Exercise at Home

Many housewives have no opportunity to take athletic exercise outside the home, and this may lead to their being afflicted with stoutness, flabbiness, and sluggishness — and perhaps to some of the ailments that go with these conditions.

It is a duty, however, to point to housework as a welcome form of exercise, whether or not the lady of the house finds ample time to engage in athletic exercises.

If the lady has no inclination to attend to the work of the house as a duty... and her circumstances are so comfortable that she thinks herself under no compulsion to see to her tasks herself... then let her know that doing her own work is both a duty and a pleasure. As for exercise, it is what a lady must think of and keep before her eyes, for it is one of the necessities of the refined lady in the modern home.

In the Bedroom

Exercise in the morning is abundantly beneficial, and if it is not easy for you to take exercise of that kind, then making your bed and your husband's bed in the morning is the first of the useful movements of exercise. Note the resemblance between the outright exercise movement and the bending movement for making the bed. Try making your bed, and think of it as exercise, and you will find pleasure, enjoyment, and vigor in it.

In the Dining Room

Then make your way to the dining room, and note the resemblance between the exercise position and the position of a lady arranging the china cupboard — squatting, then rising, then squatting again — three or four times over. In that is a pleasure not to be denied.