My system for children / by J.P. Müller.

  • Jørgen Peter Müller
Date:
[1912]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: My system for children / by J.P. Müller. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    102/118 page 96
    EXERCISE No. 11.—Trunk bending backwards and forwards, with rubbing of front and back. The upper part of the body should be bent 20 times backwards and forwards alternately, as low down as possible without bending the knees. Inhale while the trunk is being raised and bent back- wards, exhale during the forward and downward movement. The abdomen should be distended during inhalation, and drawn well in during exhalation. The massage is done in the following manner : When the trunk has been bent backwards, the hands should make a long stroke from the collar-bones down the entire front of the trunk, after which they leave the trunk sideways, and grasp the back as high up as possible. Meanwhile the forward bending has begun, and during its continuation the hands should make a long uninterrupted stroke down the loins, seat, and back of legs, round the insteps, and finally, while the trunk is being raised again, up along the shins and thighs, where the hands leave—in order to recommence the above-described downward stroke from the collar- bones as soon as the body has been bent backwards once more. How grown-up girls should perform the rubbing of the front of the body is explained in “ My System for Ladies.” The first degree.—The moving of the trunk should be done gently and steadily all the time. The hands may assist in the contraction of the stomach by a quickly-performed pressure just before being carried round to the back. The second degree.—The raising of the trunk should be done with a jerk, but the bending forwards during exhalation should always be performed rather slowly. The contraction and disten- sion of the abdomen should now be performed by means of the abdominal muscles only. Everybody ought to learn from childhood how to achieve complete control over the abdominal muscles. This degree should be used by girls only when exceptionally strong. Fig. 107 gives a side view, and Fig. 108 a front view of different phases of this exercise. Several of the Breslau boys make the mistake of standing with feet together, while the 7th boy has his feet rather too far apart. The 5th boy is not bending backwards properly, and the 8th need not lift his hands so high up to reach his collar-bone. The ist and the 6th are about to press in the abdomen.
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