Physical training for business men; basic rules and simple exercises for gaining assured control of the physical self

Front matter

Physical Training for Business Men

H . Irvinj^ Hancock.

'6

Foreword

\ A 7HILE the text of this book strikes a ^ ^ new trail, and presents a new field of endeavour in physical exercise that leads to masculine poise and success in life, it is not claimed that there is in the exercises themselves much of novelty. A few of these exercises are derived from the author's training experiences, but most of them have been frankly chosen from among the hundreds of splendid exercises that are taught to the soldiers of our Regular Army as setting up drills and as more advanced physical work.

It is the selection of these, and their adaptation to the problem in hands, that has constituted the author's pleasant task. Only such moderate and simple movements as can be readily learned and carried out in a few minutes in the morning or evening, or at both times, have been admitted to these iv Foreword

pages. There is nothing of complexity in this adapted system, nothing that will cause aching muscles, yet the following of the suggestions herein set forth will, in a very short time, make an outwardly changed man of the student. Thereafter he will carry himself with ease, poise, alertness— power. To the business man, interviewing other business men, this new force that springs from correct carriage and wide-awake, impressive appearance will be peculiarly valuable. The value of such improvement, however, will be apparent in every man who walks, talks, and meets others. In correct bearing and outward signs of power the man possessing them has immense superiority over the one lacking them.

Slovenly attitude is nearly as fatal to success in life as mental sloth can be. An alert mind in an alert, well borne, and correctly poised body should be the masculine ideal among success-seekers. The chapters of this little volume were written in the effort to take care of the physical aspects of that

Foreword v

desirable combination in the pleasing presentation of one's personality to the beholder.

A good example is bound to be convincing. Therefore the model chosen to appear in the accompanying photographic illustrations is one of the best qualified in physical appearance among the younger men of the Army of today. He has posed with great attention to the duty of making every movement plain to the beholder.

A word must be said concerning Mr. Phelan's rather amazing photographic record of the model's performances. These photographs represent the nearest approach possible to a moving picture on a single plate. The method of making these unique examples of camera work is Mr. Phelan's own invention now first set before readers. The photographs illustrate the text with the utmost clearness.

The Author.

Contents

PAGE

ORE^ fVORD . . .

iii

I. Quarter and Half Bends

43 ^^

Quarter and Half Bends of Knees .....

49*/

Backward Trunk Bend b^y

Sideward Trunk Bend

59 <"'

Forward Thrust of Arms

63 -^

Sideward Twist of Trunk, Right OR Left. ....

67 '^

Head Turning, Right or Left

Knee Raising ....

Full Trunk Bend Forward .

Extending Leg Forward

II. Downward and Upward Arm Swinging

Shoulder and Arm Rolling .

IX

X

Illustrations

FIG,

13. Downward and Backward Arm

Swing ....

14. Side Straddle and Trunk Bend

15. Lunge to Sideward

16. Forward Stride, Swing and Knee

Bend ....

17. Knee Bend and Thigh Clasp

18. Shoulder Straightening with

Towel ....

19. Trunk Bend, Forward and Back

WARD * . . .

20. Knee Work from Horizontal

Position

21. Crouch AND Leg Extension .

22. Crouch and Leg Raising

23. Crouch and Straddle .

24. ^Composite Exercise for Limbering

105 ^ 109 ^' 113^

121 ^

129 ^

135 /

143 ^

Physical Training for Business Men

PHYSICAL TRAINING FOR BUSINESS MEN

Chapter I The Error Of Physical Slovenliness

IT AT in hand, with a cheery, not too effusive smile, the young man walked into the office of a manufacturer in one of our smaller cities.

'* Good-morning, Mr. Vance," began the caller. '*I have called in answer to your telephoned request. You wish me to give estimates, I understand, through a part of your plant."

. *'Yes; won't you draw up that chair and sit down?" invited the manufacturer.

"No, thank you, sir. I believe that the American business man carries on his business best while on his feet."

Noddingy the manufacturer turned to a side table, then wheeled back, setting down several sheets of blue prints and figures. These the electrical contractor picked up and scanned one after the other, jotting down memoranda in a notebook. The conversation could not be made brief. There were many points to explain. Twenty minutes passed, the manufacturer, for some reason, and against his own efforts to the contrary, becoming irritable. At last he touched a desk button, saying:

''That is all the blue prints and I can tell you. Mr. Hicks will show you through the departments in question for any further information you may wish. Will you mail me your estimates?''

