80 



THE POPULAE EDUCATOB. 



Fig. 5 



wrists and arms, and among the most suitable exercises for this 

 purpose are the following : 



1. The dumb bolls are held close before the chest, the arms 

 from the shoulder to the elbow resting by the side. The body 

 must be erect, the heels touching, and the feet at right angles. 

 Now raise the dumb bells slowly, first with one hand and then 

 with the other, as high above the head as you can reach ; bringing 

 them back to the position in front 



of you. Then exercise both arms 

 together in the same way. 



2. Hold the bells down by the 

 sides, and raise the arms until 

 they are extended at full length 

 in a horizontal position from the 

 shoulders ; raise and depress each 

 arm alternately, then lower them 

 both down to the sides, and re- 

 peat the former movement. 



3. From the original position 

 stretch the arms out before you, 

 then bring them gradually back 

 as far as you can without bend- 

 ing the elbows, and keeping the 

 dumb bells grasped in the hands 

 with the thumbs uppermost. 

 Move the arms forward again, 

 making the dumb bells meet 

 in front, and then backward, try- 

 ing to cause them to touch be- 

 hind, which you will be able to 



accomplish with practice. As the learner gains strength, the ; 

 speed with which these movements are made may be increased, j 

 Some of the other exercises usually practised without a-ppa- | 

 ratus, which we have described in our first paper on Gymnastics, | 

 may also be performed with the heavier dumb bells. 



1. The light dumb-bell exercises are commenced by holding the ' 

 arms straight down, with the 



bells in an exactly horizontal 

 position from the hips, the 

 thumbs outward. Now turn 

 the thumb ends of the bells 

 to the hips, and back again, 

 ten times. Be careful at each 

 burn to keep the bells per- 

 fectly straight, so that a line 

 run through one dumb bell 

 would also pass through the 

 other. 



2. Now, with the arm from 

 the shoulder to the elbow 

 close by the side, hold the 

 bells before you with the 

 thumbs outward. Then turn 

 the bells until their ends are 

 reversed, as before, making 

 them come in line at each 

 movement, and repeat this ten 

 times in succession. These 

 exercises will do much to 

 strengthen the wrists. 



3. Hold the bells straight 

 in front, the arms being ex- 

 tended, and the knuckles 

 pointing downward ; then 

 twist the arms until the po- 

 sition of the dumb bells is 



reversed, the knuckles being Fig. 7. 



upward. 



4. Thrust the bells downward, upward, forward, and 

 sideways, bringing them back to the chest after each move- 

 ment, and repeating the series five times. Take great care that 

 at each movement the arms and the bells be exactly parallel to 

 each other. 



5. Swing the bells energetically backward and forward, i 

 making them meet both in front of the chest and behind the 

 back. 



6. Go through the " charging " exercises already described I 

 among the wand movements, each dumb bell in turn serving 



Tig. 6. 



the purpose of an imaginary wand for the guidance of tne 

 gymnast in the position. 



7. Hold one dumb bell high above the head with the right 

 hand, the , arm being quite straight ; let the other bell rest on 

 the neck the arm, of course, being bent ; change the position 

 of each arm alternately. Now, with the bells still in these posi- 

 tions, stretch the left leg backward as far as possible, and, when 

 it has reached its limit, sink 

 the body towards the ground. 

 Rise to the perpendicular again, 

 and then stretch back the other 

 leg in the same way. Repeat 

 these movements five times. 



8. Standing erect, arms down, 

 carry them to the horizontal 

 position in front ; then above 

 the head as seen in Fig. 8. Now 

 down to the horizontal again, 

 and then to the floor, as seen in 

 the dotted lines in the figure. 

 Repeat these movements ten 

 times, and without bending the 

 knees or the elbows. 



Here we must leave the dumb 

 bells ; but, as in the case of the 

 other exercises, the examples 

 which we have now given will 

 be sufficient to suggest nume- 

 rous variations and additions to 

 the learner. 



We pass on now to another kind of exercise, which will give 

 the learner more severe work than any of those to which we 

 have yet alluded. 



INDIAN CLXTBS. 



The clubs are made of wood ; they should be about eighteen 

 inches long, somewhat tapering in form, from three to four inches 



in diameter at the thickest end, 

 and the other forming a con- 

 venient handle for the grasp. 

 The weight of the clubs should 

 be just such as will allow the 

 learner to use them with toler- 

 able freedom ; for anything 

 like a violent or undue strain 

 upon the muscles is to be 

 avoided in our gymnastic 

 training. 



We need not give a de- 

 tailed list of Indian club exer- 

 cises. Many of those per- 

 formed with the dumb bells, 

 etc., can be practised to equal 

 advantage with the clubs, and 

 the learner who has studied 

 the rules and movements we 

 have already given, will know 

 how to proceed with these im- 

 plements. It will assist him, 

 however, to have before him 

 the two illustrations given on 

 this page. Fig. 7 indicates 

 the proper position of the 

 body from which all the exer- 

 cises should be commenced, 

 the clubs being used either 

 in perpendicular or horizontal 

 positions, or sometimes in both 

 simultaneously, as in the cut. 



Fig. 6 shows the kind of movement which may be practised 

 in order to obtain entire freedom with the clubs, the dotted 

 lines describing their direction. Having reached the back, bring 

 the arms to the side, with the clubs hanging downward ; then 

 sweep them the reverse way to that shown in the illustration, 

 holding them above the head, and arching the body as much 

 as possible. Remember in the club exercises, as^n all others, 

 the invariable rule, never to bend the knees or the elbows unlesa 

 the character of the movement contemplated renders it abso- 

 lutely necessary to do so. 



Fig. 8. 



