if you have time; if not, remember to walk instead of riding when you can. Start to work ten minutes earlier so that you can get in a walk for at least part of the way. Correct posture will actually make you taller and slimmer, so hold yourself as tall as possible when you walk. A good all-round exercise is one you can take before you are dressed in the morning. Do slow, stationary running, moving your arms in circles at the same time, with fists clinched. Gradually quicken the pace, until you are going as fast as you can, then gradually lessen it until you seem to be in slow motion. This stirs up your blood and helps circulation, which most thin people need.

You can vary the neck exereise shown above by Jean by dropping the head to the right side and resisting with a hand at the left side while you move the head up and over. Repeat with right hand in opposite position.