Bernarr Macfadden was an American who
founded the very popular Physical Culture magazine in 1899, under his
Macfadden Publications, which also had titles such as True Detective,
True Stories, SPORT (which was brought out 8 years before Sport's Illustrated), and
a gossip tabloid The New York Graphic. Macfadden himself is credited
as being the man who started the health craze in America.
Macfadden was a man who lived by his
own words. He was born weak and sickly and orphaned as a child. By
the age of 11, he was placed with a farmer and the hard work and
wholesome farm food had him in fit shape rather quickly. However, at
the age of 13, he moved to St. Louis, Missouri, taking a desk job and
his health reverted back to weak and sickly. He started exercising
with dumbbells, walking 6 miles a day, became a strict vegetarian.
He was also a huge proponent of fasting and called white bread the
“staff of death”.
Maybe Macfadden was simply a man ahead
of his time. His ideas on health in his time are the exact same that
are being pushed today. So, maybe spending 15 minutes with the
routine he published in the early 1900's is well worth pursuing.
The routine consists 15 self resistance
exercises. The first 5 are found in this post. There will be two
more posts, each with 5 exercises of the routine, published later
this week, and early next week, so stayed tuned for those!
Bernarr Macfadden Self Resistance
Routine
1. Grasp left hand with right, as per
illustration. Now, resisting slightly with the left arm, bring right
arm outward and downward to same position in which the left arm is
illustrated. Continue until tired, then same exercise with left arm.
This exercise is particularly good for developing the intercostal
muscles and for expanding and developing the chest. If a full breath
is inhaled and retained while three or four movements are made, it
will assist greatly increasing lung capacity and power. (Note:
holding one's breath can increase blood pressure. It is advised to
breath out on the exertion portion of the exercise and breath in when
returning to the start position).
2. Place left hand on right as per
illustration. While resisting slightly with the left arm, bring
right hand up as far as you can. Continue until tired; then same
exercise with left arm. This exercise will be found especially good
for developing the biceps, and it takes a short while to show
results.
3. Interlace the fingers tightly
together just behind the knees as per illustration. Now bend
downward slightly, then straighten the body as much as you can with
fingers interlaced as illustrated. Of course, you cannot make much
of a movement of this, but the endeavors made to straighten the body
vigorously exercises the muscles of the small of the back. Continue
the exercises, bending forward slightly, then endeavoring to
straighten up, until tired. This is a most excellent remedy for
curing pains in the back, though it should not be made too vigorously
until considerable strength has been gained.
4. Place Left hand on right arm as
per illustration. Now while resisting the movement slightly with
left arm, raise right arm outward and upward as nearly to the side as
possible. Continue until tired; then same exercise with the left arm.
This is especially good for filling out muscles on the side of the
shoulders.
5. Interlace fingers and twist left
arm as far out to the side as possible (see illustration). While
resisting with the right arm, bring left arm straight across the
chest until right arm is forced into the same position as the left
arm is shown in the illustration. Continue until tired; then same
exercise with the left arm resisting. For the twisting muscles of
the upper arm and shoulder. If you desire to be proficient in the
feat of “pushing the arm down,” practice this persistently and
you will surprise all your friends. It is also splendid for
increasing chest capacity.
Give these 5 exercises a try for a few days, before Part 2 is published, and I think you'll start to feel the difference. And to make things better, check out the free
1 Day Meal Plan from the Fit Father Project which can really help you get the most from these exercises.
