Part 4

Moderate walking exercises the most agreeable influence over all the functions. In relation to health, walking accelerates respiration and circulation, increases the temperature and cutaneous exhalation, and excites appetite and healthful nutrition. Hence, as an anonymous writer observes, the true pedestrian, after a walk of twenty miles, comes in to breakfast with freshness on his countenance, healthy blood coursing in every vein, and vigour in every limb, while the indolent and inactive man, having painfully crept over a mile or two, returns to a dinner which he cannot digest. In all individuals, walking is indispensably joined with the exercise of one or more of the external senses. It receives from the cerebral faculties a powerful influence, by which it is either accelerated or prolonged. Walking upon soft even ground, at a moderate pace, is an exercise that may be taken without inconvenience, and even with advantage, after a meal. It is adapted for convalescents, who are not yet allowed to take stronger exercise. A firm, yet easy and graceful walk, is by no means common. There are few men who walk well if they have not learnt to regulate their motions by the lessons of a master, and this instruction is still more necessary for ladies. Having, now, therefore, taken a general view of the character and utility of walking, I subjoin some more particular remarks on the

GENERAL MECHANISM OF WALKING.

For the purpose of walking, we first bear upon one leg the weight of the body, which pressed equally on both. The other leg is then raised, and the foot quits the ground by rising from the heel to the point. For that purpose, the leg must be bent upon the thigh, and the thigh upon the pelvis: the foot is then carried straight forward, at a sufficient height to clear the ground without grazing it. To render it possible, however, to move this foot, the haunch, which rested with its weight upon the thigh, must turn forward and out. As soon as, by this movement, this foot has passed the other, it must be extended on the leg, and the leg upon the thigh, and in this manner, by the lengthening of the whole member, and without being drawn back, it reaches the ground at a distance in advance of the other foot, which is more considerable according to the length of the step, and it is placed so softly on the ground as not to jerk or shake the body in the slightest degree. As soon as the foot which has been placed on the ground becomes firm, the weight of the body is transported to the limb on that side, and the other foot, by a similar mechanism, is brought forward in its turn. In all walking, the most important circumstance is, that the body incline forward, and that the movement of the leg and thigh spring from the haunch, and be free and natural. Viewed in this way, the feet have been well compared to the spokes of a wheel: the weight of the body falling upon them alternately.

This exercise puts in action the extensors and flexors of the thighs and legs, a great number of the muscles of the trunk, and more or less those of the shoulder, according to the rapidity of the pace, and the greater or less degree of projection communicated to the arm, which, in this exercise, acts as a balancer of the body, the motion being exactly the reverse of that of the corresponding leg. It draws the fluids more into the inferior than superior members: it gives but little strength to the latter. Walking may be performed in three different times,--slow, moderate, or quick--which somewhat modify its action.

THE SLOW WALK, OR MARCH.

In the march, the weight of the body is advanced from the heel to the instep, and the toes are turned out. This being done, one foot, the left for instance, is advanced, with the knee straight, and the toe inclined to the ground, which, without being drawn back, it touches before the heel, in such a manner, however, that the sole, at the conclusion of the step, is nearly parallel with the ground, which it next touches with its outer edge; the right foot is then immediately raised from the inner edge of the toe, and similarly advanced, inclined, and brought to the ground; and so on in succession. (Plate VIII. figs. 1 and 2.) Thus, in the march, the toe externally first touches, and internally last leaves the ground; and so marked is this tendency, that, in the stage step, which is meant to be especially dignified,--as the posterior foot acquires an awkward flexure when the weight has been thrown on the anterior,--in order to correct this, the former is for an instant extended, its toe even turned backwards and outwards, and its tip internally alone rested on the ground, previous to its being in its turn advanced. Thus the toe’s first touching and last leaving the ground, is peculiarly marked in this grandest form of the march. This pace should be practised until it can be firmly and gracefully performed.

THE MODERATE AND THE QUICK PACE.

These will be best understood by a reference to the pace which we have just described; the principal difference between them being as to the advance of the weight of the body, the turning out of the toes, and the part of the foot which first touches and last leaves the ground. We shall find that the times of these two paces require a further advance of the weight, and suffer successively less and less of turning out the toes, and of this extended touching with the toe, and covering the ground with the foot.

THE MODERATE PACE.

Here the weight of the body is advanced from the heel to the ball of the foot; the toes are less turned out; and it is no longer the toe, but the ball of the foot, which first touches and last leaves the ground; its outer edge, or the ball of the little toe, first breaking the descent of the foot, and its inner edge, or the ball of the great toe, last projecting the weight--(Plate VIII. figs. 3 and 4). Thus, in this step, less of the foot may be said actively to cover the ground; and this adoption of nearer and stronger points of support and action is essential to the increased quickness and exertion of the pace.