Half an hour later the manufacturer sent for another contractor. The second young man arrived, accepted a seat, was shown a duplicate set of prints and figures, and listened, asking only necessary questions. Presently he, too, was taken in tow by Hicks.

The second caller received the contract. His figures were about the same as those submitted by the first man. 'There was no surface reason why the contractor who had been favoured with the first chance to offer a bid should not have had the award. The manufacturer, however, gave fully, a day or two later, his reasons for preferring to do business with the second man.

''I like to do business with an equal," explained Mr. Vance. *'That is not snobbery. A clerk, while lacking my experience and presumable judgment, can be my equal in other respects. Some of my young men are. When Hudson came here and insisted on remaining standing, I did not object to that. I knew that the talk would be a long one, but he had as much right to his preference as I to mine. It was the way he stood that afflicted my nerves. He shifted from one foot to the other; he slouched and slumped; almost from the first he suggested discomfort and writhing. While attempting to talk on a matter of serious business I found my attention constantly diverted to his symptoms of physical unrest. The symptoms became more pronounced, and my attention was more and more shifted from what I wanted to say. Finally I was obliged to summon Mr. Hicks as a measure of sheer relief. That Hudson chap was fast taking away from me the power to think, to transact business.

'*The second man, Codman, was refreshingly different. He came into my office . quietly. He bore himself so well that the first glimpse of him was reassuring. At a glance I knew that he would not distract my thoughts from the business in hand. He greeted me quietly, and stood a few feet away, his bearing dignified, his poise perfect. He was physically, mentally at ease; the impression that he made was one of power and equality.

''At my invitation Mr. Codman took a seat, and his appearance on a chair was no less pleasing. He neither lolled nor sat stijBSy. As it was plainly my first shot he waited attentively for me to begin the conversation. He examined the prints and figures attentively, made his notes, and asked many questions. Not once did he cause my attention to wander in the least from our subject. Finally he asked more questions, and, looking at him, it was a pleasure to answer. Then he went away with Mr. Hicks.

''Afterwards, when I received the estimates from both men, Codman's personality continued to impress me. I was certain to have to meet the successful bidder several times before the work was finished, and I could not bring myself to like the idea of more conversations with Hudson, so Codman received the contract. In the subsequent meetings with him I enjoyed his physical poise and the feeling of equality."

Not every business man would explain his impressions as analytically as did the manufacturer, but all men who conduct large affairs will remember many instances in which a caller has failed of the success he sought through numerous errors in carriage and bearing. More often the man who fails to be agreeably impressed by his caller realizes only that there was something in the personality of his visitor that failed to create a good business impression.

When a man fails in any business enterprise through a fault or defect that he could have remedied, he is not only false to himself^ hut unfaithful to his employer or partner.

''I'd rather send Johnson out on that deal than go myself," declared one business man smilingly. ^'He^ll put it through.''

That was fine testimony to the worth of the employee, even though it may have proclaimed the employer himself as deficient. It may be taken as an assured fact that the young man so referred to had not only brains but an alert and well-poised physical bearing.

Many a man of large affairs may be heard to declare that he wants the ''clean-cut young college man" in all positions of importance. This is largely because the desired young man has attended a college or university where a given amount of gymnasium work was demanded of every candidate for a degree. The gymnasium work, while it did not necessarily create the athlete, did none the less bestow upon the young man the physical bearing that impresses the beholder with the belief that the young man is justly confident and successful.

The athletic figure, while it has its advantages, is not in itself a requisite in successful dealing with others, but proper carriage and bearing are the next essentials after keen mentality. Any shrewd observer will soon be able to pick out examples of men mentally far above the average who are not successful. Further study, in such instances, will usually make it plain that there are defects in carriage and bearing. An athlete does not always exhibit a convincing personality. Despite his strength and endurance he may show many signs of bodily slovenHness.

For men in nearly all the busy walks of life there is a happy halfway station this side of athleticism. It is to be found in the training of muscles that do not bulge but which have been trained to a point in suppleness and involuntary ''intelligence'^ that enables them to provide for the body the appearance of physical ease, alertness, grace, and discipline. Such exercises will be set forth in the following pages.

