HOW TO KEEP FIT.

Franklin Times, Volume 9, Issue 616, 15 March 1921, Page 5

HOW TO KEEP FIT.

BY AN EMINENT DOCTOR. When we speak of a man being “fit,” we imply that he looks well, act;? as if he were well, and if we sak him how he feels he will probably answer that he feels well. The signs of good health are not only visible to tire expert; they are patent to all observers. The fresh colour the clear eye, the vigorous step, the alert mind, all are indicative of physical well-being. There is a word “eoenasthesia ” which is sued to connote the mental background of the healthy individual; and this background is contributed to by both physical and mental factors.

Speaking broadly, a state of good health is more easily achieved if regular and adequate exercise is taken than if the energy expended is utilised by mental work only. Exercise physical work never, it is generally admitted, leads to any disorder except fatigue of a temporary nature, whereas mental work in excess is the precursor of “brain-fag” neurasthenia, and other disorders commonly encountered to-day. If the duties of life entail mental work —physical work, i.e., exercise, will not add to the fatigue but rather neutralise some of the “stateness” produced by sedentary work. Exercise in the fresh air leads to health in twc ways; first by producing the necessary interchange of gases >.n the lungs, second, by stimulating the circulation and avoiding the stagnatiort which results from sitting for hours in a room artificially heated.

It is commonly believed that if we “ feel chilly,” we are more apt to “catch cold.” Many “beliefs” and “household axims” are founded on experience which accounts for the fact that they are often correct. To put this in another way, we might say that we feel cold, when the circulation is sluggish, that this in turn afiects many other vital portions of cur anatomy, and that we in turn are less successful in resisting infection i'n this state than when the glow of health points to a vigorous bloodstream.

Anything, therefore, which encourages this desiratum is q factor of prime importance in the discussion of “how to keep fit.”