292 PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 



CHAPTER XII. 



Kinds of Exercise. Walking. Sports of Childhood allowed to and 

 beneficial to Boys. Girls exercise more quietly, and with less 

 Advantage. English and American Women. Exercise of the 



Arms and Chest. Carpenters' Tools. Time for Exercise. 



Morning and Evening not the best. 



672. There are as many varieties of exercise as there 

 are muscles in the human body. It is not easy to determine 

 which of these is the best, nor is it of consequence that we 

 should settle the question in advance. There is no one 

 kind that is better than all others, or can be substituted for 

 all the rest. One kind uses one set of muscles, another uses 

 another set. Walking employs the muscles of locomotion ; 

 cutting and sawing wood exercise the muscles of the arms 

 and shoulders. Riding on horseback employs the muscles 

 of the lower limbs, back, and arms, and agitates the whole 

 frame. * 



673. Walking is the most readily accomplished, and is 

 within the reach of every one. There is every where a road 

 or a field to walk in ; and if this exercise be taken with due 

 energy, as boys and young men usually take it, moving with 

 alacrity, swinging the arms and calling into requisition the 

 contractile power of most of the muscles of the body, it 

 will ordinarily be sufficient for the maintenance of health. 

 Walking is the most advantageous when it is bold and easy. 

 The body should be carried erect, the chest allowed the 

 greatest freedom of expansion. The arms should hang and 

 swing freely from the shoulders. A stooping posture inter- 

 feres with the action of the lungs ; and a confinement of the 

 hands, the folding the arms on the chest, or carrying them 

 in a muff, limits the muscular exertion, makes the move- 

 ments unnatural, and causes an ungraceful gait. 



674. The sports of boyhood, the games of the street and 

 the playground, which not only require much muscular 

 exertion but, are attended with exhilaration, answer all the 



