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12 t h
edItIon

Fitness &
Wellness

Werner W. K. Hoeger
Boise State University

Sharon A. Hoeger
Amber L. Fawson
Cherie I. Hoeger
Fitness & Wellness, Inc.

Australia ● Brazil ● Mexico ● Singapore ● United Kingdom ● United States

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Fitness & Wellness, 12th Edition © 2017, 2015 Cengage Learning
Werner W. K. Hoeger, Sharon A. Hoeger, WCN: 02-200-203
Amber L. Fawson, Cherie I. Hoeger
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2015949717
Student Edition:
ISBN: 978-1-305-63801-3
Loose-leaf Edition:
ISBN: 978-1-305-88130-3

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Printed Number: 01 Print Year: 2016

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Contents
Chapter 1 Mindfulness 20
Behavior Analysis 20
Introduction to Physical Fitness and Wellness 1 Goal Setting 20
Lifestyle, Health, and Quality of Life 3 Helping Relationships 20
Life Expectancy 4 Countering 20
Importance of Increased Physical Activity 5 Monitoring 20
Federal Guidelines for Physical Activity 6 Rewards 21
Benefits of Physical Fitness 7 SMART Goals 21
Physical Fitness 11 Goal Evaluation 22
Health-Related Fitness 11 A Word of Caution Before You Start Exercise 22
Skill-Related Fitness 11 Assess Your Behavior 23
Wellness 12 Assess Your Knowledge 23
The Path to Fitness and Wellness 13
Behavior Modification 13 Chapter 2
Values and Behavior 14
Assessment of Physical Fitness 30
Your Brain and Your Habits 15
Willpower 16
The Value of Fitness Testing 31
Motivation and Locus of Control 16 Responders Versus Nonresponders 32
Changing Behavior 17 Fitness Assessment Battery 32
The Transtheoretical Model for Changing Behavior 17 Health Fitness Standard 32
The Process of Change 19 Physical Fitness Standard 33
Self-Analysis 20 Cardiorespiratory Endurance 33
Positive Outlook 20 Assessing Cardiorespiratory Endurance 35
Commitment 20 Muscular Fitness 37
Environment Control 20 Muscular Strength and Muscular Endurance 39
Determining Strength 39
Muscular Flexibility 42
Assessing Flexibility 42
Body Composition 44
Assessing Body Composition 46
Effects of Exercise and Diet on Body
Composition 52
Assess Your Behavior 53
Assess Your Knowledge 53

Chapter 3
© Fitness & Wellness, Inc.

Exercise Prescription 59
Monitoring Daily Physical Activity 60
Readiness for Exercise 62

Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
iv Contents

Exercise Prescriptions 63 Elliptical Training/Stair Climbing 111


Cardiorespiratory Endurance 63 Racquet Sports 111
Cardiorespiratory Exercise Prescription 64 Yoga 111
Daily Active Lifestyle 68 New Fitness Trends 111
Exercise Volume 68 High-Intensity Interval Training 112
Rate of Progression 69 Stability Exercise Balls 113
Muscular Fitness (Muscular Strength and Muscular Core Training 113
Endurance) 70 Group Personal Training 114
Overload Principle 70 Outdoor Training 114
Specificity of Training 70 Fitness Boot Camp 114
Periodization 71 Circuit Training 114
Muscular Strength-Training Prescription 71 Functional Fitness 114
Strength-Training Exercises 75 Dance Fitness 115
Core Strength Training 77 Rating the Fitness Benefits of Aerobic
Designing Your Own Strength-Training Program 77 Activities 115
Dietary Recommendations for Strength Skill-Related Fitness 117
Development 78 Team Sports 119
Flexibility 78 Tips to Enhance Your Aerobic Workout 119
Muscular Flexibility Prescription 79 Assess Your Behavior 120
When to Stretch? 81 Assess Your Knowledge 120
Designing a Flexibility Program 82
Preventing and Rehabilitating Low Back Pain 82 Chapter 5
Effects of Posture 86
Effects of Stress 86
Nutrition for Wellness 124
Contraindicated Exercises 86 The Essential Nutrients 126
Getting Started 86 Carbohydrates 126
Fats 128
Setting Fitness Goals 87
Proteins 130
Assess Your Behavior 89
Vitamins 131
Assess Your Knowledge 89
Minerals 131
Water 131
Chapter 4 Nutrition Standards 132
Evaluating Fitness Activities 102 Dietary Reference Intakes 132
Daily Values 133
Traditional Fitness Activities 103
Walking 104 Macronutrient Composition Guidelines 135
Jogging 104 Caloric Content of Food 135
Strength Training 105 Balancing the Diet 136
Aerobics and Group Cardio Classes 105 Nutrient Analysis 137
Swimming 106 Vegetarianism 137
Water Aerobics 107 Nutrient Supplementation 139
Cycling 107 Benefits of Foods 143
Cross-Training 109 Probiotics 144
Cross-Country Skiing 109 Fish 144
Rowing 110 Advanced Glycation End Products 145

Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
Contents v
Designing Your Own Weight Loss Program 167
Estimating Your Caloric Intake 167
Monitoring Your Diet Through Daily
Food Logs 169
Using Low-Fat Entrees 169
Protein Intake 170
Effect of Food Choices on Long-Term Weight
Gain 170

© Fitness & Wellness, Inc.


Behavior Modification and Adherence to
a Lifetime Weight Management
Program 170
You Can Do It! 173
Assess Your Behavior 174
Eating Disorders 145
Assess Your Knowledge 174
Anorexia Nervosa 146
Bulimia Nervosa 147
Binge-Eating Disorder 147
Chapter 7
Emotional Eating 148 Stress Management 181
Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (EDNOS) 148 The Mind/Body Connection 182
Treatment 148 Sleep and Wellness 183
Dietary Guidelines 148 Stress 184
Balancing Calories to Manage Weight 148 The Body’s Reaction to Stress 184
Foods and Nutrients to Increase 149 Adaptation to Stress 185
Recommendations for Specific Population Groups 150 Alarm Reaction 185
A Lifetime Commitment to Wellness 150 Resistance 185
Assess Your Behavior 151 Exhaustion/Recovery 185
Assess Your Knowledge 151 Thirty-Second Body Scan 186
Behavior Patterns 186
Chapter 6 Vulnerability to Stress 187
Weight Management 153 Sources of Stress 190
Tolerable Weight 156 Coping with Stress 192
Fad Dieting 157 Time Management 192
Principles of Weight Management 158 Technostress 195
Energy-Balancing Equation 158 Relaxation Techniques 196
Diet and Metabolism 158 Physical Activity 196
Recommendation 160 Progressive Muscle Relaxation 197
Sleep and Weight Management 161 Breathing Techniques 198
Light Exposure and BMI 161 Meditation 199
Monitoring Body Weight 162 Yoga 199

Exercise and Weight Management 162 Tai Chi 200

The Myth of Spot Reducing 164 Visual Imagery 201

The Role of Exercise Intensity and Duration in Weight Which Technique Is Best? 201
Management 164 Assess Your Behavior 202
Overweight and Fit Debate 166 Assess Your Knowledge 202

Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
vi Contents

Considerations for Women 250


Nutrition and Weight Control 254
Exercise and Aging 260
Fitness/Wellness Consumer Issues 262
What’s Next? 267
Assess Your Behavior 270
Assess Your Knowledge 270
Appendix A: Strength-Training Exercises 272
Appendix B: Flexibility Exercises 281

© Fitness & Wellness, Inc.


Appendix C: Exercises for the Prevention
and Rehabilitation of Low Back Pain 284
Appendix D: Contraindicated Exercises 287
Chapter 8 Appendix E: Selective Nutrient Content
A Healthy Lifestyle Approach 205 of Common Foods 291
A Wellness Lifestyle 206 Notes 301
Spiritual Well-Being 206 Answer Key 307
Causes of Death 207
Glossary 308
Diseases of the Cardiovascular System 208
Types of Cardiovascular Disease and Index 314
Prevalence 208
Risk Factors for CHD 209
Cancer 221
Guidelines for Preventing Cancer 222
Early Detection 228
Chronic Lower Respiratory Disease 229
Accidents 229
Substance Abuse 230
Alcohol 230
Illegal Drugs 230
Treatment for Chemical Dependency 232
Sexually Transmitted Infections 232
HIV/AIDS 232
Preventing STIs 234
Assess Your Behavior 235
Assess Your Knowledge 235

Chapter 9
© Fitness & Wellness, Inc.

Relevant Fitness and Wellness Issues 239


Wellness Behavior Modification Issues 240
Safety of Exercise Participation and Injury
Prevention 241

Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
Preface
Most people go to college to learn how to make a liv- many chronic ailments, including obesity, cardiovascu-
ing. Making a good living, however, won’t help them lar disease, cancer, and diabetes. As stated as far back as
unless they live a wellness lifestyle that will allow them 1982 in the prestigious Journal of the American Medical
to enjoy what they have. Unfortunately, the current Association, “There is no drug in current or prospective
American lifestyle does not provide the human body use that holds as much promise for sustained health as
with sufficient physical activity to enhance or maintain a lifetime program of physical exercise.”
adequate health. As a result, the importance of a sound
This book offers you the necessary information to start
fitness and wellness program is of utmost importance
on your path to fitness and wellness by adhering to a
to lead a long and healthy life and reach one’s potential
healthy lifestyle. The information in the following chap-
and quality of life without physical limitations.
ters and the subsequent activities at the end of each
Science has clearly determined that a lack of physical chapter will enable you to develop a personal program
activity is detrimental to health. In fact, the office of the that promotes lifetime fitness, preventive health care,
Surgeon General has identified physical fitness as a top and personal wellness. The emphasis throughout the
health priority by stating that the nation’s top health book is teaching you how to take control of your life-
goals include exercise, increased consumption of fruits style habits so that you can do what is necessary to stay
and vegetables, smoking cessation, and the practice of healthy and realize your optimal well-being.
safe sex. All four of these fundamental healthy lifestyle
factors are addressed in this book.
Many of the behaviors we adopt in life are a product of What the Book Covers
our environment. Currently, we live in a “toxic” health/
As you study this book and complete the respective ac-
fitness environment. We are so habituated to our modern-
tivities, you will learn to:
day environment that we miss the subtle ways it influ-
ences our behaviors, personal lifestyles, and health each ●● understand the importance of good physical fitness
day. The epidemic of physical inactivity and obesity that is and a wellness lifestyle in the achievement of good
sweeping across America is so harmful to health that it health and quality of life and a more productive and
actually increases the deterioration rate of the human longer life.
body and leads to premature aging, illness, and death. ●● determine whether medical clearance is needed for
Only about one-half of the adults in the United States your safe participation in exercise.
meet the recommended amount of weekly aerobic phys- ●● learn behavior modification techniques to help you
ical activity, whereas less than a fourth meet the guide- adhere to a lifetime fitness and wellness program.
lines for muscular (strength) fitness. Among those who
assess the health-related components of fitness (car-
meet the guidelines, many do not reap the full benefits
●●

diorespiratory endurance, muscular strength and


because they simply do not know how to implement and
endurance, muscular flexibility, and body
stay with a program that will yield the desired results.
composition).
The good news is that lifetime wellness is within the ●● write exercise prescriptions for cardiorespiratory
grasp of most people. We know that most chronic and endurance, muscular strength and endurance, and
debilitating conditions are largely preventable. Scientific muscular flexibility.
evidence has shown that improving the quality and
length of our lives is a matter of personal choice. ●● analyze your diet and learn the principles that
govern sound nutrition.
A regular exercise program is as close as we get to the
miracle pill that people look for to enjoy good health
●● develop sound diet and weight-management
and quality of life over a now longer lifespan. Myriad programs.
benefits of exercise include enhanced functional capac- ●● understand stress, lessen your vulnerability to stress,
ity; increased energy; weight loss; improved mood, self- and implement a stress management program if
esteem, and physical appearance; and decreased risk for necessary.

Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
viii PrefaCe

●● implement a cardiovascular disease risk-reduction Chapter 3, Exercise Prescription


program. ●● New information on activity trackers under the
●● follow guidelines to reduce your personal risk of de- heading Monitoring Daily Physical Activity
veloping cancer. ●● New information on the importance of a proper
●● implement a smoking cessation program, if cool-down following exercise
applicable. ●● An update on the importance of being physically
●● understand the health consequences of chemical de- active throughout the day, including the relevance of
pendency and irresponsible sexual behaviors and non-exercise activity thermogenesis
learn guidelines for preventing sexually transmitted ●● The concepts of myofibrillar hypertrophy and sarco-
infections. plasmic hypertrophy are now included in this chapter
●● discern between myths and facts of exercise and ●● New information on the timing, dose, and type of
health-related concepts. protein to be under the Dietary Recommendations
for Strength Development
New in the Twelfth Edition ●● Up-to-date information on modes of stretching and
when to stretch under flexibility development
All nine chapters in the 12th edition of Fitness & Well-
ness have been revised and updated according to recent Chapter 4, Physical Fitness and Wellness
advances published in the scientific literature and infor-
Expanded information on high intensity interval
mation reported at professional health, fitness, wellness,
●●

training (HIIT) and its wide range of applications for


and sports medicine conferences. In addition to the
peak performance, new exercisers, and patients with
chapter updates listed below, selected new figures and
chronic illness
photographs are included in this edition. The following
are the most significant chapter updates: ●● Discussions of new fitness trends in areas including
functional fitness, HIIT, outdoor training, cross
Chapter 1, Physical Fitness and Wellness training, and dance fitness
●● Reorganization of chapter material to better high-
light the importance of daily physical activity and Chapter 5, Nutrition for Wellness
non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) ●● Expanded information on the importance of a
●● Updates to all statistics regarding disease risk, healthy diet to include less sugar, processed foods,
mortality, and healthcare costs in the United States refined carbohydrates, and unhealthy fats
and worldwide ●● Thorough coverage of the concept of chronic low-
●● Updated information about exercise as a preventative grade inflammation
health measure and its effectiveness as a treatment ●● Expanded information on the important role of ade-
modality in comparison to drug treatments quate protein intake throughout each day for proper
●● Exploration of the causes behind the United States’ weight management and lean tissue development
lagging life expectancy and preservation
●● A new section on Values and Behavior that explains ●● Additional information on the role of nutrient
the way core values are formed with new informa- supplements
tion on the role of the prefrontal cortex of the brain ●● Introduction to emotional eating and eating disor-
in carrying out value-centered behavior ders not otherwise specified (EDNOS)
●● Updated and expanded information about the brain ●● Upgrades on current dietary guidelines for healthy
and habit formation people based on the most recent recommendations
●● An introduction to mindfulness and willpower and given in the literature
their role in goal achievement
Chapter 6, Weight Management
Chapter 2, Assessment of Physical Fitness ●● Updates to all statistics on the overweight and obesity
●● An update on the benefits of cardiorespiratory en- problem in the United States based on the latest data
durance and muscular fitness from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
PrefaCe ix
●● Presentation of the theory on the role of light expo-
sure and BMI
●● Addition of two recent research studies on the role of
strength training for proper visceral fat management
in the Exercise and Weight Management section

Chapter 7, Stress Management


●● New section on the damaging role of “technostress”
in today’s technology dependent age, including tips
on managing tech-related stress at home, school, and
in the work place
●● New information on the importance of proper
breathing as a natural mechanism to reduce stress
●● Expanded information on the benefits of mindful-
ness meditation for stress management

Chapter 8, Physical Fitness and Wellness


●● Expanded information about the critical role of

© Fitness & Wellness, Inc.


physical inactivity and excessive sitting throughout
the day as a disease-promoting unhealthy behavior
●● Presentation of the 2013 American Heart Association
and American College of Cardiology recommenda-
tions for heart disease and stroke prevention in the
Abnormal Cholesterol Profile section and the recom-
clothing, energy drinks, following a diet 24/7, exces-
mendations for saturated fat replacement in the diet
sive sugar in the diet, and exercise and aging
●● New information detailing the way cancer develops
at the cellular level has been added to help students
better understand the cause and effect of cancer risk Additional Course Resources
and prevention
●● Health MindTap for Fitness & Wellness. Instant
●● Updates to all statistics regarding cancer and addi- Access Code, ISBN-13: 978-1-305-86978-3.
tional important preventative recommendations,
including information on spices and teas and recom- MindTap is well beyond an eBook, a homework solu-
mendations for limiting alcohol consumption tion or digital supplement, a resource center website, a
course delivery platform, or a Learning Management
●● New information outlining the latest research on System. More than 70% of students surveyed said it was
distracted driving accidents and the cognitive unlike anything they have seen before. MindTap is a
processes behind a variety of driving scenarios new personal learning experience that combines all
●● Enhanced section on synthetic cannabinoids (known your digital assets—readings, multimedia, activities,
as synthetic marijuana or Spice) which are currently and assessments—into a singular learning path to im-
the most prevalent synthetic drugs in the United States prove student outcomes.
●● Expanded introductory information detailing the ●● Diet & Wellness Plus. The Diet & Wellness Plus App
types and causes of common STIs and whether they in MindTap helps you gain a better understanding of
are curable or treatable how nutrition relates to your personal health goals. It
enables you to track your diet and activity, generate
Chapter 9, Relevant Fitness and Wellness reports, and analyze the nutritional value of the food
Issues you eat! It includes over 55,000 foods in the database,
●● Updates and new questions that address some of the custom food and recipe features, and the latest dietary
most frequently discussed issues related to physical references, as well as your goal and actual percentages
fitness and wellness, including changing behavior, of essential nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. It also
sequence of aerobic and strength training, exercise helps you to identify a problem behavior and make a

Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
x PrefaCe

positive change. After completing the Wellness Profile with personal development activities designed to
Questionnaire, Diet & Wellness Plus will rate the level encourage students to focus on and develop better
of concern for eight different areas of wellness, help- insight into their futures.
ing you determine the areas where you are most at
risk. It then helps you put together a plan for positive
change by helping you select a goal to work toward— Acknowledgments
complete with a reward for all your hard work. This book is dedicated to Dr. Herta Kipper for the un-
The Diet & Wellness Plus App is accessed from the conditional support and love provided to the authors
App dock in MindTap and can be used throughout and her lifelong commitment to health and physical
the course for students to track their diet and activ- activity programs for older adults in the southern
ity and behavior change. There are activities and labs region of Austria.
in the course that have students access the App to
This 12th edition of Fitness & Wellness was made pos-
further extend learning and integrate course content.
sible through the contributions of many individuals. In
●● Instructor Companion Site. Everything you need particular, we would like to express our gratitude to the
for your course in one place! This collection of book- reviewers of the 12th edition. Their valuable comments
specific lecture and class tools is available online via and suggestions are most sincerely appreciated.
http://www.cengage.com/login. Access and down-
load PowerPoint presentations, images, instructor’s Reviewers for the 12th edition:
manual, videos, and more.
Craig Newton, Community College of Baltimore County
●● Cengage Learning Testing Powered by Cognero.
Cengage Learning Testing Powered by Cognero is a Kristin Bartholomew, Valencia College
flexible, online system that allows you to: Sharon Brunner, Carroll Community College
●● author, edit, and manage test bank content from
multiple Cengage Learning solutions. Carl Bryan, Central Carolina Community College
●● create multiple test versions in an instant. Rosanne Caputo, College of Staten Island
deliver tests from your LMS, your classroom, or
William Chandler, Brunswick Community College
●●

wherever you want.


●● Global Health Watch. Instant Access Code, Keith Fritz, Colorado Mesa University
ISBN-13: 978-1-111-37733-5. Printed Access Card, Lurelia A. Hardy, Georgia Regents University
ISBN-13: 978-1-111-37731-1.
Cynthia Karlsson, Virginia Tech, Virginia Western
Updated with today’s current headlines, Global Community College
Health Watch is your one-stop resource for class-
room discussion and research projects. This resource Gloria Lambertz, Carroll College
center provides access to thousands of trusted health
Vince Maiorino, John Jay College
sources, including academic journals, magazines,
newspapers, videos, podcasts, and more. It is Craig Newton, Community College of Baltimore County
updated daily to offer the most current news about
Nancy A. Winberg, Western Technical College
topics related to your health course.
●● Careers in Health, Physical Education, and Bruce Zarosky, Lone Star College, Tomball
Sports, 2e. ISBN-13: 978-0-495-38839-5. Kym Atwood, University of West Florida
This unique booklet takes students through the Laura Baylor, Blue Ridge Community College
complicated process of picking the type of career
they want to pursue; explains how to prepare for the Laura Brieser-Smith, Front Range Community College
transition into the working world; and provides Cynthia Burwell, Norfolk State University
insight into different career paths, education require-
ments, and reasonable salary expectations. A Lisa Chaisson, Houston Community College
designated chapter discusses some of the legal issues Kelli Clay, Georgia Perimeter College
that surround the workplace, including discrimina-
tion and harassment. This supplement is complete Karen Dennis, Illinois State University

Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
PrefaCe xi
Ali El-Kerdi, Philadelphia University Colleen Maloney-Hinds, California State University–
San Bernadino
Leslie Hedelund, St. Clair County Community College
Scott Kinnaman, Northwest Nazarene University Reviewers for the ninth edition:
Jerome Kotecki, Ball State University John Acquavivia, Northern Virginia Community College
Justin Kraft, Missouri Western State University Leslie K. Hickcox, Portland Community College
Wayne Lee, Jr., Delta State University Rebecca Kujawa, Mother McAuley High School
Julia Leischner, Benedictine University Robin Kurotori, Ohlone College
Becky Louber, Northwest Nazarene University Cathy McMillan, Western Illinois University
Paul McDonald, Vermillion Community College Jeff Meeker, Cornell College
Kason O’Neill, East Tennessee State University Holly J. Molella, Dutchess Community College
Kathryn Perry, Olivet College Charles Pelitera, Canisius College
William Pertet, Young Harris College Marc Postiglione, Union County College
Deonna Shake, Abilene Christian University Andrea Pate Willis, Abraham Baldwin College
Vicki Shoemaker, Lake Michigan College Sharon Woodard, Wake Forest University

Christine Sholtey, Waubonsee Community College


Carole Sloan, Henry Ford College
Brief Author Biographies
John Stroffolino, Germanna Community College Werner W. K. Hoeger is a Professor Emeritus of the
Department of Kinesiology at Boise State University. He
Linda Villarreal, Texas A&M International University remains active in research and continues to lecture in
the areas of exercise physiology, physical fitness, health,
Reviewers for the 11th edition: and wellness.
Chip Darracott, Georgia Regents University Dr. Hoeger completed his undergraduate and Master’s
degrees in physical education at the age of 20 and re-
Kathy Gieg, Missouri Baptist University
ceived his Doctorate degree with an emphasis in exer-
Laurelia Hardy, Georgia Regents University cise physiology at the age of 24. He is a Fellow of the
Candace Hendershot, University of Findlay
Kevin B. Kinser, Tarrant County College
Linda J. Romaine, Raritan Valley Community College
William Russell, Missouri Western State University
Staci Jo Smith, Tarrant County College

Reviewers for the 10th edition:


Lisa Augustine, Lorain Community College
Vicki Boye, Concordia University
Michael Dupper, University of Mississippi
© Fitness & Wellness, Inc.

Nicholas Farkouh, College of Staten Island


Megan Franks, Lone Star College–North Harris
Misti Knight, Tarrant County College Northwest

Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
xii PrefaCe

American College of Sports Medicine and also of the Re-


search Consortium of SHAPE America (Society of Health
and Physical Educators). In 2002, he was recognized as
the Outstanding Alumnus from the College of Health and
Human Performance at Brigham Young University. He
was the recipient of the first Presidential Award for
Research and Scholarship in the College of Education at
Boise State University in 2004.
In 2008, he was asked to be the keynote speaker at the
VII Iberoamerican Congress of Sports Medicine and Applied
Sciences in Mérida, Venezuela, and was presented with
the Distinguished Guest of the City recognition. In 2010,
he was also honored as the keynote speaker at the Western
Society for Kinesiology and Wellness in Reno, Nevada.

