It should be said that a mental effort is requisite
in this course as well as the physical one. The
correlation between mind and muscle must be re-established.
The man must become master of his body once more and
retain that mastery. Certain suggestions are also
given specifically as to living—none of
them irksome, but quite essential if the full result
of the work is to be attained.
This was the first experiment of its kind, and hence
it has proven of especial interest. There are
plenty of cases of individuals taking up exercise
in one form or another and benefiting somewhat by it;
but when twenty to one hundred men in a group have
engaged in this Senior Service work, the result has
proven remarkable in every instance. The question
seems to be simply this: If you are over military
age and wish to renew your youth, and are willing
to pay the price by devoting some three or four hours
a week to a scientifically tested system, and can secure
a score of other men to do it with you, you can be
absolutely assured of success. Well, isn’t
it worth it?
INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP ACTION
Thousands of men are beginning to realize what all
this means. My mail for the last six months has
been full of the inquiry. Men of forty are rapidly
awakening and are eager to devote these few hours to
the task of keeping fit, and so increasing their efficiency.
At the same time they are preventing these horrible
and untimely punishments at the hand of Mother Nature.
Now there are two methods by which a man may still
be young at sixty. One is an exceedingly hard
route for most men to travel—namely, the
individual practice of this scientifically tested formula
and patient persistence in it. The other is by
group action. The latter is far easier and its
results are doubly effective. However, as in some
cases group action may be impossible, this book furnishes
the data for individual practice as well.
All the exercises described are possible for the individual
as well as for the group. Should a man determine
to follow them out alone, he must make up his mind
that there shall be no interference with his carrying
out his program with regularity and exactness.
He must not for a moment believe that he can miss
the exercises one day and then make up for the lapse
by doubling them the next day. He must always
follow the setting-up exercises with his walk and
not do the setting-up in the morning and then wait
till afternoon for his walk. It is the combination
that produces the most effective results.
[Illustration: Effectofthirtydaysoftrainingupon A company.
Thesemenarecarryingironbarsweighingninepoundseach]
