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Figurę 18

EXERCISE NO. 9

To Develop thc Mu»c!e» of tho Abdomen

(This cxcrcise should not bc attcmpted until tbc pupil can casily repeat Prcliminary Exercisc No. I. 15 or 20 times in succession without undue cffort.)

In this excrcisc a vcry light bar beli is used. Construct a beli wcighing 15 or 20 pounds. In the illustration tlić athlete is using 25 pounds: that is. tbc 15-pounds handle bar from the Large Size Milo Duplcx Bell, and two fivc-pound plates from the same beli.

The pupil is to lic fiat on the back. put the fcct under tbc edge of a burcau. bed, Iow couch or anything clse that is heavy cnough to kccp the fcct from rising from the floor. Sometimes, if there is no article of the correct height, the pupil will have to slip the spheres on the dumb-bcll handle and lay the dumb-bcll across his anklcs.

Hołd the light b3r beli at the back of the neck. and slowly risc from the recumbent posi* tion until you arc sitting upright. Figurę No. 18 sbows the athlete half way up; you must NOT stop when you get to this position. but kccp on raising the body until it is upright. then slowly lower yoursclf again until you are fiat on your back. and rcpcat this cxercisc 5 times.

Evcry tbird day inerease one morę. till you rcach 10 times; then inerease the weight of the beli 5 pounds.

’I*his exercise devclops all the muscles along the front of the abdomen and the front of the thighs. Noticc in Figurę No. 18 how the thigh musclcs are standing out. In the Police and Firc Departments of some citics no applicant is considercd physically fit to join the forcc umil he can repeat this cxercisc a couplc of times whilc holding 40 pounds at the back of the neck.

Besides dcvcloping the musclcs on the front of the abdomen. this czcrcise is yery effective in removing surplus fat in that region; so as soon as possible evcry man who is trying to reducc himsclf should graduatc from Prcliminary Ex-crcise No. 1 to this Regular Excrcisc No. 9. Be surę the fcct are anchorcd solidly. otherwise it is practically impossible to perform the exercise correctly.

NOTĘ—If the pupil cannot handle the amount of weight speerfied, cven thougb able to rcpcat Prcliminary Excrcise No. 1 the reąuired number of times. he should start with 5 or 10

pounds.

Exercise No. 9 os given is recommcndcd irnly for fairly light poundages and dccidedly not for un extenąivo program of nbdominnl muscle build-iug. The reriKon is that when this movement is taken on the floor. the nbdominal muscles nre oxercified tlirough only uhout one-lmlf to two-thirds of their rangę and the fnet that they nre never stretched morę thnn the supine position permits will cause thern to tightnn up slightly if cxcrciscd very much through this limiter! rangę.

You will find much better result* attending tho eserciac if yott will toke it whilo sitting on a box or stool of >ufficient height that you can arch u.s far baekward as your back flcxibility will per-mit and Btill be elear of the floor. Sit on tho sup-porting object, hook tho toes under a hcavy piece of furnitur* lor your 2 dumb-belU ma<le up to r-ubstantial poundages), place the bar heli back of your neck and lower nway until you are arched as far baekward as possible while keeping the knees straight. Now repeat the exerrise just bb instructod above, and you will find that you htretch the abdominal musclcs fulły os woli as exerciso them properły over their entiro rango of motion. If you have a normal baekbend, an ordi-imry chair tumed sidewaya will be of sufTlcicnt height. hut, if your flexibility is like that of Frnnk Eberaole, for mstancc, you will have to use a considorably taller support.

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