© Ricardo Raschini
Dr. Hoeger uses his knowledge and personal experi-
ences to write engaging, informative books that thor-
oughly address today’s fitness and wellness issues in a
format accessible to students. Since 1990, he has been
Turin, Italy. In 2011, Dr. Hoeger raced in the 800-,
the most widely read fitness and wellness college text-
1,500-, and 5,000-meter events in track and field at the
book author in the United States. He has published a
World Masters Track and Field (Athletic) Champion-
total of 62 editions of his 9 fitness and wellness-related
ships held in Sacramento, California. At different times
titles. Among the textbooks written for Cengage Learn-
and in different distances in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015,
ing are Principles and Labs for Fitness and Wellness,
he reached All-American standards for his age group by
thirteenth edition; Lifetime Physical Fitness & Wellness,
USA Track and Field (USATF). In 2015, he finished
fourteenth edition; Fitness and Wellness, twelfth edition;
third in the one mile run at the USATF Masters Indoor
Principles and Labs for Physical Fitness, tenth edition;
Track and Field National Championships, and third and
Wellness: Guidelines for a Healthy Lifestyle, fourth edi-
fourth respectively in the 800- and 1,500-meters at the
tion; and Water Aerobics for Fitness and Wellness, fourth
Outdoor National Senior Games.
edition (with Terry-Ann Spitzer Gibson).
Dr. Hoeger was the first author to write a college fitness Sharon A. Hoeger is Vice-President of Fitness & Well-
textbook that incorporated the “wellness” concept. In ness, Inc. of Boise, Idaho. Sharon received her degree in
1986, with the release of the first edition of Lifetime computer science from Brigham Young University. She
Physical Fitness & Wellness, he introduced the principle is extensively involved in the research process used in
that to truly improve fitness, health, and quality of life,
and to achieve wellness, a person needed to go beyond
the basic health-related components of physical fitness.
His work was so well received that every fitness author
immediately followed his lead.
As an innovator in the field, Dr. Hoeger has developed
many fitness and wellness assessment tools, including
fitness tests such as the Modified Sit-and-Reach, Total
Body Rotation, Shoulder Rotation, Muscular Endur-
ance, and Muscular Strength and Endurance and Soda
Pop Coordination Tests. Proving that he “practices what
he preaches,” he was the oldest male competitor in the
2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, at the
© Fitness & Wellness, Inc.

age of 48. He raced in the sport of luge along with his


then 17-year-old son Christopher. It was the first time
in Winter Olympics history that father and son com-
peted in the same event. In 2006, at the age of 52, he
was the oldest competitor at the Winter Olympics in

Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
PrefaCe xiii
writing research and marketing copy for client maga-
zines, newsletters, and websites; and contracting as a
textbook copy editor for Cengage Learning (previously
under Thomson Learning and the Brooks/Cole brand).
Amber and Cherie have been working for Fitness &
Wellness, Inc. for several years and have now taken on a
more significant role with the research, updates, and
writing of the new editions. There is now a four-person
team to sort through and summarize the extensive litera-
ture available in the health, fitness, wellness, and sports
medicine fields. Their work has greatly enhanced the
excellent quality of these textbooks. They are firm believ-
ers in living a healthy lifestyle, they regularly attend
professional meetings in the field, and they are active
members of the American College of Sports Medicine.

© Fitness & Wellness, Inc.

retrieving the most current scientific information that


goes into the revision of each textbook. She is also the
author of the software written specifically for the fitness
and wellness textbooks. Her innovations in this area

© Fitness & Wellness, Inc.


since the publication of the first edition of Lifetime Phys-
ical Fitness & Wellness set the standard for fitness and
wellness computer software used in this market today.
Sharon is a co-author in five of the seven fitness and
wellness titles. She also served as Chef de Mission
(Chief of Delegation) for the Venezuelan Olympic
Team at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin,
Italy. Husband and wife have been jogging and
strength training together for more than 39 years. They
are the proud parents of five children, all of whom are
involved in sports and lifetime fitness activities. Their
motto: “Families that exercise together, stay together.”
Amber L. Fawson and Cherie I. Hoeger received
their degrees in English with an emphasis in editing
for publication. For the past 15 years Amber has en-
joyed working in the publication industry and has
© Fitness & Wellness, Inc.

held positions as an Editorial Coordinator for BYU


Studies, Assistant Editor for Cengage Learning, and
freelance writer and editor for tertiary education text-
books and workbooks. During the last decade, Cherie
has been working as a freelance writer and editor;

Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
1
Introduction to
Physical Fitness
and Wellness
Daily physical activity is the miracle
medication that people are looking for. It
makes you look and feel younger, boosts
energy, provides lifetime weight
management, improves self-confidence
and self-esteem, and enhances
independent living, health, and quality of
life. It further allows you to enjoy a longer
life by decreasing the risk of many
chronic conditions, including heart
disease, high blood pressure, stroke,
diabetes, some cancers, and osteoporosis.

Objectives
Understand the importance of lifetime fitness
and wellness.
Learn the recommended guidelines for weekly
physical activity.
Define physical fitness and list components of
health-related and skill-related fitness.
Understand the benefits of a comprehensive
fitness and wellness program.
Learn motivational and behavior modification
techniques to enhance compliance with a
© Fitness & Wellness, Inc.

healthy lifestyle program.


Learn to write SMART goals to aid with the
process of change.
Determine whether medical clearance is
required for safe participation in exercise.

Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
2 Fitness and Wellness

Real life StoRy | Jordan’s Experience

Last year as a freshman in col- I started cardio and myself, I lost weight,
lege I was advised to enroll in a strength workouts I toned up, I had so
general ed fitness and wellness according to an much more energy,
course. I played high school exercise prescrip- and I actually started
sports and thought I knew all tion I wrote myself. to enjoy exercise. It

© EugeneF/Shutterstock.com
there was to know about being I didn’t even know is fun to work out!
fit and in shape. As the course there was such a I now know that how
started, I realized I didn’t really thing as an “exercise well I will live the
know how important it was to prescription.” I even rest of my life has a
exercise regularly and take good stretched once in a lot to do with well-
care of myself. It quickly became while and started ness choices I make.
my favorite class, and I couldn’t to eat better. As I became more My goal is to never stop exercis-
wait to try what I was learning. fit, I started to feel better about ing and take good care of myself.

M
ost people believe school will teach them how to wise choices initiated during youth and continued
make a better living. A fitness and wellness throughout life.
course will teach you how to live better—how to Unfortunately, the current way of life in most devel-
truly live your life to its fullest potential. Real success is oped nations does not provide the human body with
about more than money: Making a good living will not sufficient physical activity to maintain adequate health.
help you unless you live a wellness lifestyle that will allow Furthermore, many lifestyle patterns are such a serious
you to enjoy what you have. Your lifestyle is the most im- threat to health that they actually speed up deterioration
portant factor affecting your personal well-being, but of the human body. In a few short years, lack of wellness
most people don’t know how to make the right choices to leads to loss of vitality and gusto for life, as well as pre-
live their best life. mature morbidity and mortality.
The benefits of an active and healthy lifestyle have Even though most people in the United States believe
been clearly substantiated by scientific evidence linking a positive lifestyle has a great impact on health and lon-
increased physical activity and positive habits to better gevity, most do not know how to implement a fitness and
fitness, health, and improved quality of life. Even though wellness program that will yield the desired results. Patty
a few individuals live long because of favorable genetic Neavill is an example of someone who frequently tried to
factors, for most people, the quality of life during mid- change her life but was unable to do so because she did
dle age and the “golden years” is more often related to not know how to implement a sound exercise and weight
© Jonathan Hoeger

Physical activity and exercise lead to less disease, a longer life, and enhanced quality of life.

Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
Chapter 1 Introduction to Physical Fitness and Wellness 3

control program. At age 24, Patty, a college sophomore, 2-year follow-up revealed a further decrease in body fat,
was discouraged with her weight, level of fitness, self- to 19.5 percent. Patty understands the new quality of life
image, and quality of life in general. reaped through a sound fitness program.
She had struggled with weight most of her life. Like
thousands of other people, she had made many unsuc-
cessful attempts to lose weight. Patty put aside her fears 1.1 Lifestyle, Health,
and decided to enroll in a fitness course. As part of the
course requirement, she took a battery of fitness tests at
and Quality of Life
the beginning of the semester. Patty’s cardiorespiratory Research findings have shown that physical inactivity and
fitness and strength ratings were poor, her flexibility clas- negative lifestyle habits pose a serious threat to health.
sification was average, she weighed more than 200 pounds, Movement and physical activity are basic functions for
and she was 41 percent body fat. which the human organism was created. Advances in
Following the initial fitness assessment, Patty met with modern technology, however, have all but eliminated the
her course instructor, who prescribed an exercise and need for physical activity in daily life. Physical activity no
nutrition program such as the one presented in this longer is a natural part of our existence. This epidemic of
book. Patty fully committed to carry out the prescrip- physical inactivity is the second greatest threat to U.S.
tion. She walked or jogged five times a week, worked out public health and is often referenced in new concerns
with weights twice a week, and played volleyball or bas- about “Sitting Disease” and “Sedentary Death
ketball two to four times each week. Her daily caloric Syndrome,” or SeDS. (The number-one threat is tobacco
intake was set in the range of 1,500 to 1,700 calories. She use—the largest cause of preventable deaths.)
took care to meet the minimum required amounts from Today we live in an automated society. Most of the activi-
the basic food groups each day, which contributed about ties that used to require strenuous physical exertion can be
1,200 calories to her diet. The remainder of the calories accomplished by machines with the simple pull of a handle
came primarily from complex carbohydrates. By the end or push of a button. If people go to a store that is only a
of the 16-week semester, Patty’s cardiorespiratory fitness, couple of blocks away, most drive their automobiles and
strength, and flexibility ratings all had improved to the then spend a couple of minutes driving around the parking
“good” category, she had lost 50 pounds, and her percent lot to find a spot 10 yards closer to the store’s entrance. Dur-
body fat had dropped to 22.5! ing a visit to a multilevel shopping mall, nearly everyone
A thank-you note from Patty to the course instructor chooses to ride the escalators instead of taking the stairs.
at the end of the semester read: Automobiles, elevators, escalators, cell phones, remote
Thank you for making me a new person. I truly ap- controls, electric garage door openers—all are modern-
preciate the time you spent with me. Without your day commodities that minimize the amount of move-
kindness and motivation, I would have never made it. ment and effort required of the human body.
It’s great to be fit and trim. I’ve never had this feeling With the developments in technology, three additional
before and I wish everyone could feel like this once in factors have changed our lives significantly and have had
their life. a negative effect on human health: nutrition, stress, and
Thank you, your trim Patty! environment. Fatty foods, sweets, alcohol, tobacco, ex-
cessive stress, and environmental hazards (such as
Patty never had been taught the principles governing a wastes, noise, and air pollution) have detrimental effects
sound weight loss program. She needed this knowledge, on people’s health.
and, like most Americans who have never experienced the One of the most significant detrimental effects of
process of becoming physically fit, she needed to be in a modern-day technology has been an increase in chronic
structured exercise setting to truly feel the joy of fitness. diseases related to a lack of physical activity. These in-
Of even greater significance, Patty maintained her clude hypertension (high blood pressure), heart disease,
aerobic and strength-training programs. A year after diabetes, chronic low back pain, and obesity, among
ending her calorie-restricted diet, her weight actually
increased by 10 pounds—but her body fat decreased GLOSSARY
from 22.5 percent to 21.2 percent. As discussed in Sedentary Death Chronic diseases
Chapter 6, the weight increase was related mostly to Syndrome (SeDS) Deaths Illnesses that develop and
changes in lean tissue lost during the weight-reduction that are attributed to a lack last over a long time.
phase. Despite only a slight drop in weight during the of regular physical activity.
second year following the calorie-restricted diet, Patty’s

Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
4 Fitness and Wellness

Figure 1.1 Leading causes of death in the United


States: 2013.

Cardiovascular
diseases
30.6% Cancer
22.5%

Others

© Fitness & Wellness, Inc.


