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My Tat
REDUCING iHfri a
No. 1 lhe Monkey Walk the ' Tf
ifHIsi All-Four Position for the 8. mjmZ
aillaP Fuut Circle Amble, Reduce KKK f
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H'. fialW II I, A I.." J I
HINES
By
LOUISE
DRESSER,
America's Charming
"Statuesque Comedienne"
I HAD never seen a tat monkey.
I asked my friends and they had
never Been a fat monkey. There
arc no fat monkeys!
All great oclcntlflu truths have
been discovered by observation by
observation, in fact, of simple things
tho world has passed by unnoticed.
When I observed that there wero no
fat monkeys 1 asked myself why it
was that this animal, tho nearest to
mankind In every way, did not suf
fer from superfluous flesh. It seemed
to mo that if I could find out 1 would
bo able to bring my 180 pounds
down to the 145 I coveted.
And so I observed the monkeys to
learn by scientific methods why they
did not become fat. ( spent houia
at tho Bronx Zoo and later I bought
a monkey that I might study him at
closer range at home.
Standing beforo tho monkey cases.
I noticed first of all that tho nmn-SrS!
the time. Not all their time is spent
climbing trees and swinging by their
tails. In fact, I decided that the
monkey only swung by ljis tall for
play and that this action had nothing
to do with bis agility and slcuder
ness. My second Important discovery
, wds that, the monkey walks round
and round In a Bmall spaco that
they practically turn themselves In
their own length. It is utterly Im
possible for a fat person to do this
without weeks or practice. Pat uot
only gives a woman flabby muscles
but stiff jointB as well.
It Is this quick turn that helps
make tho monkey the most agile
and supplo of mil limits.
I decided that I must mako my
self Into a human monkey. I must
evolve a series of fat-roduclug mon
key shines.
After u woman has acquired
twenty or thirty pounds of surplus
fat, no royal roud to thinness lies
beforo her. Let me emphasize
right hero tho fact that It 1b ho easy
thing to beconio as a monkey. No
woman need try to make a monkey
of herself unless she Is deadly In
earnest. She must persevere to the
end. It l impossible to get results
from doing these exercises two days
and then dropping them for a week.
Pat and laziness are twin Bisters.
Two acts of exercises developed
from my studjes. Tho first Is merely
a "warming up" for tho real "shines"
and aro performed In bod every
morning. There are Ave motions.
They tako five minutes. Tho second
set, which comprises eight exercises,
takes an hour, but tho beginner
should not try them for more than
ten minutes at a time. In f.t it she
will uot bo able to do them longer.
Besides perseverance and pluck. It
takes brains to get i4ud to keep thin.
What Is ono woman's tish may be
another's poison. Kvery woman
must decide for herself what exor
elses will help or Injure her. 1 havo
never found nny of my monkey
bhiucs Injurious, for tho simple rea
son 1 am sure that they aro founded
on the actual motions of tho one ani
mal that Is tho true brother of man
First My bed exercises. Thev
aro done literally on an empty stom
ach. When I wake I take my pll
low from under my head and lie
perfectly flat on my faco and slowly
draw In several long breaths (the
windows aro wide open, of courso),
then 1 draw up my left foot to meet
my left hand quickly, out at the side,
three times. Then I turn and do
tho same exercise on my back,
keeplnt; shoulders urtl head flat.
Secoud I draw several more long
breaths and then bring my right
foot and right hand together three
times In tho same way. This lim
bers up all the muscles In my legs
and urms.
Third I lie flat with arms out
stretched above my head and quick
ly throw my body forward, from tho
waist, to make my fingers and toes
meet. This Is one of the first mo
tions that monkeys mako on wak
ing in tho morning. It Is of great
value In strengthening tho muscles
of the back, and tends to reduce the
abdomen materially.
Fourth I lie flat on my back and
draw my knees up to my chin, or as
close o my chin as possible; then I
quickly roll from side to side six
times. This Is of value In reducing
the hips. It Is a favorite exercise of
the simian tribe.
Vifth With my head and shoul
ders pressed fla I slowly lift my
legs and arms as high as I can,
always keeping my head and shoul
dors on the mattress.
Bellove me. when 1 started I
ould not lift them at all; to-day I
can lift them almost straight.
