2.]
A trapeze, Fig. 2, should be suspended from the ceiling, so that the
bar shall be six inches above the head of the person who is to use it;
the toes should be placed under straps nailed to the floor to keep
them in position. Then if the bar be grasped and the body thrown
forward, the trapeze, the arms, and the body will form the segment of
a circle.
The exercise is taken by causing the body to describe a complete
circle in the manner indicated in the cut. Little muscular effort is
required if the motion be rapid, because the momentum is sufficient to
carry the body around; but if the rotation be slow, more exertion is
required. This movement is specially adapted to the breathing powers
of weak persons, yet the most vigorous can readily get from it all the
exercise their chest and lungs require.
By means of these exercises the chest is gently but effectively
expanded in every direction and the elasticity of its walls promoted,
the air cells are expanded, and the lungs are rendered more permeable
to the respired air, and the strength of the respiratory muscles is
developed.
[Illustration: Fig. 3.]
Fig. 3 illustrates an exercise for the chest that is taken without any
apparatus other than an ordinary doorway. The exerciser should stand
in the position indicated in the engraving, and then step forward with
each foot alternately as far as possible without stretching the chest
too severely. The longer the step the more vigorous the exercise will
be.
Pages:
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118