36.2%
CLRD*
5.7%
Accidents
5%
*Chronic Lower
Respiratory Disease
The epitome of physical inactivity is to drive around a parking
lot for several minutes in search of a parking spot 10 to SOURCE: U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
20 yards closer to the store’s entrance.
National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics
reports, Deaths: Preliminary Data for 2013, Table 10.

others. They sometimes are referred to as hypokinetic


diseases. (“Hypo” means low or little, and “kinetic” im-
are preventable. In essence, most people in the United
plies motion.) Lack of adequate physical activity is a fact
States are threatened by the very lives they lead today.
of modern life that most people can avoid no longer.
Worldwide, obesity now claims triple the number of
victims as malnutrition. Over the last two decades the
world has transitioned from a concern about how popu-
1.2 Life Expectancy
lations did not have enough to eat (though many still Currently, the average life expectancy in the United
don’t) to one about how an abundance of unhealthy food States is 79.6 years (77.1 years for men and 81.9 years for
and physical inactivity are causing obesity, chronic dis- women). In the past decade alone, life expectancy has
eases, and premature death. According to the World increased by one year—the news, however, is not all good.
Health Organization (WHO), chronic diseases account The data show that people now spend an extra 1.2 years
for 60 percent of all deaths worldwide.1 If we want to with a serious illness and an extra two years of disability.
enjoy contemporary commodities and still expect to live Based on the WHO data, the United States ranks 33rd
life to its fullest, a personalized lifetime exercise program in the world for life expectancy (see Figure 1.2). Japan
must become a part of our daily lives. ranks first in the world with an overall life expectancy of
The leading causes of death in the United States today 84.46 years. While the United States was once a world
(see Figure 1.1) are lifestyle-related. About 53 percent of leader in life expectancy, over recent years, the increase
all deaths in the United States are caused by cardiovascular in life expectancy in the United States has not kept pace
disease and cancer.2 Almost 80 percent of these deaths with that of other developed countries.
could be prevented by adhering to a healthy lifestyle. The Several factors may account for the current U.S. life
third leading cause of death—chronic lower respiratory expectancy ranking, including the extremely poor health
(lung) disease—is related largely to tobacco use. Accidents of some groups (such as Native Americans, rural African
are the fourth leading cause of death. Even though not all Americans, and the inner-city poor) and fairly high lev-
accidents are preventable, many are. Fatal accidents often els of violence (notably homicides). The current trend is
are related to abusing drugs and not wearing seat belts. a widening disparity between those in the United States
Estimates indicate that more than half of disease is with the highest and lowest life expectancy. For example,
lifestyle-related, a fifth is attributed to environmental males in Fairfax County, Virginia can expect to live as
factors, and a tenth is influenced by the health care the long as males in Japan, while those in Bolivar County,
individual receives. Only 16 percent is related to genetic Mississippi have the same life expectancy as males in
factors. Thus, the individual controls as much as countries with much lower life expectancies, like
84 percent of disease and quality of life. The data also Pakistan. Physical activity trends by United States county,
indicate that most of the deaths that occur before age 65 in most cases, are aligned with life expectancy trends.3

Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
Chapter 1 Introduction to Physical Fitness and Wellness 5

Figure 1.2 Life expectancy at birth for selected


countries as of December 2012. 1.3 Importance of Increased
Physical Activity
Brazil 70 77

Mexico 73 78 The U.S. Surgeon General along with various other na-
United Arab Emirates 74 80
tional and global health organizations has announced that
poor health as a result of lack of physical activity is a seri-
Argentina 74 81
ous public health problem that must be met head-on at
United States 77 82
once. Regular moderate physical activity provides substan-
United Kingdom 78 83 tial benefits in health and well-being for the vast majority
Germany 78 83 of people who are not physically active. For those who are
Canada 79 84 already moderately active, even greater health benefits can
Spain 79 84
be achieved by increasing the level of physical activity.
Among the benefits of regular physical activity and exer-
France 78 85
cise are a significant reduction in premature mortality and
Switzerland 80 85
decreased risks for developing heart disease, stroke, meta-
Japan 81 88 bolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis, colon
65 70 75 80 85 90 and breast cancers, high blood pressure, depression, and
Years
even dementia and Alzheimer’s.7 Regular physical activity
*Dark color is men; light color is women.
also is important for the health of muscles, bones, and joints,
SOURCE: Central Intelligence Agency, "The World Factbook," https:// and has been shown in clinical studies to improve mood,
www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/
rankorder/2102rank.html, accessed March 30 2015.
cognitive function, creativity, and short-term memory and
enhance one’s ability to perform daily tasks throughout life.
It also can have a major impact on health care costs and
While not a single country has managed to lower its helps maintain a high quality of life into old age.
obesity rate in more than 30 years, some countries have Based on the abundance of scientific research on physi-
seen slower rises in obesity than the United States. A re- cal activity and exercise, a distinction has been established
port by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and between physical activity and exercise. Exercise is consid-
Development (OECD) found that while the United ered a type of physical activity that requires planned,
States far outspent every other country in health care structured, and repetitive bodily movement to improve or
cost per capita, it also easily had the highest rates of obe- maintain one or more components of physical fitness. A
sity of all 36 OECD countries.4 regular weekly program of walking, jogging, cycling, aer-
Although life expectancy in the United States gradu- obics, swimming, strength training, and stretching exer-
ally increased by 30 years over the past century, scien- cises is an example of various types of exercise.
tists from the National Institute of Aging believe that in Physical activity is defined as bodily movement produced
the coming decades the average life-span may decrease by skeletal muscles that requires the expenditure of energy
by as much as 5 years. This decrease in life expectancy and produces progressive health benefits. Examples of sim-
will be related primarily to the growing epidemic of ple daily physical activity are walking to and from work and
obesity. About 35 percent of the adult population in the the store, taking the stairs instead of elevators and escalators,
United States is obese. The latest statistical update from gardening, doing household chores, dancing, and washing
the American Heart Association reported that the inci- GLOSSARY
dence of diabetes has been climbing dramatically each
year in parallel step with the increased incidence of Hypokinetic diseases repetitive bodily movement
Diseases related to a lack of done to improve or maintain
obesity.5 Currently, one of ten adults has type 2 diabetes.
physical activity. one or more components of
If we are unable to change the current trend, by 2050 the
Life expectancy Number physical fitness.
number of adults suffering from diabetes could be one
in three. This will be one in three of our current elemen- of years a person is expected Physical activity Bodily
tary to college-age youth. Diabetes is the third most ex- to live based on the person’s movement produced by
pensive chronic disease to treat, preceded only by angina birth year. skeletal muscles that
(heart disease) and hypertension, respectively. All three Exercise A type of physical requires energy expenditure
of these chronic conditions are linked with obesity.6 Ad- activity that requires and produces progressive
ditional information on the obesity epidemic and its planned, structured, and health benefits.
detrimental health consequences is given in Chapter 5.

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Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
6 Fitness and Wellness

the car by hand. Physical inactivity, by contrast, implies a by the World Health Organization (WHO) and further
predominantly sedentary lifestyle, characterized by excessive substantiate previous recommendations issued by the
sitting throughout most days and a level of activity that is American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the
lower than that required to maintain good health. American Heart Association (AHA) in 20079 and the U.S.
Physical activity can be of light intensity or moderate Surgeon General in 1996.10
to vigorous intensity. Extremely light expenditures of The federal guidelines provide science-based guidance
energy throughout the day needed to pick up children, on the importance of being physically active and eating a
set and clear the table, stand at a counter, take the stairs, healthy diet to promote health and reduce the risk of
or carry the groceries are of far greater significance in our chronic diseases. The federal guidelines include the fol-
overall health than we once realized. To better under- lowing recommendations:11
stand the impact of all intensities of physical activity, Adults Between 18 and 64 Years of Age
scientists created a new category of movement called
nonexercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT). Any en- ●● Adults should do 150 minutes a week of moderate-
ergy expenditure that does not come from basic ongoing intensity aerobic (cardio-respiratory) physical
body functions (such as digesting food) or planned exer- activity, 75 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity
cise is categorized as NEAT.8 A person on an average day aerobic physical activity, or an equivalent
may expend 1300 calories simply maintaining vital body combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity
functions (the basal metabolic rate) and 200 calories di- aerobic physical activity (also see Chapter 3).
gesting food (thermic effect of food). Any additional en- When combining moderate- and vigorous-intensity
ergy expended during the day is expended either through activities, a person could participate in moderate-
exercise or NEAT. Though it may not increase cardiore- intensity activity twice a week for 30 minutes and
spiratory fitness as moderate or vigorous exercise will, high-intensity activity for 20 minutes on another
NEAT can easily use more calories in a day than the two days. Aerobic activity should be performed in
planned exercise session itself. As a result, NEAT is ex- episodes of at least 10 minutes long each, preferably
tremely critical to keep daily energy balance in check. For spread throughout the week.
example, people who spend most of the day working on ●● Additional health benefits are provided by increasing
their feet, such as a medical assistant or a stay-at-home to 5 hours (300 minutes) a week of moderate-
parent, will expend an average of 700 daily calories more intensity aerobic physical activity, 2 hours and
than a person who has a desk job that does not offer the 30 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity physical
option to stand, take walking breaks, or move about. activity, or an equivalent combination of both.
Moderate physical activity has been defined as any ●● Adults should also do muscle-strengthening
activity that requires an energy expenditure of 150 calories activities that involve all major muscle groups,
per day, or 1,000 calories per week. The general health performed on two or more days per week.
recommendation is that people strive to accumulate at Older Adults (Ages 65 and Older)
least 30 minutes of physical activity a minimum of 5 days ●● Older adults should follow the adult guidelines. If
per week. Whereas 30 minutes of continuous activity is this is not possible due to limiting chronic
preferred, on days when time is limited, 3 activity ses- conditions, older adults should be as physically active
sions of at least 10 minutes each provide about half the as their abilities allow. They should avoid inactivity.
aerobic benefits. Examples of moderate physical activity Older adults should do exercises that maintain or
are walking, cycling, playing basketball or volleyball, improve balance if they are at risk of falling.
recreational swimming, dancing fast, pushing a stroller,
raking leaves, shoveling snow, washing or waxing a car, Children 6 Years of Age and Older
washing windows or floors, and gardening. and Adolescents
●● Children and adolescents should do 1 hour (60
1.4 Federal Guidelines ●●
minutes) or more of physical activity every day.
Most of the 1 hour or more a day should be either
for Physical Activity moderate- or vigorous-intensity aerobic physical
activity.
Because of the importance of physical activity to our ●● As part of their daily physical activity, children and
health, in October 2008 the U.S. Department of Health adolescents should do vigorous-intensity activity
and Human Services issued Federal Physical Activity on at least three days per week. They also should
Guidelines for Americans for the first time. These guide- do muscle-strengthening and bone-strengthening
lines complement international recommendations issued activities on at least three days per week.

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Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
Chapter 1 Introduction to Physical Fitness and Wellness 7

