PHYSICAL TRAINING SIMPLIFIED - The Complete Science of Muscular Development - (circa 1930) - CHAPTER 29 - RULES OF CONDUCT: THE QUESTIONS OF SEX, ALCOHOL, AND TOBACCO DISCUSSED - By Mark H. Berry

EDITORS NOTE: I hesitated to post this chapter but decided to because it is HISTORY. Much of it is NOT GOOD ADVICE. Please remember that this was written over 80 years ago. Please read this information in a historical context.


It may appear strange to say so, but nevertheless, it can be and is true that one may take strict care of himself all his life and die at a comparatively young age, while another man may abuse himself, paying little or no attention to rules of healthful living and survive to a ripe old age. You health culturists who read this must not take offense hastily, as there is a most sensible natural explanation of such seemingly contradictory cases. The first mentioned individual is simply possessed of a weak glandular system, especially so far as the sex glands are concerned, while the second individual is fully sexed and well balanced in a glandular respect. We almost stated that the person of the first case was born with weak glands; that could easily be so; however, other influences in his life may have been contributory, and particularly in the case of the long lived one.

There can be little doubt as to some persons inheriting longevity; we all know of countless cases of proof in the contention. What, then, is the make up of the individual to make him longer lived than his fellows? The only sensible and satisfactory explanation is that of a strong set of glands throughout his body, and to all appearances, the glands of sex exert a stronger influence than all others. When they are weak and impaired in any way, the individual is unbalanced in one or more respects. The proper working of these glands is mainly responsible for all human ambitions; the eunuch, or the weakly sexed person, has no individuality, no ambitions, and no desire to amount to anything. The greatest human achievements are all inspired in the main by the internal glandular forces. Love, music, art, literature, leadership, everything worthwhile in life results from these impelling forces. The man of great physical strength, the woman of exquisite beauty, the marvelous singing voice; none of these could be, without the powerful glands of sex.

Many persons are undoubtedly strongly blessed in this respect at birth, but through neglect, disease, sin, and living a life of weakness, the forces are depleted. It should also be possible for the person who is born with weaker glands through care and attention to physical improvement to add to the vigor of his natural compliment, and because of careful living to at least nearly approximate the longevity of the naturally gifted person. For, thee glands are so closely associated with muscular and organic strength that an improvement in a physical way by means of vigorous activities should react in a strengthening of the glands. What, then of the individual whom we mentioned in the early part of this chapter, who took strict care of himself but died comparatively young? Great confusion attends the practical side of healthful living. Many physical culturists believe it possible to maintain a high degree of healthful efficiency by means of diet, abstinence, continence, breathing and bathing. They fail in the complete realization of their aims, by failing to stimulate the natural forces through regular strenuous exercise. The important factor in the case of the individual who evidently abused himself but lived long, was a youth spent at hard physical work, or probably the greater part of his life was spent at strenuous toil. You may observe that strenuous physical exertion, not overdone, may offset and counterbalance the effects of many so called violations of dietary rules. If you do not properly understand the reasons for this, we would suggest a re-reading of the complete section of physiology.

There can be little doubt but that there is a close connection between sexual vigor and rugged constitution. The glands of sex are closely related to the internal vital organs, the brain and nerves. Those who are fully sexed, possessing strong and very active powers in this respect, are also certain to be possessed of great vitality and the power to survive to a hale and hearty old age. It might almost be said that those who attain a well advanced age in vigorous condition are certain to be blessed with unusually strong glands of sex. In the case of such an individual, it must have been necessary to take sort of decent care of themselves throughout life, but very often those who are naturally gifted with great virility have been able to disregard the rules of living which the average individual could not possibly ignore for any length of time. Quite likely you have known men of middle age who seemed to be able to eat almost anything and enjoy it; sickness being unknown to them; and they preserved an appearance of being more youthful than their years would indicate.

My theory is that young men who are well blessed with virility and lead an continent life should never be fat but rather should incline towards slenderness. I have long held this opinion as to the reason many young men find it difficult to gain weight. In support of the theory we might recall that eunuchs are more fleshy than the average man of their race or nationality. Some peculiarity seems to be present in the blood from sexual glandular secretions when the life is either completely or almost wholly sex free.

The masculine sex glands evidently pour out into the blood some element which makes are a man hard and purely muscular, also making the accumulation of adipose tissues practically impossible. Deducing further along this line, we would conclude that this particular mysterious element is not present in a very generous quantity when a young man who leads a continent life is fat. This, of course, is nothing more than a theory and undoubtedly numerous exceptions will be found. However, it is presented here as the result of a long observation and a conclusion of possible interest to others.