Let the reader study a few cases of bodily bearing that are palpably bad and he will learn how many kinds of defect there are. In the first place, many men walk badly. All such stand badly as well. A shuffiing gait, or one that approaches it, is much more common than the unobserving would believe. There is the other extreme of the man who, in order to give the appearance of alertness, adopts a nervous, high-stepping gait that resembles "spring halt.'' Then there is the man who, to give the impression of walking solidly, causes the ioor to shake under him and brings down his heels in such violent concussions as to jar his spine at every step. There is the man who turns his heels over and who looks wobbly in consequence. There is the man who rushes, and whose knees gradually acquire a permanent bend; he always seems in danger of toppling as soon as he stops. There is the man who glides along stealthily on the balls of his feet and who generally gives forth an atmosphere of eavesdropping or prowling.

All of these errors of gait can be corrected by careful attention to remedial exercises, nor is it too daring an adventure in psychology to believe it possible that some defects in character can be removed at the same time.

No man's outward appearance can be good and convey the idea of confidence and power so long as the feet are badly used in walking and standing. The muscles of the feet can be trained so that what may, without punning, be termed foundation faults in carriage may be set right in a very short time. With this success, however, not all the faults of bearing are removed. All the way from the ground to the neck are muscles that must be taught to work together. A not very numerous lot of exercises may be made to bring about all the desired improvements.

As in walking, standing well involves the proper employment of most of the muscles of the body. The drills illustrated and explained further on are intended not so much for building a powerful frame as for giving the muscles just the proper degree of strength and elasticity to insure correct carriage. The most notable instance that the writer recalls of the effects of muscle building for good carriage was in the case of a child who exhibited such decided spinal curvature that the employment of a brace was advised. Instead, setting up drills were employed; the crooked little spine was in time encased in a brace made up wholly of muscles that were not powerful, but were strong and supple enough to force the spine into correct position and the bad case of curvature disappeared. Many assuredly healthy men, especially those on their feet much of the time, would be astonished at the degree of

Error of Physical Slovenliness ii

curvature that a physician's measurements of the spine would disclose.

Sitting badly is a fault so common as to be the rule and exceptions are quickly noted. Correct posture on a chair depends mainly upon the back and shoulder muscles. In the case of the man who bears himself well when sitting these muscles are employed unconsciously, but that very unconsciousness comes from the fact that the muscles have had correct instruction in their own tasks. As in the case of standing badly, slovenly postures in the chair are responsible for much of the spinal crookedness that a physician's examination would reveal. Usually these spinal defects are unsuspected by the adult possessor.

Observe, and it v/ill be noted that nearly all men rise from chairs with abrupt jerks. Often a rising man will be seen to bring himself partly erect and at the same time hurl himself a little way forward with a catapulting movement. This way of ending an interview is often believed to denote the habit of hustling. Certainly it bespeaks haste, but it also reveals slovenliness of bearing. Rising from a seat should be a gradual, though not affectedly slow, process. The visitor who hurls himself from a chair may display speed, but it will be found, upon investigation, that men who employ this method of leaving do not always accomplish a good deal in a business day. The American love of rushing is responsible for many physical faults that decrease real efficiency.

During the last few years efficiency experts have given a good deal of attention to lost and unnecessary movements, but apparently not much thought has been given to too abrupt movements. Yet the most stupid engineer knows that there is something decidedly wrong with the machine that moves jerkily. Much time will be spent in correcting jerky movements in machinery, and it is worth at least a little time to correct this fault in the handling of the human body. It is not often that anything is gained by men in whirlwind speed; system and order in movement are what count for the individual, and also in impressing the beholder with a sense of the observed one's general competency.

Power may be well expressed in some forms of inanition. The motionless crouch of the tiger watching prey does not convey a sense of either weakness or indolence. The beholder knows that the energy is there, lurking latently in the tiger's muscles, and that muscular power will be used to its fullest when the spring is made. So the business visitor, shifting needlessly on his chair, does not impress the beholder with anything save irritation, while the man who sits quietly in full bodily self-possession not only keeps the attention of his vis-d-vis, but in most instances transacts his business more rapidly and more successfully.

It will well repay every employer or executive to pay especial heed to the sitting habits of those whom he directs. It is unquestionable that many an essay in business has been damaged or defeated by the slovenly sitting of a concern's representative. Let the reader note the effect upon himself of any caller who fidgets and shifts position or posture frequently. Then the lesson will have been driven home and appreciated.

It would be possible to make a long list of defects in bearing and in carriage. The present purpose will be better served, however, by stating that a few minutes a day spent in going through the drills offered in the succeeding pages will eliminate these physical faults without the present possessor necessarily having become aware of them. Systematically and briskly trained muscles, when doing their rightful work, bring about automatic correction of defects in bodily carriage and bearing. There is little value in being aware of the former existence of physical faults that no longer exist.