Pregnant and Postpartum Women


Healthy women who are not already doing vigorous-
!
Critical Thinking
●●

intensity physical activity should get at least 2 hours


and 30 minutes (150 minutes) of moderate-intensity Do you consciously incorporate physical activity into your daily
aerobic activity a week. Preferably, this activity lifestyle? ● Can you provide examples? ● Do you think you get
should be spread throughout the week. Women who sufficient daily physical activity to maintain good health?
regularly engage in vigorous-intensity aerobic activity
or high amounts of activity can continue their
activity provided that their condition remains
unchanged and they talk to their health care provider
1.5 Benefits of Physical Fitness
about their activity level throughout their pregnancy. The benefits to be enjoyed from participating in a regular
The guidelines state that some adults should be able to fitness program are many. In addition to a longer life (see
achieve calorie balance with 150 minutes of moderate Figure 1.4 and Figure 1.5), the greatest benefit of all is that
physical activity in a week, while others will find they physically fit people who lead a positive lifestyle have a
need more than 300 minutes per week.12 This recom- healthier and better quality of life. These people live life to its
mendation is based on evidence indicating that people fullest and have fewer health problems than inactive indi-
who maintain healthy weight typically accumulate viduals who also indulge in negative lifestyle habits. Compil-
1 hour of daily physical activity.13 Between 60 and 90 ing an all-inclusive list of the benefits to be reaped through
minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity daily is participation in a fitness program is a challenge, but the list
recommended to sustain weight loss for previously over- provided in Table 1.1 summarizes many of these benefits.
weight people.14 And 60 to 90 minutes of activity per day In addition to the benefits listed in Table 1.1,
provides additional health benefits. epidemiological research studies linking physical activity
The most recent data released in 2012 by the Centers habits and mortality rates have shown lower premature
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate that mortality rates in physically active people. Pioneer work
only 19.8 percent of U.S. adults ages 18 and older meet in this area demonstrated that, as the amount of weekly
the federal physical activity guidelines for both aerobic physical activity increased, the risk of cardiovascular
and muscular fitness (strength and endurance) activities, deaths decreased.15 In this study, conducted among 16,936
whereas 28.6 percent meet the guidelines for aerobic Harvard alumni, the greatest decrease in cardiovascular
fitness. Another 46 percent of Americans are completely deaths was observed in alumni who burned more than
inactive during their leisure time (Figure 1.3). 2,000 calories per week through physical activity.
A landmark study subsequently upheld the findings of the
Harvard alumni study.16 Based on data from 13,344 individ-
Figure 1.3 Percentage of adults who did not meet uals who were followed over an average of 8 years, the results
and who met the 2008 federal guidelines for physical confirmed that the level of cardiorespiratory fitness is related
activity by gender. to mortality from all causes. These findings showed a graded
and consistent inverse relationship between physical fitness
60
Men Women and mortality, regardless of age and other risk factors.
50
50.1 GLOSSARY
40 41.5 Nonexercise activity a brisk walk that noticeably
increases the heart rate.
Percent

thermogenesis (NEAT)
30
28.8 28.3 Energy expended doing everyday Vigorous-intensity
20 23.5 activities other than exercise. aerobic physical activity
16.3 Moderate physical Defined as an activity similar
10
3.6 2.9 activity Any activity that to jogging that causes rapid
0 requires an energy expenditure breathing and a substantial
Neither Aerobic Muscular Both
set fitness sets of 150 calories per day, or increase in heart rate.
Guidelines met 1,000 calories per week. Epidemiological Of the
SOURCE: CDC, “Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Adults: Health Moderate-intensity study of epidemic diseases.
Interview Survey, 2012,” (February 2014) Table 26: Frequency
distributions of participants in leisure-time aerobic and muscle- aerobic physical activity
strengthening activities. Defined as the equivalent of

Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
8 Fitness and Wellness

Figure 1.4 Death rates by physical fitness levels.

39.5
64.0

70 40

60 35

50 30

40 26.3 24.6 25
16.4 16.3
30 20.3 20
20.3
20 15
9.7 7.4
7.8 7.4
10 10 3.9
7.3 4.8 2.9
3.1 1.0
5.8 1.0
4.7

ry
ry
s es

C
.8
C

se

o
o

au
au

g
g

u au

Lo
1.8
Lo

te
ca 5.4
te

se
lar
se

ca
er

w
w
ca

All All

o
cu
o

nc

f
er

s
f

as r

es
d

es

M
M

nc Ca ula

ea
ea

od
od

n
n

dio Ca sc

th

it
th

it

er
er

nt

F
F

r en a
Ca iov

at
at

H
H

cid ide

e
e

ig
ig

Men rd c Women

h
h

A c Ca Ac
SOURCE: Based on data from S. N. Blair, H. W. Kohl III, R. S. Paffenbarger, Jr., D. G. Clark, K. H. Cooper, and L. W. Gibbons, “Physical
Fitness and All-Cause Morality: A Prospective Study of Healthy Men and Women,” Journal of the American Medical Association 262
(1989): 2395–2401.

Figure 1.5 Effects of fitness changes on mortality rates. rate was 4.6 times higher than for the high-fit women. The
study also reported a greatly reduced rate of premature
125
122.0 deaths, even at moderate fitness levels, which most adults
can achieve easily. People gain further protection when
105 they combine higher fitness levels with reduction in other
risk factors such as hypertension, elevated cholesterol,
Death 85
67.7 cigarette smoking, and excessive body fat.
rate
from 65 Additional research that looked at changes in fitness
all and mortality found a substantial (44 percent) reduction
39.6
causes* 45 in mortality risk when the study participants abandoned
a sedentary lifestyle and became moderately fit (see
25
Figure 1.5).17 The lowest death rate was found in people
5 who were fit and remained fit, and the highest rate was
found in men who remained unfit.
A 2013 study looked to specifically compare the effi-
Initial assessment Unfit Unfit Fit
cacy of commonly prescribed drugs against the impact of
5-year follow-up Unfit Fit Fit
regular exercise. The data is based on more than 14,000
*Death rates per 10,000 man-years observation. patients recovering from stroke, being treated for heart
SOURCE: S. N. Blair et al., “Changes in Physical Fitness and
failure, or looking to prevent Type 2 diabetes or a second
All-Cause Morality: A Prospective Study of Healthy Men and episode of coronary heart disease. The study looked at
Women,” Journal of the American Medical Association 273 the effectiveness of exercise versus drugs on health out-
(1995): 1193–1198.
comes. The results were revealing: Exercise programs
were more effective than medical treatment in stroke
In essence, the higher the level of cardiorespiratory fit- patients and equally effective as medical treatments in
ness, the longer the life (see Figure 1.4). The death rate patients of diabetes and coronary heart disease. Only in
from all causes for the low-fit men was 3.4 times higher the prevention of heart failure were diuretic drugs more
than for the high-fit men. For the low-fit women, the death effective in preventing mortality than exercise.18

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Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
Chapter 1 Introduction to Physical Fitness and Wellness 9

Table 1.1 Long-Term (Chronic) Benefits of Exercise


Regular participation in exercise
●● improves and strengthens the cardiorespiratory system.
●● maintains better muscle tone, muscular strength, and endurance.
●● improves muscular flexibility.
●● enhances athletic performance.
●● helps maintain recommended body weight.
●● helps preserve lean body tissue.
●● increases resting metabolic rate.
●● improves the body’s ability to use fat during physical activity.
●● improves posture and physical appearance.
●● improves functioning of the immune system.
●● lowers the risk for chronic diseases and illness (including heart disease, stroke, and certain cancers).
●● decreases the mortality rate from chronic diseases.
●● thins the blood so it doesn’t clot as readily (thereby decreasing the risk for coronary heart disease and strokes).
●● helps the body manage cholesterol levels more effectively.
●● prevents or delays the development of high blood pressure and lowers blood pressure in people with hypertension.
●● helps prevent and control type 2 diabetes.
●● helps achieve peak bone mass in young adults and maintain bone mass later in life, thereby decreasing the risk for osteoporosis.
●● helps people sleep better.
●● helps prevent chronic back pain.
●● relieves tension and helps in coping with life stresses.
●● raises levels of energy and job productivity.
●● extends longevity and slows the aging process.
●● improves and helps maintain cognitive function, decreasing the risk for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
●● promotes psychological well-being, including higher morale, self-image, and self-esteem.
●● reduces feelings of depression and anxiety.
●● encourages positive lifestyle changes (improving nutrition, quitting smoking, controlling alcohol and drug use).
●● speeds recovery time following physical exertion.
●● speeds recovery following injury or disease.
●● regulates and improves overall body functions.
●● improves physical stamina and counteracts chronic fatigue.
●● reduces disability and helps to maintain independent living, especially in older adults.
●● enhances quality of life: People feel better and live a healthier and happier life.

© Cengage Learning

Additional studies in this area have substantiated benefits occur at higher duration and/or intensity of
early findings and also indicated that primarily physical activity.
vigorous activities are associated with greater longev- Vigorous activities are preferable, to the extent of one’s
ity.19 Vigorous activity was defined as activity that capabilities, because they are most clearly associated with
requires a MET level equal to or greater than 6 METs better health and longer life. Compared to prolonged
(see Chapter 4, Table 4.1, page 116). This level repre- moderate-intensity activity, vigorous-intensity activity
sents exercising at an energy level of 6 times the has been shown to provide the best improvements in
resting energy requirement. Examples of vigorous
activities used in the previous study include brisk GLOSSARY
walking, jogging, swimming laps, squash, racquetball, MET Short for metabolic weight per minute (mL/kg/
tennis, and shoveling snow. Results also indicated that equivalent; represents the rate min) or 1.2 calories per minute
vigorous exercise is as important as maintaining rec- of energy expenditure while for a 70-kilogram person. A
ommended weight and not smoking. sitting quietly at rest. This 3-MET activity requires three
While it is clear that moderate-intensity exercise does energy expenditure is times the energy expenditure
provide substantial health benefits, the research data approximately 3.5 milliliters of of sitting quietly at rest.
shows a dose-response relationship between physical oxygen per kilogram of body
activity and health. That is, greater health and fitness

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DANCE ON STILTS AT THE GIRLS’ UNYAGO, NIUCHI

Newala, too, suffers from the distance of its water-supply—at least


the Newala of to-day does; there was once another Newala in a lovely
valley at the foot of the plateau. I visited it and found scarcely a trace
of houses, only a Christian cemetery, with the graves of several
missionaries and their converts, remaining as a monument of its
former glories. But the surroundings are wonderfully beautiful. A
thick grove of splendid mango-trees closes in the weather-worn
crosses and headstones; behind them, combining the useful and the
agreeable, is a whole plantation of lemon-trees covered with ripe
fruit; not the small African kind, but a much larger and also juicier
imported variety, which drops into the hands of the passing traveller,
without calling for any exertion on his part. Old Newala is now under
the jurisdiction of the native pastor, Daudi, at Chingulungulu, who,
as I am on very friendly terms with him, allows me, as a matter of
course, the use of this lemon-grove during my stay at Newala.
FEET MUTILATED BY THE RAVAGES OF THE “JIGGER”
(Sarcopsylla penetrans)

