THE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL; PORTLAND. SUNDAY. . MORNING. JUNE-'28, 1914. T FEEMCH DOCTOR EOLES HEW PHY Dr. Francis Heckel Insists That We Should Develop Muscle to Play Games and Not Play Games to Develop Muscle He Embodies in His System the Remarkable Methods Used in the French Navy by Lieutenant Commander Hebert. SKMlllMLTORE ;TEM , . . - . . .. -.- . - - - - - - " ... jl (7) (47V "ta recuperation of the neuro-muscular function and a parallel return to mor phological and' nutritive characteris tics." The essentially medical nature of the Heckel system- is one of its most strik ing features..' Every time its exponent advises a muscular exercise, even the simplest, he explains exactly what ac tion this causes, what effects, direct or indirect, it has on other portions of the body, and what the reasons are for its prescription to pupils or patients. ' As has been said, the Heckel system includes three stages: Preliminary preparation by muscular development, natural exercises such as are pre scribed by Lieutenant Commander He bert in bis system, and sports. The first step of the first stage is a thorough examination of the pupil, who must submit to it entirely un clothed. To record ,the results of this examination Dr. Heckel has drawn up a number of charts, which, when filled neath the akin.' According to Zr. Heckel. too many physical educators .and re-educators neglect this in their work. He declares that preliminary train ing according to his methods will bring about a harmonious muscular development superior " to that pro- duced by other systems, in which harmony is sacrificed to development of special portions of the body. After going through the preliminary course the pupil is ready for the second stage of the system, that based on Lieu tenant Commander Hebert's methods. aw k.-, .. Here is an average lesson in natural urai methods I shall tekeuponljr that seising by the Hebert system of Lieutenant Commander Hebert.. It is based on the following principles: in the open air. Where this is Impos sible, Dr. Heckel insists on the pupil's wearing as little clothing as possible, as the part played by sunlight and air in muscular development is, accord ing to him. much greater than is gen erally known. Pupils going through Lieut. Com mander Hebert's course of "natural" exercises are required to rest one day ont of seven and never to exert themselves so violently as to . reach the limit of their strength. How French Sailors Train Man in a state of nature, and to sat isfy, the needs of his struggle for ex istence, is constantly forced to employ useful . forms of exercise, such as walking, running, swimming, climb ing, lifting, and certain movements of out rl a. ramnlptu riMPrinMnn at h , ueieiiao. ny means or metso f-i;flT.t,a KHSLV Primitive man. in all parts of the uut.iuuM, J -worm. oDtains aimost automatically (60 38. Combined arm-and leg exercise In Heckel' 8 system. 41. Exercise utilizing all the leg muscles. 42. "Stepper" movement, basis of German army "goose step." 46. Lateral raising of leg, especially difficult for be ginners 48. Variation of above, with bending of leg. 47-48;- Exercises I for developing bending muscles of thigh. 49. Rotary leg exercise J5D-5L Leg exercises, especially fatiguing, for developing all the leg muscles. his health, his tendencies, etc. From this the methods to be adopted for his physical education are chosen, for, above all else, the Heckel system is one based on individual requirements 'There is no fixed Heckel system, in face, since he ascribes to rigidity of rules the failure of many previous systems to produce beings perfect physically. After the . physical examination comes a lone series of movements in tended to develop the muscles. Dr. Heckel classifies . these under Several heads, and givks a total of more than 100, appending to each a thorough ex planation, couched in scientific terms. The exercises include arm exercises, such as stretching the arms up over the head and horizontally from the shoulders, rotary arm movements ex ercises, with weights, dumbbells, and pulley exereises; leg .exercises, such as crouching and forward and back ward kicking, and a series of exer cises tending to .develop the abdominal muscles and those of the neck, back, and other parts of the body. This preliminary stage is . divided into three parts. The first, called by Heckel the period of adaptation, should last one or two weeks, accord ing to the adaptability of the pupil. It consists of exercises tending to cre ate a feeling "of fatigue, which is in creased progressively as the pupil's ca pability of enduring fatigue increases. At the same time, it is a period of complete organic development and ab solute functional harmony. . The morphological and aesthetid re sults are so perfect that one may say that natural man is the most beautiful as well as the most vigorous of men. Heredity perfects and fixes these re sults. Starting from this, Hebert, on the one hand, has his men go through edu cational movements consisting of walking, with legs held stiff or bent, and of running, combined with respir atory . movements and correct holding of the back. This educational part is