Six seconds for exercise

Recently I was going through my collection of the Readers Digest; I have been a subscriber for many years of this very important magazine which was published monthly and was sold at Cee Bees. I came across an article in the 1959 copy of the Digest, highlighting six seconds of exercise.

This is how the article began: "Find it hard to keep in shape? Here's how, without gadget or expense and with a minimum investment of time, you can keep your muscles taut, your figure trim".

This is what the author Keith Monroe had to say: "To many of us exercise is a bore or a chore. Yet it needn't be. Without workouts at a gym or a 'daily dozen' every morning we can still get all the exercise and keep ourselves in top trim by using odd moments during the day. The secret of health has long been known by some of the busiest people in the world. Charles F. Kettering of General Motors, who worked at full speed, never took any formal exercise; instead he just didn't wait for elevators. Whenever he had to visit upper-storey offices or laboratories, he walked up at least two floors and down three. For years Daryl F. Zanuck, the movie mogul, swung a polo mallet in his office while dictating or phoning. This was not Hollywood eccentricity, but a method of strengthening the wrist and forearm. More and more doctors and trainers are advocating these simple practices. Every day there are bound to be intervals when you have six seconds to relax. They can make a tremendous difference. Pull up your chin. Pull up your stomach. Pull up your chin. Move. Wriggle. Yawn. Stretch. Do these exercises on company time. Do them while going from one place to another. Weave them into the day's routine".

Gene Tunney says: "Take regular exercise – not violent weekends of golf, or sporadic bursts of squash, but a daily drill that becomes as much as part of your life as brushing your teeth. Basically, there are nine essential exercises which authorities advise you to take every day, in doses of a few seconds at a time.

(1) Stretch while sitting lying or standing (2) Straighten your spine while standing with your back against something straight (3) Roll your neck – up down and around (4) Suck in your stomach while sitting or bending over (5) Expand your chest (6) Flex your arms, by pushing, pulling and reaching (7) Bend your legs – by squatting, climbing and walking (8) Limber your toes and feet (9) Firm your muscles – by bouncing, pinching, kneading, pummelling.

A little of each of these every day and you'll be slimmer, stronger and peppier. Try them and see.

These are healthy hints if taken seriously can be beneficial to many.

Reproduced by Phillip G. Alleyne