Natural Method of Physical Training by Edwin Checkley, (07) The Treatment of Obesity

Post date: Mar 5, 2017 1:39:25 PM

Natural Method of Physical Training

Chapter VII. The Treatment of Obesity

• • Dieting only succeeds in the reduction of the formation of fat and does nothing to reduce fat after it is formed. Applied exercise intelligently and conscientiously pursued, in an otherwise healthy person, is the only lasting way to reduce flesh. Obesity is a disease. When the natural functions of the body are allowed to proceed, there can be no accumulation of flesh. It is only by the failure of some natural process that fat increases beyond the desirable point. Fat feeds the muscles with every muscular effort producing a certain amount of combustion. If not exercised, the fatty substance, which would be burned up and carried off by the action of the muscles, steadily accumulates.

  • The accumulation of fat not only increases weight, retards movement by increasing bulk and interferes with breathing, but it unduly heats the body. Excessive layers of fat, operating like so many excessive layers of clothing, are a constant menace to the comfort and the health of the body.

  • Exercise directly attacks superfluous fat. The quantity of fat to be lost under exercise depends upon the individual, but will always be considerable in proportion to the amount accumulated without exercise and under the unrestricted influence of the disease at its height. Exercise reduces fat in the most direct and effective way. Dissipation of fat is in proportion to activity levels. People will accumulate fat in accordance very largely with their personal habits. It is a duty to keep every region (the arms, legs and abdominal region) alive with good muscles. Where muscles are healthy, excessive fat cannot live. Strive to establish a healthy system of muscle throughout the body. Regaining control of muscular exertion must be taken in slow degrees.

  • The reflex action of health in the abdominal muscles, and the proper exercise of these muscles in connection with those of the spinal and pelvic regions, will be immediate and considerable. All the digestive tonics ever invented cannot compete with muscular activity in the digestive region as a means of driving away ills in this region.

• • Proper carriage of the body applies with equal if not greater force in the case of corpulent people. Persistently subdue the abdomen and give the prominence to the chest. Walk with the whole body and do not move as if afraid of jarring some internal machinery. Give the hips free play in walking and practice the contraction of the waist muscles. In this way a continuous training is kept up, and the result will be immediate and lasting.

• 1. Contract the abdominal muscles and endeavor to draw the abdomen in and out without breathing. Practice until entire control of the muscles is secured. If, at the beginning, it is found impossible to use the muscles in this way, press in the abdomen with the hands as far as possible, and while holding it thus, take several long breaths, resisting any temptation to allow the abdomen to move with the breathing. Pursue this plan until the abdomen can be drawn in and released by the action of the muscles and without the assistance of the hands.

  2. Take the correct standing position, and straightening the arms bring them forward and upward as far as they may be carried without hollowing the back. In reaching loosen the muscles that will allow the fullest extension of the arms. The reach should be made forward and upward without removing the heels from the floor, and should be accompanied by a long breath. The motion should be repeated about ten times in a minute. This benefits the neck, shoulders and chest, while strengthening the lungs.

• 1. Clasp the hands over the abdomen, draw it into the utmost; take a long breath and bend at the hips until the the body (without bending the back) is at right angles with the legs. Straightening again, the breath should be released without relaxation of the abdomen. This motion should be repeated ten or fifteen times in a minute. This exercise is beneficial toward establishing a control over the muscles.

  2. Perform Swinging Exercises as described in Chapter 6.

  3. Swinging and bending exercise. Figs. 15 & 16. Stoop in the general direction shown by the figure, and carry the movement as far as may be possible. Before stooping contract the abdomen, especially avoiding the tendency to distend it.

  4. Lie flat on the back, with the hands across the abdomen, take a long breath, and raise the legs (with knee joints stiffened) until they reach right angles with the body. This must be practiced without arching the back or allowing the pelvis to leave the floor.

  5. Lie in the same position with the feet under the edge of a sofa, or some other object that may hold the feet against the floor and, without the assistance of hands or elbows, raise the body into a sitting posture, at the same time contracting the abdomen.

  6. In the standing position: Raise one knee after the other in exaggeration of the action of going up stairs, keeping the body perfectly erect, and practice until the knees can strike the chest. The exercise is beneficial in reducing flesh on the legs and abdominal region.

  7. Dropping to the heels (Fig. 18)

  8. Bending and touching the floor as described in Chapter 5. Repeated practice will steadily increase the ability to bend. As in all other exercises, maintain control of the abdomen. The habit of maintaining control of the abdomen will gradually diminish its size.

  9. Neck motions as described in Chapter 6.

  10. Lie face downward on the floor, or in consideration of the protrusive paunch, get on the hands and knees, then extend the the body on hands and toes (Fig. 22.) Keep the the body perfectly rigid--not permitting the abdomen to sag and not bending the hips upward to lighten the strain on the muscles. Maintaining this position is the beginning step. The exercise itself consists in lowering the suspended body by bending of the arms until the face touches the floor, and the effort should be repeated until this movement can be accomplished several successive times.