The water-supply of New Newala is in the bottom of the valley,


some 1,600 feet lower down. The way is not only long and fatiguing,
but the water, when we get it, is thoroughly bad. We are suffering not
only from this, but from the fact that the arrangements at Newala are
nothing short of luxurious. We have a separate kitchen—a hut built
against the boma palisade on the right of the baraza, the interior of
which is not visible from our usual position. Our two cooks were not
long in finding this out, and they consequently do—or rather neglect
to do—what they please. In any case they do not seem to be very
particular about the boiling of our drinking-water—at least I can
attribute to no other cause certain attacks of a dysenteric nature,
from which both Knudsen and I have suffered for some time. If a
man like Omari has to be left unwatched for a moment, he is capable
of anything. Besides this complaint, we are inconvenienced by the
state of our nails, which have become as hard as glass, and crack on
the slightest provocation, and I have the additional infliction of
pimples all over me. As if all this were not enough, we have also, for
the last week been waging war against the jigger, who has found his
Eldorado in the hot sand of the Makonde plateau. Our men are seen
all day long—whenever their chronic colds and the dysentery likewise
raging among them permit—occupied in removing this scourge of
Africa from their feet and trying to prevent the disastrous
consequences of its presence. It is quite common to see natives of
this place with one or two toes missing; many have lost all their toes,
or even the whole front part of the foot, so that a well-formed leg
ends in a shapeless stump. These ravages are caused by the female of
Sarcopsylla penetrans, which bores its way under the skin and there
develops an egg-sac the size of a pea. In all books on the subject, it is
stated that one’s attention is called to the presence of this parasite by
an intolerable itching. This agrees very well with my experience, so
far as the softer parts of the sole, the spaces between and under the
toes, and the side of the foot are concerned, but if the creature
penetrates through the harder parts of the heel or ball of the foot, it
may escape even the most careful search till it has reached maturity.
Then there is no time to be lost, if the horrible ulceration, of which
we see cases by the dozen every day, is to be prevented. It is much
easier, by the way, to discover the insect on the white skin of a
European than on that of a native, on which the dark speck scarcely
shows. The four or five jiggers which, in spite of the fact that I
constantly wore high laced boots, chose my feet to settle in, were
taken out for me by the all-accomplished Knudsen, after which I
thought it advisable to wash out the cavities with corrosive
sublimate. The natives have a different sort of disinfectant—they fill
the hole with scraped roots. In a tiny Makua village on the slope of
the plateau south of Newala, we saw an old woman who had filled all
the spaces under her toe-nails with powdered roots by way of
prophylactic treatment. What will be the result, if any, who can say?
The rest of the many trifling ills which trouble our existence are
really more comic than serious. In the absence of anything else to
smoke, Knudsen and I at last opened a box of cigars procured from
the Indian store-keeper at Lindi, and tried them, with the most
distressing results. Whether they contain opium or some other
narcotic, neither of us can say, but after the tenth puff we were both
“off,” three-quarters stupefied and unspeakably wretched. Slowly we
recovered—and what happened next? Half-an-hour later we were
once more smoking these poisonous concoctions—so insatiable is the
craving for tobacco in the tropics.
Even my present attacks of fever scarcely deserve to be taken
seriously. I have had no less than three here at Newala, all of which
have run their course in an incredibly short time. In the early
afternoon, I am busy with my old natives, asking questions and
making notes. The strong midday coffee has stimulated my spirits to
an extraordinary degree, the brain is active and vigorous, and work
progresses rapidly, while a pleasant warmth pervades the whole
body. Suddenly this gives place to a violent chill, forcing me to put on
my overcoat, though it is only half-past three and the afternoon sun
is at its hottest. Now the brain no longer works with such acuteness
and logical precision; more especially does it fail me in trying to
establish the syntax of the difficult Makua language on which I have
ventured, as if I had not enough to do without it. Under the
circumstances it seems advisable to take my temperature, and I do
so, to save trouble, without leaving my seat, and while going on with
my work. On examination, I find it to be 101·48°. My tutors are
abruptly dismissed and my bed set up in the baraza; a few minutes
later I am in it and treating myself internally with hot water and
lemon-juice.
Three hours later, the thermometer marks nearly 104°, and I make
them carry me back into the tent, bed and all, as I am now perspiring
heavily, and exposure to the cold wind just beginning to blow might
mean a fatal chill. I lie still for a little while, and then find, to my
great relief, that the temperature is not rising, but rather falling. This
is about 7.30 p.m. At 8 p.m. I find, to my unbounded astonishment,
that it has fallen below 98·6°, and I feel perfectly well. I read for an
hour or two, and could very well enjoy a smoke, if I had the
wherewithal—Indian cigars being out of the question.
Having no medical training, I am at a loss to account for this state
of things. It is impossible that these transitory attacks of high fever
should be malarial; it seems more probable that they are due to a
kind of sunstroke. On consulting my note-book, I become more and
more inclined to think this is the case, for these attacks regularly
follow extreme fatigue and long exposure to strong sunshine. They at
least have the advantage of being only short interruptions to my
work, as on the following morning I am always quite fresh and fit.
My treasure of a cook is suffering from an enormous hydrocele which
makes it difficult for him to get up, and Moritz is obliged to keep in
the dark on account of his inflamed eyes. Knudsen’s cook, a raw boy
from somewhere in the bush, knows still less of cooking than Omari;
consequently Nils Knudsen himself has been promoted to the vacant
post. Finding that we had come to the end of our supplies, he began
by sending to Chingulungulu for the four sucking-pigs which we had
bought from Matola and temporarily left in his charge; and when
they came up, neatly packed in a large crate, he callously slaughtered
the biggest of them. The first joint we were thoughtless enough to
entrust for roasting to Knudsen’s mshenzi cook, and it was
consequently uneatable; but we made the rest of the animal into a
jelly which we ate with great relish after weeks of underfeeding,
consuming incredible helpings of it at both midday and evening
meals. The only drawback is a certain want of variety in the tinned
vegetables. Dr. Jäger, to whom the Geographical Commission
entrusted the provisioning of the expeditions—mine as well as his
own—because he had more time on his hands than the rest of us,
seems to have laid in a huge stock of Teltow turnips,[46] an article of
food which is all very well for occasional use, but which quickly palls
when set before one every day; and we seem to have no other tins
left. There is no help for it—we must put up with the turnips; but I
am certain that, once I am home again, I shall not touch them for ten
years to come.
Amid all these minor evils, which, after all, go to make up the
genuine flavour of Africa, there is at least one cheering touch:
Knudsen has, with the dexterity of a skilled mechanic, repaired my 9
× 12 cm. camera, at least so far that I can use it with a little care.
How, in the absence of finger-nails, he was able to accomplish such a
ticklish piece of work, having no tool but a clumsy screw-driver for
taking to pieces and putting together again the complicated
mechanism of the instantaneous shutter, is still a mystery to me; but
he did it successfully. The loss of his finger-nails shows him in a light
contrasting curiously enough with the intelligence evinced by the
above operation; though, after all, it is scarcely surprising after his
ten years’ residence in the bush. One day, at Lindi, he had occasion
to wash a dog, which must have been in need of very thorough
cleansing, for the bottle handed to our friend for the purpose had an
extremely strong smell. Having performed his task in the most
conscientious manner, he perceived with some surprise that the dog
did not appear much the better for it, and was further surprised by
finding his own nails ulcerating away in the course of the next few
days. “How was I to know that carbolic acid has to be diluted?” he
mutters indignantly, from time to time, with a troubled gaze at his
mutilated finger-tips.
Since we came to Newala we have been making excursions in all
directions through the surrounding country, in accordance with old
habit, and also because the akida Sefu did not get together the tribal
elders from whom I wanted information so speedily as he had
promised. There is, however, no harm done, as, even if seen only
from the outside, the country and people are interesting enough.
The Makonde plateau is like a large rectangular table rounded off
at the corners. Measured from the Indian Ocean to Newala, it is
about seventy-five miles long, and between the Rovuma and the
Lukuledi it averages fifty miles in breadth, so that its superficial area
is about two-thirds of that of the kingdom of Saxony. The surface,
however, is not level, but uniformly inclined from its south-western
edge to the ocean. From the upper edge, on which Newala lies, the
eye ranges for many miles east and north-east, without encountering
any obstacle, over the Makonde bush. It is a green sea, from which
here and there thick clouds of smoke rise, to show that it, too, is
inhabited by men who carry on their tillage like so many other
primitive peoples, by cutting down and burning the bush, and
manuring with the ashes. Even in the radiant light of a tropical day
such a fire is a grand sight.
Much less effective is the impression produced just now by the
great western plain as seen from the edge of the plateau. As often as
time permits, I stroll along this edge, sometimes in one direction,
sometimes in another, in the hope of finding the air clear enough to
let me enjoy the view; but I have always been disappointed.
Wherever one looks, clouds of smoke rise from the burning bush,
and the air is full of smoke and vapour. It is a pity, for under more
favourable circumstances the panorama of the whole country up to
the distant Majeje hills must be truly magnificent. It is of little use
taking photographs now, and an outline sketch gives a very poor idea
of the scenery. In one of these excursions I went out of my way to
make a personal attempt on the Makonde bush. The present edge of
the plateau is the result of a far-reaching process of destruction
through erosion and denudation. The Makonde strata are
everywhere cut into by ravines, which, though short, are hundreds of
yards in depth. In consequence of the loose stratification of these
beds, not only are the walls of these ravines nearly vertical, but their
upper end is closed by an equally steep escarpment, so that the
western edge of the Makonde plateau is hemmed in by a series of
deep, basin-like valleys. In order to get from one side of such a ravine
to the other, I cut my way through the bush with a dozen of my men.
It was a very open part, with more grass than scrub, but even so the
short stretch of less than two hundred yards was very hard work; at
the end of it the men’s calicoes were in rags and they themselves
bleeding from hundreds of scratches, while even our strong khaki
suits had not escaped scatheless.

NATIVE PATH THROUGH THE MAKONDE BUSH, NEAR


MAHUTA

I see increasing reason to believe that the view formed some time
back as to the origin of the Makonde bush is the correct one. I have
no doubt that it is not a natural product, but the result of human
occupation. Those parts of the high country where man—as a very
slight amount of practice enables the eye to perceive at once—has not
yet penetrated with axe and hoe, are still occupied by a splendid
timber forest quite able to sustain a comparison with our mixed
forests in Germany. But wherever man has once built his hut or tilled
his field, this horrible bush springs up. Every phase of this process
may be seen in the course of a couple of hours’ walk along the main
road. From the bush to right or left, one hears the sound of the axe—
not from one spot only, but from several directions at once. A few
steps further on, we can see what is taking place. The brush has been
cut down and piled up in heaps to the height of a yard or more,
between which the trunks of the large trees stand up like the last
pillars of a magnificent ruined building. These, too, present a
melancholy spectacle: the destructive Makonde have ringed them—
cut a broad strip of bark all round to ensure their dying off—and also
piled up pyramids of brush round them. Father and son, mother and
son-in-law, are chopping away perseveringly in the background—too
busy, almost, to look round at the white stranger, who usually excites
so much interest. If you pass by the same place a week later, the piles
of brushwood have disappeared and a thick layer of ashes has taken
the place of the green forest. The large trees stretch their
smouldering trunks and branches in dumb accusation to heaven—if
they have not already fallen and been more or less reduced to ashes,
perhaps only showing as a white stripe on the dark ground.
This work of destruction is carried out by the Makonde alike on the
virgin forest and on the bush which has sprung up on sites already
cultivated and deserted. In the second case they are saved the trouble
of burning the large trees, these being entirely absent in the
secondary bush.
After burning this piece of forest ground and loosening it with the
hoe, the native sows his corn and plants his vegetables. All over the
country, he goes in for bed-culture, which requires, and, in fact,
receives, the most careful attention. Weeds are nowhere tolerated in
the south of German East Africa. The crops may fail on the plains,
where droughts are frequent, but never on the plateau with its
abundant rains and heavy dews. Its fortunate inhabitants even have
the satisfaction of seeing the proud Wayao and Wamakua working
for them as labourers, driven by hunger to serve where they were
accustomed to rule.
But the light, sandy soil is soon exhausted, and would yield no
harvest the second year if cultivated twice running. This fact has
been familiar to the native for ages; consequently he provides in
time, and, while his crop is growing, prepares the next plot with axe
and firebrand. Next year he plants this with his various crops and
lets the first piece lie fallow. For a short time it remains waste and
desolate; then nature steps in to repair the destruction wrought by
man; a thousand new growths spring out of the exhausted soil, and
even the old stumps put forth fresh shoots. Next year the new growth
is up to one’s knees, and in a few years more it is that terrible,
impenetrable bush, which maintains its position till the black
occupier of the land has made the round of all the available sites and
come back to his starting point.
The Makonde are, body and soul, so to speak, one with this bush.
According to my Yao informants, indeed, their name means nothing
else but “bush people.” Their own tradition says that they have been
settled up here for a very long time, but to my surprise they laid great
stress on an original immigration. Their old homes were in the
south-east, near Mikindani and the mouth of the Rovuma, whence
their peaceful forefathers were driven by the continual raids of the
Sakalavas from Madagascar and the warlike Shirazis[47] of the coast,
to take refuge on the almost inaccessible plateau. I have studied
African ethnology for twenty years, but the fact that changes of
population in this apparently quiet and peaceable corner of the earth
could have been occasioned by outside enterprises taking place on
the high seas, was completely new to me. It is, no doubt, however,
correct.
The charming tribal legend of the Makonde—besides informing us
of other interesting matters—explains why they have to live in the
thickest of the bush and a long way from the edge of the plateau,
instead of making their permanent homes beside the purling brooks
and springs of the low country.
“The place where the tribe originated is Mahuta, on the southern
side of the plateau towards the Rovuma, where of old time there was
nothing but thick bush. Out of this bush came a man who never
washed himself or shaved his head, and who ate and drank but little.
He went out and made a human figure from the wood of a tree
growing in the open country, which he took home to his abode in the
bush and there set it upright. In the night this image came to life and
was a woman. The man and woman went down together to the
Rovuma to wash themselves. Here the woman gave birth to a still-
born child. They left that place and passed over the high land into the
valley of the Mbemkuru, where the woman had another child, which
was also born dead. Then they returned to the high bush country of
Mahuta, where the third child was born, which lived and grew up. In
course of time, the couple had many more children, and called
themselves Wamatanda. These were the ancestral stock of the
Makonde, also called Wamakonde,[48] i.e., aborigines. Their
forefather, the man from the bush, gave his children the command to
bury their dead upright, in memory of the mother of their race who
was cut out of wood and awoke to life when standing upright. He also
warned them against settling in the valleys and near large streams,
for sickness and death dwelt there. They were to make it a rule to
have their huts at least an hour’s walk from the nearest watering-
place; then their children would thrive and escape illness.”
The explanation of the name Makonde given by my informants is
somewhat different from that contained in the above legend, which I
extract from a little book (small, but packed with information), by
Pater Adams, entitled Lindi und sein Hinterland. Otherwise, my
results agree exactly with the statements of the legend. Washing?
Hapana—there is no such thing. Why should they do so? As it is, the
supply of water scarcely suffices for cooking and drinking; other
people do not wash, so why should the Makonde distinguish himself
by such needless eccentricity? As for shaving the head, the short,
woolly crop scarcely needs it,[49] so the second ancestral precept is
likewise easy enough to follow. Beyond this, however, there is
nothing ridiculous in the ancestor’s advice. I have obtained from
various local artists a fairly large number of figures carved in wood,
ranging from fifteen to twenty-three inches in height, and
representing women belonging to the great group of the Mavia,
Makonde, and Matambwe tribes. The carving is remarkably well
done and renders the female type with great accuracy, especially the
keloid ornamentation, to be described later on. As to the object and
meaning of their works the sculptors either could or (more probably)
would tell me nothing, and I was forced to content myself with the
scanty information vouchsafed by one man, who said that the figures
were merely intended to represent the nembo—the artificial
deformations of pelele, ear-discs, and keloids. The legend recorded
by Pater Adams places these figures in a new light. They must surely
be more than mere dolls; and we may even venture to assume that
they are—though the majority of present-day Makonde are probably
unaware of the fact—representations of the tribal ancestress.
The references in the legend to the descent from Mahuta to the
Rovuma, and to a journey across the highlands into the Mbekuru
valley, undoubtedly indicate the previous history of the tribe, the
travels of the ancestral pair typifying the migrations of their
descendants. The descent to the neighbouring Rovuma valley, with
its extraordinary fertility and great abundance of game, is intelligible
at a glance—but the crossing of the Lukuledi depression, the ascent
to the Rondo Plateau and the descent to the Mbemkuru, also lie
within the bounds of probability, for all these districts have exactly
the same character as the extreme south. Now, however, comes a
point of especial interest for our bacteriological age. The primitive
Makonde did not enjoy their lives in the marshy river-valleys.
Disease raged among them, and many died. It was only after they
had returned to their original home near Mahuta, that the health
conditions of these people improved. We are very apt to think of the
African as a stupid person whose ignorance of nature is only equalled
by his fear of it, and who looks on all mishaps as caused by evil
spirits and malignant natural powers. It is much more correct to
assume in this case that the people very early learnt to distinguish
districts infested with malaria from those where it is absent.
This knowledge is crystallized in the
ancestral warning against settling in the
valleys and near the great waters, the
dwelling-places of disease and death. At the
same time, for security against the hostile
Mavia south of the Rovuma, it was enacted
that every settlement must be not less than a
certain distance from the southern edge of the
plateau. Such in fact is their mode of life at the
present day. It is not such a bad one, and
certainly they are both safer and more
comfortable than the Makua, the recent
intruders from the south, who have made USUAL METHOD OF
good their footing on the western edge of the CLOSING HUT-DOOR
plateau, extending over a fairly wide belt of
country. Neither Makua nor Makonde show in their dwellings
anything of the size and comeliness of the Yao houses in the plain,
especially at Masasi, Chingulungulu and Zuza’s. Jumbe Chauro, a
Makonde hamlet not far from Newala, on the road to Mahuta, is the
most important settlement of the tribe I have yet seen, and has fairly
spacious huts. But how slovenly is their construction compared with
the palatial residences of the elephant-hunters living in the plain.
The roofs are still more untidy than in the general run of huts during
the dry season, the walls show here and there the scanty beginnings
or the lamentable remains of the mud plastering, and the interior is a
veritable dog-kennel; dirt, dust and disorder everywhere. A few huts
only show any attempt at division into rooms, and this consists
merely of very roughly-made bamboo partitions. In one point alone
have I noticed any indication of progress—in the method of fastening
the door. Houses all over the south are secured in a simple but
ingenious manner. The door consists of a set of stout pieces of wood
or bamboo, tied with bark-string to two cross-pieces, and moving in
two grooves round one of the door-posts, so as to open inwards. If
the owner wishes to leave home, he takes two logs as thick as a man’s
upper arm and about a yard long. One of these is placed obliquely
against the middle of the door from the inside, so as to form an angle
of from 60° to 75° with the ground. He then places the second piece
horizontally across the first, pressing it downward with all his might.
It is kept in place by two strong posts planted in the ground a few
inches inside the door. This fastening is absolutely safe, but of course
cannot be applied to both doors at once, otherwise how could the
owner leave or enter his house? I have not yet succeeded in finding
out how the back door is fastened.