combined with an entire series of util itarian exercises which are progres sively increased in Intensity, number and duration. - v ; These exercises are climbing trees, walls, and obstacles of all kinds, climb ing a rope with and without help from the lower limbs, swimming in every form and for all purposes, obstacle races, lifting stones,- sacks and men, with the end in view of helping and bringing succor; for, like Amoros, who. was haunted by the Idea of im parting to gymnastic exercises moral ?.nd altruiBtic features, Hebert bears h mind not only the egoistic side rep resented by self-defense, but the altru istic, represented by mutual help. Thus the military side of this edu cation is placed in the foreground, for the man developed by Hebert's meth ods is an athlete remarkable for strength and endurance. The type tnus obtained, of a beauty aosoiuteiy different from that evolved by the Swedes and akin to the Hellenic type, seems more perfect and is infinitely better a dsp ted to the tastes and needs or our race. N OT, long ago Lieutenant Com mander Georges Hebert of the French navy decided that if men reverted for a short while every day to the natural mddes of exercise of their savage ancestors they would be much, better men , physically. He worked his ideas into a practical sys tem of physical training, Introduced them among the men of the French navy, and obtained such excellent re sults that soon his ideas were adopted also for training the soldiers of the trench army. And now Hebert has received even more flattering recognition4 of the value of his work from a high sci entific authority, Dr. Francis Heckel. who uses the Hebert methods in n entirely new system of his own, called , by him "myotherapy," or cure by muscular action, which, according to hi in, not only develops the muscles, but acts as a cure In a number of dis eases, among them, incipient tubercu-. losis, nervous troubles, gout, asthma, and obesity. Dr. Heckel, who is already known through a work by him on how to cure obesity, explains "myotherapy," in a volume entitled "Physical Culture and Cures by Exercise," which has just appeared in Paris. After review- . lng many theories of physical educa- . tion, among them those embodied in the Swedish, German, and French systems evolved, respectively, by Ling, John and Amoros, he discards as use less for his purposes all except that of Hebert and two men, Lagrange and Deraeny, who paved the way for him. ,: In the Heckel system the Hebert reversion to the simple exercises of primitive man constitutes the second step of development. Previous to reaching it, Heckel prescribes for the pupil careful and thorough exercises destined to make him acquire the de gree of muscular development neces sary before the second series of exer cises 'should be attempted. The system - of the French naval officer Is further amplified by another stage, the thlrt and Ust, in Dr. Heckel's series, which consists of sports known to all of us tennis, swimming, rowing, football, etc. That these should be played only after the first two stages of develop- , ment have been gone through la in sisted upon by the apostle of "myo therapy." In his eyes exercise is a means, not an end. "It cannot be re peated too often," he says, "that one must develop the muscles in order to take part in sports, not take part in sports in order to develop the mus cles." " , Drastic methods are needed for edu cating our young people and reeducat ing your grownups. physically, accord ing' to Dr. Heckel. He declares, that since the days of antiquity, when the Greek athletes attained a degree of physical development which is still the marvel of the world, there has been a woeful degeneration in the quality of the human race. - He contends that the Greeks trained their ethletes by no haphazard meth od, but by a careful system, unfortu nately lost to us, which must have surpassed in efficiency anything sine produced. Then came the Middle Ages, when intellectual Ideals were Bet up . as the ' highest to which men could aspire, and all pertaining, to the body was treated with contempt., Standards of physical culture were allowed to drop, until -a serious deterioration in the human race set in, which contin ued steadily until within the last 60 years, when a' decided reaction came. A corollary of our physical degen eration; Dr. Heckel points out, is in tellectual degeneration. According to him, the very neglect of the physical enjoined by mediaeval pursuers ,pf knowledge brought about th deterior ation of those Intellectual powers which they were seeking to cultivate. - ' In describing his system. Dr. Heckel lays particular stress on two things. One is. that it is not his intention to produce that kind of athletes In whom certain sets of muscles are developed to the detriment of there and to the well being of the body In general- "false athletes' he calls them. Too 1. WALKING EXERCISES, (DURA TION. FIVE MINUTES.) 1. Walking at an average gait, with the shoulders thrown back. 2. Walking on the tips of the feet. 8. Walking quickly, with legs bent. at a speed of seven to nine, kilometers per hour. Take long steps; bend the body forward. 