Chapter II Training The Feet For Walking And Standing

T F it were not such an easy matter to over- ^ come slovenliness of bearing then it would not be possible, in a few weeks, to make such an astonishing change in the appearance of the army recruit. The change is brought about by instruction in the setting up exercises, and not until presentable carriage has been secured in the young man is much attention paid to putting him at more athletic work.

The effort at improvement should begin with the proper training of the muscles of the feet. It is poor muscular power at this important portion of the human anatomy that causes the first slumps in good bearing. As a people we are inclined to flat-footedness in some degree. Any shoemaker can testify to this fact. True, the condition exists in varying degrees, but it should not be tolerated to any extent whatever. Badly broken down arches are much too common, but in most men the arches are only partly damaged, and all such may be built up into full power and endurance.

How many who have not had exact gymnasium instruction have ever given any thought to building up the muscles of the feet? Comfort at that point is usually considered a sufficient desideratum, yet, as in other parts of the body, there can be no abiding comfort without health. Health is dependent upon normal strength, and without exercise there is no real strength. Shoes of special construction as to the arches, or metallic or felt supports for the arches, are, except in cases of complete breakdown, merely unsatisfactory makeshifts. Training exercises for the feet bring the only abiding improvement. It is an exceptional arch that cannot be strengthened by well chosen exercises.

Of these the most common one consists in alternately rising on the toes and settling back upon the whole foot. This exercise may be repeated rhythmically until there is slight fatigue in the soles of the feet. After a moment or two of rest the complementary exercise may be found by sitting on a chair with the feet flat on the floor. Curl the toes as much as possible under the foot, at the same time contracting the soles of the feet as a part of the movement. After doing so straighten the feet. This should be done at about the same speed as the preceding exercise, and, like it also, should be carried on until there is moderate fatigue in the muscles concerned. However, after trials for a few days it will be found that it will take a good deal of either exercise to induce fatigue, and then moderation should rule.

When the details of this drill have been well mastered, the next exercise may be taken up, and will be readily acquired. Everyone is familiar with the feat of walking on the toes. One will also recall how frequently, when a child, he amused himself bywalking on his heels. Even adults when crossing a wet street, and not wearing goloshes, often cross the wet spot by walking on their heels. The exercise in question is performed by rising on the toes of the right foot and at the same time settling back on the left heel with the toes of the left foot well clear of the floor. Holding the feet in these respective positions, walk the length of an ordinary room, being careful not to let the sole of either foot touch the floor. Turn, and now stand on the left toes and the right heel. Repeat several times, taking pains not to walk on either heel or set of toes more than a short distance and then to change. When this performance has been mastered then try shifting to toes and heels after each step. This will prove more difficult at first, but the trick of doing it with a fair degree of rhythm will be acquired. It is granted that one looks ridiculous when walking in such fashion, but what of it? It is fine work for the foot muscles, and that is what the student is seeking. The ligaments and musculature of the ankles are also strengthened. If the student doubts that it also brings the gastrocnemius muscle of the calf into play, let him continue this exercise until he feels the cramp there.

If our student dislikes to take comical looking attitudes he will feel inclined to avoid the exercise now suggested, but if he yields to his objection he will miss something of value. Stand with the feet so turned that they rest on their outer edges, the inner edges being quite clear of the floor. Study the position carefully until it is exactly acquired; then walk the length of the room on the feet so managed. Turn and next stand on the inner edges of the feet so that the outer edges are quite clear of the floor. Walk the length of the room. This is more difficult than the first phase of the drill, and the student will join in the laugh that his efforts arouse in a beholder during his first few efforts.

Of course, walking with the feet turned over to either the outer or inner edges is a bad thing to do in ordinary walking. But the very alternation of the two phases of the exercise will correct any such tendency. Even one who walks squarely on his feet at all times should go through with the exercise, none the less, for its value in building up the proper involuntary control of the muscles of the feet. With all the exercises for the feet goes one word of caution, and that is to refrain, at the outset, from doing these exercises over so long a period of time that the feet are crippled for the day's work ahead of the student of good carriage.

When the drills already described have been mastered with a fair degree of proficiency they may be made much more difficult by performing them with the knees well bent. This is much harder on the foot muscles, and, incidentally, on the body itself. Skill in the bent-knee form of the work will not come immediately, but will develop as rapidly as the muscles themselves do.

