should be sufficiently strenuous to induce perspiration.
This is important for several reasons. In
the first place, there is an old saying, which
happens to be true, “Never let your blood-vessels
get stiff.” In addition we should call
on the tremendous reserve which Nature gives
to us, at least once in a while.
[Illustration: “Counting off”
A company in the Yale gymnasium]
[Illustration: “Head” Position.
Group of one hundred, Senior
corps]
Water plays a very important part in the life of man,
for without it a person can live for only a short
time. Its importance is shown by experimental
fasts lasting for thirty days where only water was
taken, and when we consider that the body is composed
of from 60 to 70 per cent, of water and that the amount
which it throws off as waste has to be replaced through
nutrition, we realize the value of water to life.
The average person, therefore, should take from two
to four quarts of water a day.
[Illustration: Result of sixty
days’ training in carriage.
The two men in front weigh
265 and 230 pounds respectively]
[Illustration: Look and determination
on first day’s march, during
which the men carried iron
bars weighing nine pounds each]
At middle age it is natural for most people to put
on weight, unless they are especially active in their
daily life. For, having acquired a habit of consuming
a certain amount of food, it is absolutely essential
to exercise and thereby offset the tendency of this
food to make fat and increase the weight. Walking
can be enjoyed by everybody, and a four-or five-mile
“hike” daily makes your credit at the bank
of health mount up steadily. We should all learn
that when we rob the trolley company of a nickel by
walking we add a dime to our deposit of health.
Food, of course, is one of the main factors in one’s
general health, and we hear on all sides the opinions
of people as to the causes of indigestion and the
general ailments connected with eating. One thing
is certain, however, and that is that pleasure has
a favorable effect on the digestion. Pleasant
company at a meal, the dainty serving of the viands,
and the attractiveness of the food combinations pave
the way to a satisfactory repast, eaten with enjoyment
and completely assimilated.
Because diet is a real aid to physical well-being,
the following table is offered as a rough suggestion
for a typical dietary for a man leading a more or
less sedentary life. But it will never replace
exercise.