The phenomena of the unsexed growing fat and larger in size than normal and becoming subservient to dictation or willingly submissive to the will of others may be seen in the case of the steer, which is merely a "changed" bull, but grows good meat for eating, and is easier to handle. The meat of the bull is too tough for satisfactory eating purposes. The capon is simply a "changed" rooster, but grows to a good size of tender meat for eating. The draft horse, being "altered" likewise grows to a good size and although his muscles aren't as hard as those of the stallion, nevertheless he is easily driven, whereas the stallion is flighty and hard to control. The stallion, the bull, and the rooster all have a will of their own like the real man should have, while the eunuch among humans is more comparable to the work horse, the steer and the capon.

We wish it understood that there is no intention to allude to fat humans being weak in this respect. We merely wish to show the influence of certain glands upon the nature, mostly as effecting abnormal or subnormal conditions among humans. Many vigorous humans are given to the accumulation of excess flesh due to a change from great activity to a lesser degree of exertion, while the food intake remains practically the same.

The question of sex governs the life of a great percentage of men. Judging from my experiences among men of all walks of lie, and from the great amount of correspondence of a most personal nature, I would say the subject plays an important part in the thoughts of the majority of men. Mostly because so much mystery surrounds the subject. Those who have a right to speak have little to say, while in a vile way sex is discussed everywhere by men and women alike. Constituting as it does, an important factor in the lives of all normal beings, asserting itself even when an attempt is made to keep it out of the mind, and hearing so many mistaken notions concerning what is right and what is wrong, there is small wonder that the subject of sex worries so many. It does seem strange that a subject of such great importance in our lives should be clothed in so much mystery, and degraded with the rottenest sort of filth. Instead of widespread enlightenment, no matter of importance is buried in more secrecy and ignorance. Anyone has a right to seek knowledge of sex; the youth has a right to demand such knowledge of his or her elders, and the person of mature years is not to be pitied for mistakes resulting from ignorance. What a shame that we cannot discuss the subject without drawing the attention of morbid and filthy minded degenerates. Sex can and should be discussed openly in magazines, just as radio and automobiles are now discussed, the strangeness and curiosity would soon disappear. As it is now, sex is played up in the most suggestive manner in some sensational newspapers and cheap magazines to satisfy the morbid whims of immature fools and older hair brained weaklings. Some few are merely in search of a cheap thrill.

Even those who have a privilege to disseminate knowledge on sex matters are sometimes inclined to surround the subject with a lot of nonsense, theory, and scariness. Let us get down to brass tacks as much as possible. I know from my correspondence, from personal consultation and actual association with men and youths from all strata of society, just which angles of the subject prove most annoying. I believe in every man leading a clean life, and for this reason I am inclined to favor early marriages. Youths of both sexes are subject to terrible pitfalls as a result of our state of civilized society. Early marriages under proper economic conditions would have a lot to do with elimination of some social evils. It may be a pretty theory to tell young men to lead a continent life, but so many obstacles are thrown in their pathway that the longer marriage is postponed the greater the chances of following the double standard. The existence of the sex urge cannot be denied or too long resisted by men; it is born in the male, and to lead a life of continence after approaching maturity calls for constant struggle. It is also false to tell men that a full degree of strength and muscularity depends on continence; the life of no man is full and complete without the normal expression of the sex instinct. Any man, no matter who or what he is, whose sexual life is incomplete, that man is unbalanced; he is incapable of doing full justice to himself. His associates may be unaware of the true conditions and he may be an evident success in every visible way, but if you were given an opportunity to know the intimate thoughts and actions of the man, you would know differently. Remember, before I proceed further, that my remarks apply to men and not to boys or youths. There is absolutely no foundation in fact, for making a statement that strength depends on a sex free life. Personally, I have my own opinions of those who foster such beliefs.

Every man is a law unto himself, so far as the sex question is concerned. We should not, and cannot expect to lay down dogmatic rules of conduct for all men; any attempt to do so in bound to meet with failure. It is my conviction that no one knows the truth on such matters. We may personally conduct our lives as we believe best, and as long as we are satisfied that such conduct is right, there is nothing better to be done in view of the present lack of accurate knowledge. Some men may indulge to an extent that would prove most weakening to the majority; any attempt to hold the strongly sexed man down to the conduct of the weakly sexed man will only result in immoral tendencies or nervous derangement. The man himself may tell fairly accurately what is right in his case. Do not fail to observe the conclusions of the author in regards to the proper nourishment of the body. This will be found in the chapter on digestion and diet.

It is generally recognized that men are constituted differently in this respect, and one many may have very active glands, while another most inactive ones. When the blood stream circulates as it should, the muscular organism is strong and altogether masculine, and the man is really what the word implies, we should expect the gland activities to be strong comparably to the power of the muscles. We cannot imagine a really strong man who is lacking in this respect, as it is the complete action of the sex glands which determine whether an individual is male or female, fully masculine or fully feminine. I am accustomed having men write me for advice and information regarding intimate things in their lives. It is impossible to lay down general rules to be observed by all, or even by any considerable number of men. The individual must make a study of himself, learn what is correct and most desirable so far as he is concerned, and put into practice the facts he has determined.