Vfter these bed exercises I tako a
rold tub and have breakfast. I eat
evervihing I want 1 even drink
The
Unique
Simian
Exercises
Louise
Dresser Evolved
After Discovering
That There Are No Fat
Monkeys, and Studying
Them to Find Out Why
2 The "Falling" Position, tho Necessary Prellminry lo the Monkey Walk.
cljoujlato and eut potutoed It I like.
My roal monkeyshlnos begin later
in the day. And right hero let me
say that on days when I havo to at
tend rehearsals from ton until five,
with less than an hour oft for lunch
eon, l Just do tho bed exercises and
find them most satisfactory. But on
every other day I follow with theBe
"monkeyshines."
There aro eight exercises In this
set. In figures Ono and Two you
will see the first two. This is my
"All Fours" exercise. In tho draw
ing you will see me In the falling
position that I have to assume be
fore walking.
First and Second 1 Btand with
my legs spread out slightly, tip for
ward on my toes, raise my arms
above my head and throw myself
forward in Just tho way that a
monkey leaps from tree to ground
I land lightly on all fours. At first
I fell with too great force, but 1
speedily grew used to tho fall, and
now make no unpleasant Impact at
all. Then, in this position, I draw
my feet slightly forward and begin
to walk, assuming, as I do bo, the
position shown in the photograph
No. 3-
-The "Monkey Squat" the Chin and Knee Position
That Reduce the Abdomen.
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"Jumping the Bag," the kSrjt?flr bbbsbbsH
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5 The "Monkey Jump," the Springing Exercise Practised by
Every Monkey Mother. This Reduces the Calves and
Thighs in a Wonderful Way.
No. 4 The One-Arm Exercite in Which
Hang by First One Arm und Then the
Other, This Reduces the Waist Line
Most Wonderful Mnnncr nnd
Banishes tho Double Chin.
1 walk round and round in this
curious posture in a spaco only
eight feet square.
This monkey trot, In the re
stricted space, brings every muscle 1
of tho body Into piny. It Is not
easy. In fact none of tlionu oxer-
cisos is oasy. At first I was too
stiff to do anything. 1 lost my
breath and fell In a heap on tho
floor many times, but I persevered,
and lot mo toll all women that by
perseverance only can they lose
their fat.
This "all four" ttot should finally
bo done fur ten minutes, but In the
beginning ono minute will bo all
that any woman can do, unless shu
1)113 had ntbletic training. It has
perhaps tho greatest valuo of all,
for It reduces the flesh generally,
ind particularly from tho hips.
Third -I set a hard stint for the
woman who haB let herself go. This
Is my sitting exercise, and It Is
wonderful In Its offect on the abdo
men nnd thighs. This cxerciso can
ho douo on a bench, but It la better
on the floor I sit perfectly flat,
with no weight on my spine and
with logs held out straight In front.
Then slowly, and at first painfully,
j draw my kneos up toward my
chlu, claspuiK my arms about my
knees, as you -on In the figure.
Monkeys alwiiys sit In this way- 1
do this f"r five or six minutes No
woman can do thlB exorcise and
keep u prominent abdomen It ha
an excellent effect on the back
It also forces a woman to sit as
her Maker meant her to, and not
one woman In five hundred doe this
naturally, ay learning iu an in xnis
correct posuion I lust
several pounds of actual fleth ana
lookod as thounh I had lost more,
because all my organs Qot back In
their prope place.
In ordor to sit in UiIb position 1
had to throw away my boned cor
aetB. No mattor how fat a woman
Is, she must lot out her walot lino
In order to lose it. Tight lacing
only makos a fat woman fattor.
Beforo I loft olf my corseto my
waist wflB twenty-ninn Inches and
my bust forty-four. Thon I dropped
corsotn nnd my waist increased to
thirty-two, but my bust droppod to
thlrty-olght, and everyone told mo
how thin I was. It was only that
for tho first tlmo In mnny yearn my
body wan in nj natural position.
In the throe monthH slnco loavlng
off my corsotB and doing this Bit
tins oxerclso. my waist 1 "
twonty-flvo and my bust thirty
..Icht, tho correct proportions for my
holght. And ovory ounco of ftouli
I havo Is hard and firm.
Fourth Tho "Springing Jump-'
ThlB I learned whllo watching n
mother monkey chaao n naughty
young fton. She covered fiovoral
foot of lovel grount. at each Jump.
find that thin reduces the calves
nnd thighs vory P"ceptlbly. I
stand firmly on both foot, crouch
my body without moving my foot
and thon Jump. My first Bprlng
ended In a tumble, but to-day I can
Jump throo foot without any offort.