4. Quick walking with legs stiff; minimum speed, nine kilometers per hour. Short -and hurried steps. Keep the trunk vertical and the legs straight. 5. Slow walking, with deep breath ing. 11. RUNNING EXERCISES. (FIVTB MINUTES.) 1. Running, medium speed, legs bent. 2. Running on tips of feet. 5. Running with ldng leaps from one foot to the other. - 4. Quick starts in short sprints. 6. Slow run, with deep breathing. III. CLIMBING EXERCISES, (EIGHT MINUTES). 1. Lifting of legs, stretched forward, as high as possible. 2. Getting upon a straight bar by means of the arms alone. j3. Supporting one's self on the hands and the tips of the feet. Falling for ward in two movements and in one. Bending the arms. Walking and run ning on all fours. 4. Climbing slack rope, or the under side of a ladder. 5. Climbing walls, trees, etc. Going over places where vertigo Is to be feared. IV JUMPING EXERCISES, (TEN MINUTES). 1. Skipping of all sorts; skipping rope. 2. High Jump without a start. , I . ' J Exercises for abdominal development. Including bending trunk with legs together and apart, bending trunk and touching left foot with right hand and vice versa, bending trunk with anna in. various positions, Ac many physical trainers seek to de velop men of this type, he says, and are responsible for a widespread idea' that to . endeavor to be like euch freaks ; is a worthy object. Tha , Heckel system seeks to develop all the muscles harmoniously and make of a man a perfect physical being. The second point upon which partic ular stress is laid is that the neuro muscular apparatus is what mtust be developed, not the muscles - alone. ; Every movement in the Heckel System has this double object in view. Dr. Heckel's definition of physical culture is "a method of developmant and of equilibrium of all organie fun tions by the voluntary exercising of one of them, the neuro-muscular func tion, ' by means, first. of artificial movements, then of- natural move-iM-tits, and, finally, of sports and games? It is, for this body, the equiva- - lent of - intellectual culture for the mind. .' H -defines "myotherapy?. thus: ' "A method for correcting the derange ment ' of functions functional trou bles) by progressive development ,or cleansing the pupil's system from fat arid other matter that has been im pairing bis condition. About the fourth week of the pre liminary treatment comes its second phase genuine physical training. This is a difficult time, as the fatigue oc casioned during the preceding weeks is likely to cause discouragement. To combat this the trainer must "buck up" his pupil - constantly. By thla time each lesson' should last from . thirty to forty minutes with exercises calculated to produce copious perspi ration.' The muscles should become supple at this stage. Then comes the third subdivision of the preliminary stage, that devoted to developing the pupil's muscles. Weight up to three kilograms are now prescribed by Dr. Heckel. This period should last from six to ten weeks and should bring ' about a marked increase- in muscular power. ', Trainers should devote special . care during this time to the development ef each muscle in its entirety, and not . merely seek to toughen those " parts that are visible and lie directly be 68-691 Bending exercise In which spinal muscles actively participate. 72-73. For developing dorsal muscles. 76. Exercise beneficial to spinal mus cles. 77. Rotary trunk movement. ?1-S2. Trunk exercises combined with 4ee breathing. Hebert attaches small Importance to the lifting of weights and, In a gen- ' eral way, to mechanical resistance. His lifting, exercises are of an essen tially utilitarian character and adapt ed to military education. The results obtained by him are most remarkable, v - .. " . ';' Like Heckel, Lieut. Commander Hebert has worked out a number of charts, by whicb he records minutely the r development - of each man undr his care. These charts, declares Heckel, are 5 the only ones produced up to 'how which record minutely the development - of each individual and make It possible to teU at a glance his physical condition. The average lesson given by Lieut. Commander Hebert lasts one hour. This applies modified, of course, by individual requirements to the use of ; the Hebert methods in Dr. Heckel's system.. Both of these men lay great : stress- on the advisability of exercis ing without garments of any sort and Advanced leg exercises, producing remarkable results la thigh and leg. . A preliminary to Jumping exercise in stage IL of Heckel system. 54. Foot developing exercise. 66. Simultaneous raising of leg from recumbent posture. 60. "Bicycle" movement. 61-63. Rotary and spiral movements. 64. For developing muscles at back of legs. 66. Raising of bead and trunk . for back' and sacro-lumbar muscles. 67. Kxerclsa for, thigh muscles. . High Jump with a start. VIL DEFENSIVE EXERCISES. 4. Broad Jump without a Start. (TEN MINUTES.) 