MAKONDE LOCK AND KEY AT JUMBE CHAURO


This is the general way of closing a house. The Makonde at Jumbe
Chauro, however, have a much more complicated, solid and original
one. Here, too, the door is as already described, except that there is
only one post on the inside, standing by itself about six inches from
one side of the doorway. Opposite this post is a hole in the wall just
large enough to admit a man’s arm. The door is closed inside by a
large wooden bolt passing through a hole in this post and pressing
with its free end against the door. The other end has three holes into
which fit three pegs running in vertical grooves inside the post. The
door is opened with a wooden key about a foot long, somewhat
curved and sloped off at the butt; the other end has three pegs
corresponding to the holes, in the bolt, so that, when it is thrust
through the hole in the wall and inserted into the rectangular
opening in the post, the pegs can be lifted and the bolt drawn out.[50]

MODE OF INSERTING THE KEY

With no small pride first one householder and then a second


showed me on the spot the action of this greatest invention of the
Makonde Highlands. To both with an admiring exclamation of
“Vizuri sana!” (“Very fine!”). I expressed the wish to take back these
marvels with me to Ulaya, to show the Wazungu what clever fellows
the Makonde are. Scarcely five minutes after my return to camp at
Newala, the two men came up sweating under the weight of two
heavy logs which they laid down at my feet, handing over at the same
time the keys of the fallen fortress. Arguing, logically enough, that if
the key was wanted, the lock would be wanted with it, they had taken
their axes and chopped down the posts—as it never occurred to them
to dig them out of the ground and so bring them intact. Thus I have
two badly damaged specimens, and the owners, instead of praise,
come in for a blowing-up.
The Makua huts in the environs of Newala are especially
miserable; their more than slovenly construction reminds one of the
temporary erections of the Makua at Hatia’s, though the people here
have not been concerned in a war. It must therefore be due to
congenital idleness, or else to the absence of a powerful chief. Even
the baraza at Mlipa’s, a short hour’s walk south-east of Newala,
shares in this general neglect. While public buildings in this country
are usually looked after more or less carefully, this is in evident
danger of being blown over by the first strong easterly gale. The only
attractive object in this whole district is the grave of the late chief
Mlipa. I visited it in the morning, while the sun was still trying with
partial success to break through the rolling mists, and the circular
grove of tall euphorbias, which, with a broken pot, is all that marks
the old king’s resting-place, impressed one with a touch of pathos.
Even my very materially-minded carriers seemed to feel something
of the sort, for instead of their usual ribald songs, they chanted
solemnly, as we marched on through the dense green of the Makonde
bush:—
“We shall arrive with the great master; we stand in a row and have
no fear about getting our food and our money from the Serkali (the
Government). We are not afraid; we are going along with the great
master, the lion; we are going down to the coast and back.”
With regard to the characteristic features of the various tribes here
on the western edge of the plateau, I can arrive at no other
conclusion than the one already come to in the plain, viz., that it is
impossible for anyone but a trained anthropologist to assign any
given individual at once to his proper tribe. In fact, I think that even
an anthropological specialist, after the most careful examination,
might find it a difficult task to decide. The whole congeries of peoples
collected in the region bounded on the west by the great Central
African rift, Tanganyika and Nyasa, and on the east by the Indian
Ocean, are closely related to each other—some of their languages are
only distinguished from one another as dialects of the same speech,
and no doubt all the tribes present the same shape of skull and
structure of skeleton. Thus, surely, there can be no very striking
differences in outward appearance.
Even did such exist, I should have no time
to concern myself with them, for day after day,
I have to see or hear, as the case may be—in
any case to grasp and record—an
extraordinary number of ethnographic
phenomena. I am almost disposed to think it
fortunate that some departments of inquiry, at
least, are barred by external circumstances.
Chief among these is the subject of iron-
working. We are apt to think of Africa as a
country where iron ore is everywhere, so to
speak, to be picked up by the roadside, and
where it would be quite surprising if the
inhabitants had not learnt to smelt the
material ready to their hand. In fact, the
knowledge of this art ranges all over the
continent, from the Kabyles in the north to the
Kafirs in the south. Here between the Rovuma
and the Lukuledi the conditions are not so
favourable. According to the statements of the
Makonde, neither ironstone nor any other
form of iron ore is known to them. They have
not therefore advanced to the art of smelting
the metal, but have hitherto bought all their
THE ANCESTRESS OF
THE MAKONDE
iron implements from neighbouring tribes.
Even in the plain the inhabitants are not much
better off. Only one man now living is said to
understand the art of smelting iron. This old fundi lives close to
Huwe, that isolated, steep-sided block of granite which rises out of
the green solitude between Masasi and Chingulungulu, and whose
jagged and splintered top meets the traveller’s eye everywhere. While
still at Masasi I wished to see this man at work, but was told that,
frightened by the rising, he had retired across the Rovuma, though
he would soon return. All subsequent inquiries as to whether the
fundi had come back met with the genuine African answer, “Bado”
(“Not yet”).
BRAZIER

Some consolation was afforded me by a brassfounder, whom I


came across in the bush near Akundonde’s. This man is the favourite
of women, and therefore no doubt of the gods; he welds the glittering
brass rods purchased at the coast into those massive, heavy rings
which, on the wrists and ankles of the local fair ones, continually give
me fresh food for admiration. Like every decent master-craftsman he
had all his tools with him, consisting of a pair of bellows, three
crucibles and a hammer—nothing more, apparently. He was quite
willing to show his skill, and in a twinkling had fixed his bellows on
the ground. They are simply two goat-skins, taken off whole, the four
legs being closed by knots, while the upper opening, intended to
admit the air, is kept stretched by two pieces of wood. At the lower
end of the skin a smaller opening is left into which a wooden tube is
stuck. The fundi has quickly borrowed a heap of wood-embers from
the nearest hut; he then fixes the free ends of the two tubes into an
earthen pipe, and clamps them to the ground by means of a bent
piece of wood. Now he fills one of his small clay crucibles, the dross
on which shows that they have been long in use, with the yellow
material, places it in the midst of the embers, which, at present are
only faintly glimmering, and begins his work. In quick alternation
the smith’s two hands move up and down with the open ends of the
bellows; as he raises his hand he holds the slit wide open, so as to let
the air enter the skin bag unhindered. In pressing it down he closes
the bag, and the air puffs through the bamboo tube and clay pipe into
the fire, which quickly burns up. The smith, however, does not keep
on with this work, but beckons to another man, who relieves him at
the bellows, while he takes some more tools out of a large skin pouch
carried on his back. I look on in wonder as, with a smooth round
stick about the thickness of a finger, he bores a few vertical holes into
the clean sand of the soil. This should not be difficult, yet the man
seems to be taking great pains over it. Then he fastens down to the
ground, with a couple of wooden clamps, a neat little trough made by
splitting a joint of bamboo in half, so that the ends are closed by the
two knots. At last the yellow metal has attained the right consistency,
and the fundi lifts the crucible from the fire by means of two sticks
split at the end to serve as tongs. A short swift turn to the left—a
tilting of the crucible—and the molten brass, hissing and giving forth
clouds of smoke, flows first into the bamboo mould and then into the
holes in the ground.
The technique of this backwoods craftsman may not be very far
advanced, but it cannot be denied that he knows how to obtain an
adequate result by the simplest means. The ladies of highest rank in
this country—that is to say, those who can afford it, wear two kinds
of these massive brass rings, one cylindrical, the other semicircular
in section. The latter are cast in the most ingenious way in the
bamboo mould, the former in the circular hole in the sand. It is quite
a simple matter for the fundi to fit these bars to the limbs of his fair
customers; with a few light strokes of his hammer he bends the
pliable brass round arm or ankle without further inconvenience to
the wearer.
SHAPING THE POT

