Today I’m sharing with you what I’ve been calling my “Pin-Up Work Out Routine”. For many years I struggled on a very severe level with body image issues. This past has made me tentative about working out, since I fear falling back into a state I care not to revisit. Additionally, many of the work outs illustrated in contemporary magazines and practiced in today’s gyms produce super trim bodies that I do not find attractive, and also would work against wearing vintage clothing. Let’s face it, the 1940s and 1950s encouraged a shapely figure for women, while today, it seems women encouraged to have no curves to speak of. This is why I found these pages so interesting and helpful. Not only do they keep me simply fit, but they would also support the figure that I desire.
These pages come from the same book that many other of my vintage beauty tips have come from, Ern and Bud Westmore’s Beauty, Glamour and Personality from 1947.
I enjoy doing the following exercises to fun and upbeat music, especially big band or numbers from the Brian Setzer Orchestra.
In addition to these pages, I also hula hoop. While I can’t do anything fancy, the traditional hula hooping is a great work out as well, burning 60-100 calories in just ten minutes time, while also increasing your back’s flexibility. I also enjoy it because you can read or watch television while hula hooping!
More from Beauty, Glamour and Personality
Introduction
Make-Up for Various Face Shapes
Hair Styling for Various Face Shapes
Posture
Looks like a great little varied routine – and I love all the accompanying pics!
So cute! I think I need to start a few of these myself…especially the double chin exercise-sigh.
These exercises–and the illustrations–are fantastic. I have attempted to hula hoop, but I’m AWFUL. Most of my exercise there comes from picking the hoop up off the floor!
Hooray for hula hooping! Keep it up – fun exercise is the best exercise!
Oh these look awesome. Thank you for posting these! I gotta say I understand being careful about exercise for fear of falling back into a bad state/or unhealthy habits. It took me getting pregnant and being unable to lose weight due to breastfeeding to get me to a truly healthy spot but I’m still weary of working out and certainly wont ever count calories.
I hope you continue on a good path in terms of health and body image!
Favorite part: “The shape, size, firmness & erectness of the breasts, also their relation to the size & contour of the body are all taken into account when a woman is appraised for her charm.”
Muahahaha, so good! I’ll think of this from now on, whenever someone calls me charming.
And these exercises are great! I’m glad you’ve found a routine that makes you feel great, instead of dragging you back into the dark. You’re gorgeous love, and you better embrace it!!
<3 <3 Sara
Body and self-confidence issues have shadowed me my whole life, starting very early on and never vanishing. Though I’ve made more peace with myself in this regard in recent years, I doubt these issues will ever completely disappear. I think you’re beautiful and that you have a terrific, thoroughly vintage clothing approved body, sweet gal, so whatever you’re doing, it’s definitely working for you!
♥ Jessica
Ooo, those exercises look like fun. My boyfriend and I have been doing a fair bit of pilates to try to get/stay in shape, and some of those exercises look pretty familiar! Some of them look fiendishly difficult, too. We count calories, too: I count to make sure I don’t eat too much, and he counts to make sure he eats ENOUGH!
I hear you on the body image issues… they’re rampant in my family. You seem to be doing well now, and you sure look fantastic.
Now, I wonder if those chest exercises will really help…
Most of these are yoga poses as well, which is becoming my tried & true fitness method. Better for slimming than cardio I’ve found.
Very good to know! I’m not all that familiar with yoga.
If I do any exercise other than walking my dogs I feel like I’m cheating on them, but fascinating stuff in any case.