A feat that will prove restful after the

Training the Feet 2i

bent-knee work will be found in standing erect and kicking out vigorously with the right leg, which is held straight. The kick should be made as far forward as possible, with the foot, at the instant of delivering the kick, not more than six inches from the floor. After three or four kicks delivered with the right foot an equal number should be made with the left. This exercise may be repeated with either foot and leg in alternation at the student's discretion. This may be varied, after a while, by delivering the kick so that the foot extended is at the height of the knee of the other leg, and this drill, too, should be done the same number of times with either foot and leg. Then it may be performed with either foot and leg in constant alternation.

A restful movement may then be had by repeating the general exercise with an important variation — swinging the extended leg forward instead of kicking. This may be repeated many more times than the kick itself.

Now, let the student analyze for himself the effects of the exercise and of its milder alternative. The most important thing he will discover is that it teaches his muscles to sustain his body in good poise on the foot that is not employed in delivering the kick or making the swing. True, there can be no really good poise if the foot on which the body rests has a weak arch, but all of the drills so far described make for the bettering of the arch, and therefore arches and poise are improved together.

By way of variation, let us try a walking movement once more. Walk the length of the room, bringing up smartly the knee of the free foot until the thigh is in horizontal position. This feat is not at all tiresome, but very useful, and the walk should be continued in this fashion for a minute at first, and, later on, for two minutes. This is one of the drills that help much to lessen the fatigue of walking through the active day that follows the morning bout of exercise.

Until all this work can be accomplished w^ithout excessive fatigue it is not wise to attempt too much in a given bout. The finish should find one only moderately fatigued. After all the movements described, however, can be gone through a number of times, and then repeated throughout, there is another exercise that may well be added to the lot. This is done by standing on the left foot and extending the right foot forward so that it is about six inches from the floor and the leg straight. Move the lifted foot in a circle from left to right, the diameter of the circle to be about twelve inches. At first this circling should be done slowly, but speed may be developed gradually. Vary by standing on the right foot and circling the left foot from right to left. Make sure that the same amount of work is done with each foot. The muscles of the circling foot and ankle are strengthened and rendered more supple, while bodily poise is obtained by standing easily on the foot that is on the floor.

At the outset give much attention to the exercises that have been described as being for the building up of the arch, which is the first result to be secured toward clean-cut carriage. The kicking, swinging, circling, and knee-raising walk are intended for developing poise as the arches of the foot improve.

For the first three to five days, depending on how long it takes to accustom oneself to the exercises without undue fatigue, it will be enough to spend eight or ten minutes in the morning, and the same amount of time at night, on this training of the foot muscles. In the morning the best time is immediately upon rising and before going to the bath. At all times of the year the work should be done in a room having at least one raised window. In the coldest part of the winter comfort may be served by drawing on a sweater. Breathing, to be described in the next chapter, should occupy from three to five minutes, after which eight to ten minutes of the foot drills should follow. Night exercise should be finished a full half-hour before retiring, for at the end of the work one's blood is coursing freely, and sleep is not likely to come immediately to a stimulated body.

During the day the student should note often how he is walking or standing. If the student has acquired the unfortunate habit of standing with foot or heel turned over to the side he should correct this as often as he notes it. Luckily the change to correct position in this respect can be made without attracting attention. If one or both shoes are ''run over" at heel or side of sole, then the shoemaker should be asked to put on new, straight heels and taps. There should be no delay in having one's shoes repaired in a way to aid correct standing.

Springiness of step will result from devoted attention to the foot drills. Many men attempt to simulate this springiness by a quick, jerky style of walking, which destroys effective carriage. One's gait should be studied carefully. Most men in this country walk incorrectly. Hurried walking should be avoided. Any gait with which the body is inclined well forward, except when ascending an incline, should be noted and avoided. The head should be well up, and the trunk perpendicular. A gait that will carry one at a rate of three miles an hour on a level sidewalk is fast enough. Rapid walking, whether with short or long step, makes for a needless waste of nervous energy and is exhausting. Many men who begin the day with brisk walking find themselves, for no apparent reason, tired and irritable by early afternoon.

While, as just stated, the trunk should be held perpendicular, this correct feature of good carriage can easily be overdone. It is within the experience of army officers that the absolutely erect carriage taught in some European armies is painful to the victim. Head and shoulders should be at ease when walking or standing. With a proper amount of setting up work, as set forth in this volume, the natural, erect carriage will be acquired without exaggeration.