The mechanism of this pace has not been sufficiently attended to. People pass from the march to the quick pace they know not how; and hence all the awkwardness and embarrassment of their walk when their pace becomes moderate, and the misery they endure when this pace has to be performed by them, unaccompanied, up the middle of a long and well-lighted room, where the eyes of a brilliant assembly are exclusively directed to them. Let those who have felt this but attend to what we have here said: the motion of the arms and of every other part depends on it.

THE QUICK PACE.

Here, the weight of the body is advanced from the heel to the toes; the toes are least turned out; and still nearer and stronger points of support and action are chosen. The outer edge of the heel first touches the ground, and the sole of the foot projects the weight.

These are essential to the increased quickness of this pace--(Plate VIII. figs. 5 and 6); and it is important to remark, as to all these paces, that the weight is successively more thrown forward, and the toes are successively less turned out. In the grandest form of the march, the toes, as we have seen, are, in the posterior foot, though but for a moment, even thrown backwards; in the moderate pace, they have an intermediate direction; and in the quick pace, they are thrown more directly forward, as in the six figures of Plate VIII.

It is this direction of the toes, and still more the nearer and stronger points of support and action, namely, the heel and sole of the foot, which are essential to the quick pace so universally practised, but which, together with the great inclination of the body, being ridiculously transferred to the moderate pace, make unfortunate people look so awkward, as we shall now explain. The time of the moderate pace is, as it were, filled up by the more complicated process of the step--by the gradual and easy breaking of the descent of the foot on its outer edge, or the ball of the little toe, by the deliberate positing of the foot, by its equally gradual and easy projection from its inner edge, or the ball of the great toe. The quick pace, if its time be lengthened, has no such filling up: the man stumps at once down on his heel, and could rise instantly from his sole, but finds that, to fill up his time, he must pause an instant; he feels he should do something, and does not know what; his hands suffer the same momentary paralysis as his feet; he gradually becomes confused and embarrassed: deeply sensible of this, he at last exhibits it externally; a smile or a titter arises, though people do not well know at what, but, in short, the man has walked like a clown, because the mechanism of his step has not filled up its time, or answered its purpose.

I trust that the mechanism and time of the three paces are here simply, clearly, and impressively described. The following is the more imperfect, but still useful, military description, with its words of command:--

SLOW STEP.

March.--On the word March, the left foot is carried thirty inches to the front, and, without being drawn back, is placed softly on the ground, so as not to jerk or shake the body: seventy-five of these steps to be taken in a minute. (The recruit is ordered to be carefully trained, and thoroughly instructed in this step, as an essential foundation for arriving at accuracy in the paces of more celerity. This is the slowest step at which troops are to move.)

QUICK STEP.

The cadence of the slow pace having become perfectly habitual, a quick time is next taught, which is 108 steps in a minute, each of thirty inches, making 270 feet in a minute.

Quick March.--The command Quick March being given with a pause between them, the word Quick is to be considered as a caution, and the whole to remain perfectly steady. On the word March, the whole move off, conforming to the directions already given. (This pace is applied generally to all movements by large as well as small bodies of troops; and therefore the recruit is trained and thoroughly instructed in this essential part of his duty.)

DOUBLE MARCH.

The directions for the march apply, in a great degree, to this step, which is 150 steps in a minute, each of thirty-six inches, making 450 feet in a minute.

Double March.--On the word Double March, the whole step off together with the left feet, keeping the head erect, and the shoulders square to the front; the knees are a little bent; the body is more advanced than in the other marches; the arms hang with ease down the outside of the thighs. The person marching is carefully habituated to the full pace of thirty-six inches, otherwise he gets into the habit of a short trot, which defeats the obvious advantages of this degree of march. In the army, great advantage attends the constant use of the plummet; and the several lengths swinging the times of the different marches in a minute, are as follow:--

In. Hun. Slow time 75 steps in the minute 24,96 Quick time 108 „ „ 12,03 Double march 150 „ „ 6,26

A musket ball, suspended by a string which is not subject to stretch, and on which are marked the different required lengths, answers the above purpose, may be easily acquired, and is directed to be frequently compared with an accurate standard in the adjutant’s possession. The length of the plummet is to be measured from the point of suspension to the centre of the ball. In practising all these paces, the pupils should also be accustomed to march upon a narrow plane, where there is room for only one foot, upon rough uneven ground, and on soft ground which yields to the foot.

