170 GOOD HEALTH 



in its natural position. If they succeed, we may have 

 the kind of carriage of the body that military men have ; 

 that is, we may be erect and vigorous. 



Good health is closely related to standing straight. 

 I do not mean that every person who stands as he 

 should is healthy, and that every person who stands 

 crooked is unhealthy ; but I do mean that standing 

 straight helps one to be healthy as well as to look 

 healthy. To sit in a bad posture tends to interfere with 

 respiration, digestion, and circulation. That is why a 

 person who sits or bends over constantly feels so tired 

 and cross at the end of the day; the different organs 

 of his body have had to do their work in a cramped 

 position, and they could not do it satisfactorily. 



A person should never sit still longer than an hour at a 

 time. Once in a while, he should stand up and take a two- 

 minute exercise to increase circulation and respiration, 

 to straighten his back and to cultivate good feelings. 



Exercise is good, but one can take too much of it. 

 Many people overdo in athletic work. I have seen sev- 

 eral basket-ball teams and several relay teams who after 

 they became expert played so many games and ran so 

 many races that the boys were seriously overworked, 

 so much so that it took them years to recover. 



A hard relay race should not be run oftener than 

 once a week, and a team should play no more than one 

 hard basket-ball game a week. 