Activity is natural in respect to everything in nature, and in the make up of the man. There is no sound natural basis for undue restriction, though we would also say excess is inexcusable. The man himself may soon determine what is correct in his own case by noting whether or not a feeling of undue lassitude is experienced during the day. Over indulgence may be recognized when a feeling of sleepiness, laziness and continued lack of pep is note. When such reactions are not noted, there can be no reason for restriction. The married couple should be able to settle the question to their own satisfaction by observing such simple rules.

Young unmarried men and youths approaching maturity are liable to be bothered by the frequent occurrence of nocturnal emissions. Charlatans, as well as some others with better intentions, may warn these young fellows of a resulting weakness or even go so far as to mention possible insanity later in life, if such losses continue. Such talk is the worst kind of both, and should be entirely disregarded by all young men.

The glands of the human body are for the most part, entirely beyond human control. We may be able to influence or stimulate them to increased activity, but we cannot entirely control any of the glands in such a manner as to completely stop them from functioning. Death alone can bring such a result, and if any individual gland, however small and unimportant it may be, was to stop functioning entirely, some serious condition would result, which would be closely akin to a living death. As maturity approaches, the glands become normally more active and at certain periods denote their functioning powers by pouring out some of their elements, when not given expression in the normal manner. Such emissions are positively harmless, as long as the young man is unmarried, healthy, and active. The frequency of such occurrences may be limited to some extent by strenuous exercises for the legs and back; also by retiring with an empty bladder, which may be induced by refraining from the drinking of liquids between the evening meal and the time of retiring. Another scheme suggested when the occurrences seem too frequent is to tie a large knot of cloth in the small of the back to prevent sleeping on the back. Physicians sometimes prescribe bromides which are nothing more or less than nerve deadening drugs, when consulted for a preventative. We advise strongly against the use of such dope.

The thyroid gland exerts a strong influence on the function of metabolism. Some persons who eat large quantities of foot and yet remain very thin may simply have an extremely active thyroid. Opposite to this, we have the person who is overly fat; this may or may not be due to deficient thyroid activity. In connection with the proper normal action of the glands of sex, it seems almost natural that young people, who are unmarried, should be free from obesity providing the glands are working properly.

SOOTHING SYRUPS FOR THE ADULTS-ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO

When given an amount of thought, it does seem strange that man, more or less perfect as he is, should be the slave of any form of stimulant or pacifier. To mention the subject of alcoholics first: Speaking as a native of the United States, I would say that this is as a question of nationality as anything. A large percentage of Europeans have been accustomed to alcoholics in some form during the greater part of their lives, hence they are quite apt to hold strong convictions in favor of their indulgence, moderate or otherwise. American born children of parents holding such convictions are likely to share the opinions of the parents. Among the majority of those of real old American stock, the desire for alcoholics is less likely to play an important part. Whereas, is Europe they have long been used to such beverages, such is not the case with pure American stock. The entire controversy resolves itself more into a case of Americanizing Europeans who come here, rather than of Europeanizing Americans. Say what you may, anyone is better off, or at least they can be better off without alcoholic beverages. In many parts of Europe, it used to be, and still may be, dangerous to drink water, as near cities particularly the water was unfit for human consumption. This lead to the widespread drinking of wine and beer.

As to the use of tobacco, we are in favor, personally, of men smoking; or chewing, if they care for it, providing, of course, they note no untoward effects. If a man continue to use tobacco in the face of noticeable harmful effects, he is altogether foolish. Inhaling of smoke must be injurious to the lung tissues, but as one doctor pointed out to us, the human body has great powers of immunization, and adjusts itself to warding off the effects of whatever poison is contained in tobacco. If the individual has a nervous system too delicate to withstand the effects of tobacco, he should not woo "lady nicotine."

The subject of good and bad habits sometimes resolves itself into the matter of vigorous men preferring to do as they please, in some respect, at least; after all, men are not infants, nor are they adjusted the same as women, and real men like to assert themselves in some ways that are not altogether ladylike. Sometimes males who attempt to bee too nice do not give one the impression of being men in the full sense of the word.

If you find tobacco is injurious to you, or for any other reason which to discontinue it, there is only one thing to do, and that is to stop. You might take some proprietary preparation to help, but at the same time encourage the use of some kind of dope, as often tobacco cures contain some dope to either deaden the nerves or replace the effect of tobacco. If the will says you want to stop, you can stop, but if the will is only half-hearted, you can't stop because you really don't want to.


Physical Culture Books.com