– The importance of regular exercise in the open air, if possible, cannot be too strongly insisted upon. Walking, riding, cycling, and out-door games are all excellent, and time should be found for one or other of them. In addition to these- and instead of them when the others are not possible-exercises in the dressing-room, with an open window, consisting of arm_, leg_, and body-movements combined with deep breathing are a valuable means of preserving the bodily efficiency. These exercises may be followed by a plunge into a tepid bath in winter and a cold bath in summer with a brisk towelling for a finish.
There are some points in reference to exercise which should be borne in mind. To benefit by exercises the person should be fresh when these are practised. This is why the morning-after the night’s rest-is the best time for the practice of them. To start on physical exercises when exhausted in mind or body is worse than useless. The idea that a “walk in the open air” must do everybody good is a pernicious error.
Further: it is quiet possible to overdo exercising. To carry exercise to the point of fatigue, and to test endurance to its utmost may bring on a state of debility which is never recovered from. Excessive training and excessive indulgence in athletics are quiet as bad if not worse than no exercise at all. But in moderation and with due regard to time and circumstance, regular exercise is an excellent means of keeping up the bodily efficiency.