6. Broad Jump with a start. Natural defensive exercises include -6. Jumping a barrier br the aid of boxing and wrestling. In individual the hands. V" - work, wrestling may be replaced by elementary exercises with a bar or any similar object; for instance, a weighted sack, which should be thrown about in all directions. VII I. -PROGRESS I VE WALKINO AND RUNNING EXERCISES. : (TEN MINUTES.) Walking with legs bent:. COO to UH meters. With legs straight: 100 to 00 meters. Running, average gait: 100 to 1100 meters.,: . Running, quick gait: 10 to 100 rae : ters. These walks and runs are to be ex ecuted In additon to the various walk ing and running exercises already in- dlcated. which are made 'without re gard to distance. The order in which the various exer- 7. Downward jumping. V. LIFTING EXERCISES, (FIVE MINUTES). 1. Exercises with one .and both hands and light weights. - 2. Regular forms of lifting exer cises. - ; S. Loading and carrying weighted sacks. 5 VL THROWING EXERCISES, (SEVEN MINUTES). . 1. Vertical raising of weight,' (7.257 kilograms.) with bending and straight ening of tha trunk. 2. Raising same weight sideways and passing it from one hajid to the other while bending the trunk from right to left and left to right. - , 3. Throwing the same weight, each arm alternately. . t. Shoulder and arm developing exercises. 10-11. Exercises for devel oping biceps and triceps. 13-11. For developing doraal and pectoral muscles. 10-18. Respiratory exercises. 20. "Fan" movements, peculiar to Heckel's sysem. clses are given is not obligatory. It should be so arranged as to make them as continuous as possible. As a gen eral thing, violent forms of exercise should be made to alternate with mod erate ones. If for .any reason, such as lack of time, space, material. Ac, It Is lmpos- . sible to go through all the forms of ex ercised prescribed, running, jumping and cjlmbing should at all events be done during each lesson. The Last Stage When the follower of Heckel's meth ods has passed through their first stage, that of muscular development, and the second stage, consisting of the natural forms of exercise prescribed by Lieutenant Commander Hebert, he Is ready for the third and final start games and sports. On the subject of these Dr. Heckel has many interesting things to say, some of them providing food for thought for the Anglo-Saxon Peoples, He writes: As a rule, the Frenchman, being nervous, impatient, combative and courageous. L little fitted for slow and strategically complicated games, and especially for those necessitating disci, plined teamwork He l essentially an Individualist, and It will take a long time to adapt him gradually to the co ordination of common effort needed in football, rowing races, Ac. Among all the foreign sports Intro duced among us of late years, it seems t0..m!Ltht tl1r re only two, tennis and boxing, in which Frenchmen can be sure of excelling. In tennis the coupling of effort is limited to two partners. Ih boxing the need of coin bativeness. courage and initiative Is self-evident, French professional boxers, trained by English and Americans, are unques tionably better than the Kngllsh al ready. They will master their teach ers in this sport Just as soon as thev have received the required preliminary physical education. Dr. Heckel divides the games and sports which he recommends for use in the third stage of his physical cul ture system Into two classes, vis.: 1. Those which be calls "sports of complementary education," Irrespective of whether they are of practical use. Among these he places bicycling, ten nis, swimming and rowing. 2. Sports of practical value for de-w f ense or attack. Among these he cites boxing, wrestling. Jiu-jitsu and ath letic games like football He has little or no use for what be terms "pseudo-sports," In which cate- ' gory he places yachting, automoblling. riding as practiced in cities, hunting, winter sports and sports whose Utility has practically vanished, such as fenc ing. He has little to say In favor of tennis, which, he thinks, does not give enough exercise to be suitable for most seek ers after physical perfection. The best part of the game, which is picking up the ball, -is done, not by the players, but by others," be disparag ingly observes. On the Other band, his enthusiasm for swimming is unbounded. Rowing he calls a good sport, but very much inferior to swimming. Of football he writes: This game, imported from England, is the first and the most complete of all sports. It combines the advantages of running and wrestling, and makes those playing it quick, adroit and strong. The pursuit of the ball neces sitates springs, the scrimmage sua- . tained and vigorous effort, the kicking of the ball skill and power, falling without getting hurt sangfroid, and the game in general decision, judgment, courage and discipline. These qualities are those of athletes, and football is par excellence an ath letic sport. Therefore, it requires of those playing it physical proweos of the highest order, as well as perfect coifdltion and training. To have a chance of becoming a good football player, one must begin playing the game early. - Dr. Heckel attaches the greatest im portance to the kind of teachers who should impart his system to pupils. They should have -a thorough know l- . edge, not only of medicine, but of phys ical culture and sports, he dec-lares, and . should insist that every one of the pre- . . scribed movements be executed with -the minutest care and exactly as set forth. .";-..: ,