Walking exercises a greater influence over the economy when it takes place on inclined planes than on a flat surface. In ascending, the effort is made in a direction directly opposed to the general tendency of heavy bodies: the body is strongly bent, the upper part of the trunk in advance; the action of the posterior and anterior muscles of the thigh is considerable; and circulation and respiration are speedily accelerated by the violence of the muscular contractions. In descending, on the contrary, effort is requisite to keep up the body, which tends to obey the laws of gravitation; and to moderate the tendency of gravity to project forward in the centre, the body is thrown back, the sacro-spinal mass, and the posterior muscles of the neck, are strongly contracted, the knees bent, and the steps much shorter. Men with long flat feet, and the heel bone little projecting, are bad walkers.

FEATS IN WALKING.

The power of walking great distances without fatigue is an important matter, in which the English have of late excelled. A good walker will do six miles an hour, for one hour, on a good road.[3] If in perfect training, he may even do twelve miles in two hours. Eighteen miles in three hours is a much more doubtful affair, though some are said to have achieved it.

[3] Seven miles in one hour are said to have been done by some.

A Cork paper, of recent date, describes a match of ten miles in 120 minutes, on the Mallow and Fermoy road, by Captain John T. G. Campbell, of the 91st (Argyleshire) Regiment, accoutred in heavy marching order of a private soldier, viz., with knapsack and kit, great-coat and mess-tin, musket, bayonet, and sixty rounds of ball cartridge: total, fifty pounds’ weight. Heavy bets were pending on the issue. The captain started at eight o’clock, A.M., and performed this undertaking in the short time of 107 minutes and a quarter, thus winning the match, and having twelve minutes and three quarters to spare.

At the rate of five miles an hour, pedestrians of the first class will do forty miles in eight hours, and perhaps fifty in ten.[4] At the rate of four miles an hour, a man may walk any length of time. Robert Skipper walked 1000 miles in 1000 successive half-hours, on the same ground Captain Barclay walked 1000 miles in 1000 successive hours.

[4] A clever writer in Blackwood’s Magazine says, “There can be no doubt that, out of the British army, on a war establishment, ten thousand men might be chosen, by trial, who would compose a corps capable of marching fifty miles a day, on actual service, for a whole week. The power of such a corps is not to be calculated: it would far outgo cavalry.”

In the art of walking quickly, the circumstance perhaps most important is, to keep the knees somewhat bent and springy.

RUNNING.

“Running,” says one of our gymnasiarchs, “only differs from walking by the rapidity of the movement.” This is quite incorrect. Running is precisely intermediate to walking and leaping; and, in order to pass into it from walking, the motion must be changed. A series of leaps from each foot alternately must be performed, in order to constitute it; the foot which is left behind quits the ground before the foot in advance is firmly fixed, so that the centre of gravity remains uncertain in passing from one leg to the other, which forms a series of leaps, and renders a fall a common occurrence.

POSITION IN RUNNING.

The upper part of the body is slightly inclined forward; the head slightly thrown backward, to counteract the gravity forward: the breast is freely projected; the shoulders are steady, to give a fixed point to the auxiliary muscles of respiration: the upper parts of the arms are kept near the sides; the elbows are bent, and each forms an acute angle; the hands are shut, with the nails turned inwards; and the whole arms move but slightly, in order that the muscles of respiration on the chest may be as little as possible disturbed, and follow only the impulse communicated by other parts--(Plate IX. fig. 1). There exists, in fact, during the whole time of running, a strong and permanent contraction of the muscles of the shoulder and arm, which, though very violent, is less serviceable to the extended movements, than to keep the chest immoveable, toward which the arms are brought close, the flexors and adductors of which are especially contracted.

ACTION IN RUNNING.

At every step, the knees are stretched out; the legs kept as straight as possible; the feet almost graze the ground; the tread is neither with the mere balls of the toes, nor with the whole sole of the foot; and the spring is made rapidly from one foot to the other, so that they pass each other with great velocity--(Plate IX. fig. 2).

But the abdominal members are not the only ones in motion, although it is in them that the greatest developement takes place. Throughout the whole time of running, a strong and permanent contraction of the muscles of the shoulder, arm, and forearm takes place: this, though very violent, is less for the purpose of aiding motion than of preserving the immobility of the thorax, which is pressed upon the whole thoracic member, whose flexors and adductors are strongly contracted. The degree of velocity, however, must be proportioned to the length of the steps. Too slow and long, as well as too quick and short, steps, may be equally injurious.

RESPIRATION.