FifthThis Is another log cxer
ciso. This 1b tho polo clutch, and
helps tho nrma nnd shoulders also.
In tho Summer, when at my coun.
try placo, I often uso ono of the
clothos poles In my back yard for
this "clutch." .
I Btand flat, thon I polsh lightly
on my loes and placo my hands jn
the polo with kneon and hands as
you boo In tho picture, nnd thon 1
Bliln tip tho polo as nearly llko a boy
.ib possible.
Sixth Jumping for tho bag la
ono of tho best, If not tho very best,
nock and arm exorcises that were
over Invented. I havo tho bag hung
Just boyond roach of my out
strotched arm, anil the object Is lo
hit It every tlmo I try. This re
duces tho neck and upper nrma and
completely removes that ugly roll
of floBh below tho neck that every
woman dreads.
Seventh I am doing n peculiarly
slmlnn trick. Whon I weighed one
hundred and eighty It was very
hard, Indoed, to hnng thus by onp
arm. To-day It Is comparatively
oasy. It Is remarkublr valuable for
reducing tho waist lino ami
strengthening tho sides. Its thin
nlng offect on neck and chin Is ex
ccllcnt
In this cxerciso 1 stand dlroctly
under the trnpoze. The bar Is two
feet above the tips of my out
stretched fingers. 1 Jump and
clutch the har with my right hand
and swing as long as my strength
penults. Then I chango to tho loft
hand
Eighth This Ib the last exercise,
nnd is tho most difficult. It 13 im
possible until ono has acquired con
siderable dexterity In holding on to
tho horizontal bar with ono hand.
it roducos the flesh generally nno
makos ono vory ngllo. It also alda
ono In climbing stairs and hlllB. I
noticed that ovory young monkey
tried this many times beforo trust
ing himself to climb any high treos.
In this oxerclso, closely copying
my monkey. I Jump upward and
clutch tho bar with both hands.
Then I draw my body Blowly up
wnrd until I Btraddl tho bar. Then
I drop my body, slowly, bo that
my knees first catch, and thuu lower
Btlll until my heels catch and my
right arn falls, aB you soo in the
picture.
This ends my dally effort xo get
and koep thin. From this bar I
Jump into a tub of cold water.
Thon I havo an alcohol rub and am
. ready to movo mountains or to con
quor tho wholo world unaided.
Suroly, If wo camo up from the
monkoy wo shouldn't scorn our an
cestors. I was always taught to
rovorenco my family trco, like all
ntco people, and It's incontostablo
that thcro aro no older branches
than thoso that hold our simian an
cestors. I am qnlto serious about it all.
1 think I havo btjon extremely In
telligent In what I did. Tho effects
no ono can deny.
No. 7 "Climbing the Pole," the
Arm and Leg Exercise That
Helps Remove All Superfluous
Fat, and Makes One Light on
One's Feet.
"I
How Chairs Give Us Crooked Spines
absolutely
No. 8 The Monkey Acrobst Does This Difficult Exer.
else Naturally, It Is, However, the Hardest of All to
- the Woman. It Reduces the Flesh All Over the
Body, and Makes One Very Agile.
it I
3 that chair comfortable?" asks our
hostess, and, when wo havo
answered, truthfully or otherwise-
she considers her duty done.
"Is that chair deadly?" is a question I
have begun asking myself when I see
persons try to adjust themselves to chairs
manifestly unfitted to them and to any
other person of normal structure.
As a friend and apostle of health 1
arraign the chair aa one of tht disease
makers of the age.
A chair, to be healthful and restful,
should be adapted to tho human figure.
but an Intelligent glance at a chair will
prove that It la far from It
If a chair were adapted to tho figure
the seat would be hollow, but it is flat.
No person was over so constructed as to
sit with ease on a chair seat as chair
seats aro made.
The back of u chair la straight. That
is contrary, too, to the lines of the human
figure. The lower part of achalr back,
to conform to human anatomy, should he
hollowed out for a depth of six or more
L .
of It should be straight and form a sup
port for the back.
Chairs have committed the crime ol
curvature of the spine. Spines, especlaly
those of children, aro twisted out of plan-,
far to one side, In an effort at aujummcut.
They cause a crowding and displacement
of the vital organs by forcing persons to
slip down at an angle upon them, tburst
out the abdntnun and commit that vul
garlty which Is railed "slttlnK r tte
spine "
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