SMOOTHING WITH MAIZE-COB

CUTTING THE EDGE


FINISHING THE BOTTOM

LAST SMOOTHING BEFORE


BURNING

FIRING THE BRUSH-PILE


LIGHTING THE FARTHER SIDE OF
THE PILE

TURNING THE RED-HOT VESSEL

NYASA WOMAN MAKING POTS AT MASASI


Pottery is an art which must always and everywhere excite the
interest of the student, just because it is so intimately connected with
the development of human culture, and because its relics are one of
the principal factors in the reconstruction of our own condition in
prehistoric times. I shall always remember with pleasure the two or
three afternoons at Masasi when Salim Matola’s mother, a slightly-
built, graceful, pleasant-looking woman, explained to me with
touching patience, by means of concrete illustrations, the ceramic art
of her people. The only implements for this primitive process were a
lump of clay in her left hand, and in the right a calabash containing
the following valuables: the fragment of a maize-cob stripped of all
its grains, a smooth, oval pebble, about the size of a pigeon’s egg, a
few chips of gourd-shell, a bamboo splinter about the length of one’s
hand, a small shell, and a bunch of some herb resembling spinach.
Nothing more. The woman scraped with the
shell a round, shallow hole in the soft, fine
sand of the soil, and, when an active young
girl had filled the calabash with water for her,
she began to knead the clay. As if by magic it
gradually assumed the shape of a rough but
already well-shaped vessel, which only wanted
a little touching up with the instruments
before mentioned. I looked out with the
MAKUA WOMAN closest attention for any indication of the use
MAKING A POT. of the potter’s wheel, in however rudimentary
SHOWS THE a form, but no—hapana (there is none). The
BEGINNINGS OF THE embryo pot stood firmly in its little
POTTER’S WHEEL
depression, and the woman walked round it in
a stooping posture, whether she was removing
small stones or similar foreign bodies with the maize-cob, smoothing
the inner or outer surface with the splinter of bamboo, or later, after
letting it dry for a day, pricking in the ornamentation with a pointed
bit of gourd-shell, or working out the bottom, or cutting the edge
with a sharp bamboo knife, or giving the last touches to the finished
vessel. This occupation of the women is infinitely toilsome, but it is
without doubt an accurate reproduction of the process in use among
our ancestors of the Neolithic and Bronze ages.
There is no doubt that the invention of pottery, an item in human
progress whose importance cannot be over-estimated, is due to
women. Rough, coarse and unfeeling, the men of the horde range
over the countryside. When the united cunning of the hunters has
succeeded in killing the game; not one of them thinks of carrying
home the spoil. A bright fire, kindled by a vigorous wielding of the
drill, is crackling beside them; the animal has been cleaned and cut
up secundum artem, and, after a slight singeing, will soon disappear
under their sharp teeth; no one all this time giving a single thought
to wife or child.
To what shifts, on the other hand, the primitive wife, and still more
the primitive mother, was put! Not even prehistoric stomachs could
endure an unvarying diet of raw food. Something or other suggested
the beneficial effect of hot water on the majority of approved but
indigestible dishes. Perhaps a neighbour had tried holding the hard
roots or tubers over the fire in a calabash filled with water—or maybe
an ostrich-egg-shell, or a hastily improvised vessel of bark. They
became much softer and more palatable than they had previously
been; but, unfortunately, the vessel could not stand the fire and got
charred on the outside. That can be remedied, thought our
ancestress, and plastered a layer of wet clay round a similar vessel.
This is an improvement; the cooking utensil remains uninjured, but
the heat of the fire has shrunk it, so that it is loose in its shell. The
next step is to detach it, so, with a firm grip and a jerk, shell and
kernel are separated, and pottery is invented. Perhaps, however, the
discovery which led to an intelligent use of the burnt-clay shell, was
made in a slightly different way. Ostrich-eggs and calabashes are not
to be found in every part of the world, but everywhere mankind has
arrived at the art of making baskets out of pliant materials, such as
bark, bast, strips of palm-leaf, supple twigs, etc. Our inventor has no
water-tight vessel provided by nature. “Never mind, let us line the
basket with clay.” This answers the purpose, but alas! the basket gets
burnt over the blazing fire, the woman watches the process of
cooking with increasing uneasiness, fearing a leak, but no leak
appears. The food, done to a turn, is eaten with peculiar relish; and
the cooking-vessel is examined, half in curiosity, half in satisfaction
at the result. The plastic clay is now hard as stone, and at the same
time looks exceedingly well, for the neat plaiting of the burnt basket
is traced all over it in a pretty pattern. Thus, simultaneously with
pottery, its ornamentation was invented.
Primitive woman has another claim to respect. It was the man,
roving abroad, who invented the art of producing fire at will, but the
woman, unable to imitate him in this, has been a Vestal from the
earliest times. Nothing gives so much trouble as the keeping alight of
the smouldering brand, and, above all, when all the men are absent
from the camp. Heavy rain-clouds gather, already the first large
drops are falling, the first gusts of the storm rage over the plain. The
little flame, a greater anxiety to the woman than her own children,
flickers unsteadily in the blast. What is to be done? A sudden thought
occurs to her, and in an instant she has constructed a primitive hut
out of strips of bark, to protect the flame against rain and wind.
This, or something very like it, was the way in which the principle
of the house was discovered; and even the most hardened misogynist
cannot fairly refuse a woman the credit of it. The protection of the
hearth-fire from the weather is the germ from which the human
dwelling was evolved. Men had little, if any share, in this forward
step, and that only at a late stage. Even at the present day, the
plastering of the housewall with clay and the manufacture of pottery
are exclusively the women’s business. These are two very significant
survivals. Our European kitchen-garden, too, is originally a woman’s
invention, and the hoe, the primitive instrument of agriculture, is,
characteristically enough, still used in this department. But the
noblest achievement which we owe to the other sex is unquestionably
the art of cookery. Roasting alone—the oldest process—is one for
which men took the hint (a very obvious one) from nature. It must
have been suggested by the scorched carcase of some animal
overtaken by the destructive forest-fires. But boiling—the process of
improving organic substances by the help of water heated to boiling-
point—is a much later discovery. It is so recent that it has not even
yet penetrated to all parts of the world. The Polynesians understand
how to steam food, that is, to cook it, neatly wrapped in leaves, in a
hole in the earth between hot stones, the air being excluded, and
(sometimes) a few drops of water sprinkled on the stones; but they
do not understand boiling.
To come back from this digression, we find that the slender Nyasa
woman has, after once more carefully examining the finished pot,
put it aside in the shade to dry. On the following day she sends me
word by her son, Salim Matola, who is always on hand, that she is
going to do the burning, and, on coming out of my house, I find her
already hard at work. She has spread on the ground a layer of very
dry sticks, about as thick as one’s thumb, has laid the pot (now of a
yellowish-grey colour) on them, and is piling brushwood round it.
My faithful Pesa mbili, the mnyampara, who has been standing by,
most obligingly, with a lighted stick, now hands it to her. Both of
them, blowing steadily, light the pile on the lee side, and, when the
flame begins to catch, on the weather side also. Soon the whole is in a
blaze, but the dry fuel is quickly consumed and the fire dies down, so
that we see the red-hot vessel rising from the ashes. The woman
turns it continually with a long stick, sometimes one way and
sometimes another, so that it may be evenly heated all over. In
twenty minutes she rolls it out of the ash-heap, takes up the bundle
of spinach, which has been lying for two days in a jar of water, and
sprinkles the red-hot clay with it. The places where the drops fall are
marked by black spots on the uniform reddish-brown surface. With a
sigh of relief, and with visible satisfaction, the woman rises to an
erect position; she is standing just in a line between me and the fire,
from which a cloud of smoke is just rising: I press the ball of my
camera, the shutter clicks—the apotheosis is achieved! Like a
priestess, representative of her inventive sex, the graceful woman
stands: at her feet the hearth-fire she has given us beside her the
invention she has devised for us, in the background the home she has
built for us.
At Newala, also, I have had the manufacture of pottery carried on
in my presence. Technically the process is better than that already
described, for here we find the beginnings of the potter’s wheel,
which does not seem to exist in the plains; at least I have seen
nothing of the sort. The artist, a frightfully stupid Makua woman, did
not make a depression in the ground to receive the pot she was about
to shape, but used instead a large potsherd. Otherwise, she went to
work in much the same way as Salim’s mother, except that she saved
herself the trouble of walking round and round her work by squatting
at her ease and letting the pot and potsherd rotate round her; this is
surely the first step towards a machine. But it does not follow that
the pot was improved by the process. It is true that it was beautifully
rounded and presented a very creditable appearance when finished,
but the numerous large and small vessels which I have seen, and, in
part, collected, in the “less advanced” districts, are no less so. We
moderns imagine that instruments of precision are necessary to
produce excellent results. Go to the prehistoric collections of our
museums and look at the pots, urns and bowls of our ancestors in the
dim ages of the past, and you will at once perceive your error.
MAKING LONGITUDINAL CUT IN
BARK

DRAWING THE BARK OFF THE LOG

REMOVING THE OUTER BARK


BEATING THE BARK

WORKING THE BARK-CLOTH AFTER BEATING, TO MAKE IT


SOFT

MANUFACTURE OF BARK-CLOTH AT NEWALA


To-day, nearly the whole population of German East Africa is
clothed in imported calico. This was not always the case; even now in
some parts of the north dressed skins are still the prevailing wear,
and in the north-western districts—east and north of Lake
Tanganyika—lies a zone where bark-cloth has not yet been
superseded. Probably not many generations have passed since such
bark fabrics and kilts of skins were the only clothing even in the
south. Even to-day, large quantities of this bright-red or drab
material are still to be found; but if we wish to see it, we must look in
the granaries and on the drying stages inside the native huts, where
it serves less ambitious uses as wrappings for those seeds and fruits
which require to be packed with special care. The salt produced at
Masasi, too, is packed for transport to a distance in large sheets of
bark-cloth. Wherever I found it in any degree possible, I studied the
process of making this cloth. The native requisitioned for the
purpose arrived, carrying a log between two and three yards long and
as thick as his thigh, and nothing else except a curiously-shaped
mallet and the usual long, sharp and pointed knife which all men and
boys wear in a belt at their backs without a sheath—horribile dictu!
[51]
Silently he squats down before me, and with two rapid cuts has
drawn a couple of circles round the log some two yards apart, and
slits the bark lengthwise between them with the point of his knife.
With evident care, he then scrapes off the outer rind all round the
log, so that in a quarter of an hour the inner red layer of the bark
shows up brightly-coloured between the two untouched ends. With
some trouble and much caution, he now loosens the bark at one end,
and opens the cylinder. He then stands up, takes hold of the free
edge with both hands, and turning it inside out, slowly but steadily
pulls it off in one piece. Now comes the troublesome work of
scraping all superfluous particles of outer bark from the outside of
the long, narrow piece of material, while the inner side is carefully
scrutinised for defective spots. At last it is ready for beating. Having
signalled to a friend, who immediately places a bowl of water beside
him, the artificer damps his sheet of bark all over, seizes his mallet,
lays one end of the stuff on the smoothest spot of the log, and
hammers away slowly but continuously. “Very simple!” I think to
myself. “Why, I could do that, too!”—but I am forced to change my
opinions a little later on; for the beating is quite an art, if the fabric is
not to be beaten to pieces. To prevent the breaking of the fibres, the
stuff is several times folded across, so as to interpose several
thicknesses between the mallet and the block. At last the required
state is reached, and the fundi seizes the sheet, still folded, by both
ends, and wrings it out, or calls an assistant to take one end while he
holds the other. The cloth produced in this way is not nearly so fine
and uniform in texture as the famous Uganda bark-cloth, but it is
quite soft, and, above all, cheap.
Now, too, I examine the mallet. My craftsman has been using the
simpler but better form of this implement, a conical block of some
hard wood, its base—the striking surface—being scored across and
across with more or less deeply-cut grooves, and the handle stuck
into a hole in the middle. The other and earlier form of mallet is
shaped in the same way, but the head is fastened by an ingenious
network of bark strips into the split bamboo serving as a handle. The
observation so often made, that ancient customs persist longest in
connection with religious ceremonies and in the life of children, here
finds confirmation. As we shall soon see, bark-cloth is still worn
during the unyago,[52] having been prepared with special solemn
ceremonies; and many a mother, if she has no other garment handy,
will still put her little one into a kilt of bark-cloth, which, after all,
looks better, besides being more in keeping with its African
surroundings, than the ridiculous bit of print from Ulaya.
MAKUA WOMEN

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