Speed, and still more duration in running, are in proportion to the developement of the lungs, and consequently the volume of oxygen and blood which they can combine in their parenchyma at each respiratory movement. Thus, of two men, one having the abdominal members developed, and the other possessing good lungs, the former will run with the greatest speed for a short distance, but if the distance be considerable, he will soon be gained upon by the latter. A runner, after performing a certain space, is seized with a difficulty of breathing, long before the repetition of the contractions has produced fatigue in the abdominal members. To excel, therefore, in running, requires, like walking and dancing, a peculiar exercise. As the muscular contractions depend, for their principle of excitement, on the respiration, the chest should be firmly fixed, so as both to facilitate this, and to serve as a point of support for the efforts of the lower members. The best runners are those who have the _best wind_, and keep the breast dilated for the longest time.

During the whole time of running, long inspirations and slow expirations are of the greatest importance; and young persons cannot be too early accustomed to them. To facilitate respiration towards the end of the race, the upper part of the body may be leant a little forward. Running should cease as soon as the breath becomes very short, and a strong perspiration takes place.

MODERATE RUNNING.

This is performed gently and in equal time, and may be extended to a considerable space. In practising this pace, it is necessary to fix the distance to be run; and this should always be proportioned to the age and strength of the runners. This exercise, more than all others, requires to be proceeded with in a progressive manner. If, at the first trial, you run too fast or too long a time, it may produce spitting of blood and headache, or aneurisms of the heart and principal vessels, especially if the weather be dry and cold.

A moderately cool day may accordingly be chosen, a distance of three hundred feet measured, and the runners placed in a line at one end. They may then start, trot at the rate of about seven feet in a second to the opposite end, turn, and continue until they reach the spot whence they started. Frequent repetition of this is sufficient at first. Afterwards, they may run over this space, two, three, or four times without stopping; and the exercise may then be limited to this. It may, on subsequent days, be extended to five, six, and seven times the distance.

Fatigue is then generally quite removed; and the run may either be continued farther, or the runners, if neither heated nor winded, may accelerate their pace. They may next attempt a mile in ten minutes; and repeat this, till, being gradually less and less heated, they can either extend the distance, or diminish the time, in any measured proportion. At this pace, six miles may afterwards be run in an hour.

RAPID RUNNING.

This is best applied to a short space in a little time. Three hundred feet upon an open plain will not generally be found too great. At each end of this, a cross line may be drawn, and the runners may arrange themselves on one line, while the umpire is placed at the other. On the latter giving the signal, the running commences, and he who first passes him gains the race. It is extremely useful always to run beyond the line at a gentler pace, as it gradually lowers the actions of the respiratory and circulating systems.

Running is more easy on a level surface, but should be practised on ground of every variety: upon long, square, and circular plots of ground. The pupils should be accustomed to turn promptly out of the direct line--a faculty not possessed by animals, and exceedingly useful when pursued. They should also run up hill, and particularly down, as it is dangerous unless frequently practised.

FEATS IN RUNNING.

The practice of running may be carried to a great degree of perfection.

A quarter of a mile in a minute is good running; and a mile in four minutes, at four starts, is excellent.

The mile was perhaps never run in four minutes, but it has been done in four minutes and a half.[5]

[5] Half a mile was recently run in two minutes; but it was down a fall as precipitous as a mountain’s side, and the performer was blind in the last twenty yards.--ED. Fifth Edition.

A mile in five minutes is good running. Two miles in ten minutes is oftener failed in than accomplished. Four miles in twenty is said to puzzle the cleverest.

Ten miles an hour is done by all the best runners. Fifteen miles in an hour and a half has never perhaps been done.

It is reported that West ran forty miles in five hours and a half. This, it is said, was done by one individual in four hours and three quarters, or less.

As to great distances, Rainer failed in two attempts to accomplish 100 miles in eighteen hours. West is said to have accomplished this.

EFFECTS OF RUNNING.

In running, the mass of our organs is agitated by violent and constant shocks, which succeed with rapidity; but the abdominal members are not the only ones in motion, although they are those in which the developement is most considerable. Running developes not only the abdominal members, but has a strong influence upon the respiratory parts. This exercise is particularly suited to young persons, especially those of a lymphatic temperament. It should not, however, be practised after meals.

LEAPING.

Leaping consists principally in the sudden straightening of the articulations, performed by a strong and instantaneous contraction of the extensors, by which the body is rapidly projected from the ground.

The leaping-stand consists of two moveable posts, above six feet high, having, above the second foot from the ground, holes bored through them, at the distance of an inch from each other; two iron pins to be placed in the holes at any height; a cord, at least ten feet long, passed over these pins, and kept straight by two sand-bags at its ends; and weights upon the feet of the posts, to prevent them from falling--(Plate X. fig. 1). The leap over the cord is made from the side of the stand towards which the heads of the pegs are turned; so that, if the feet touch the cord, it will easily and instantly fall.