Waisting Away
A soft, flabby, unmuscular waistline ruins the appearance of many a guy who otherwise might be admired for his physique. Perhaps more than any other feature of the body, the waist is the barometer of physical condition. The average man who loves his coffee with cream, his pie, and his beer, sooner or later finds himself spreading in the mid-section. Exercise alone probably won’t keep that trim youthful waist for you. Eating is important, too. But assuming one goes easy on foods which tend to build up fatty tissue (often first deposited in the form of an unsightly paunch), exercise can help maintain or achieve a trim, muscular waist.
Whether you use weights or not, ‘along with your push-ups you can easily do sit-ups and leg raises. They’re doubtless the most effective exercise for keeping down the waistline. And you don’t need a gym for this kind of work-out. Sit-ups can easily be performed on a chair placed sideways next to a bed or some heavy piece of furniture under which you can anchor your feet. (See Fig. 1 & 2). Then, with your hands behind your head, you can go to it! If you have a tendency to spread, at least three sets of not less than fifteen repetitions should be performed every other day.
Leg raises can just as easily be done at home. Place your hands behind your head and grasp the bed springs .or table top) for support. (See Fig. 3 & 4). And then raise away! Use the same number of reps and sets as with sit-ups.
Better watch your waist! Once it has spread, it’s no easy job to trim it down.
American Apollo Volume 1 № 1, May 1958.
Publisher: New World Enterprises Syndicate
