The Famous Daily Dozen Exercises

In the 1920s and 30s, “Daily Dozen” was a household phrase. Some have even heard of it still
today, although they may not know its provenance (origin or root).

The “Daily Dozen” referred to a set of twelve calisthenic exercises that were performed, well,
daily, in an attempt to stay healthy and fit.

The famous exercise routine was created by Walter Camp, a former college athlete, successful
businessman, and prolific writer of books and articles on sports and the outdoors. As a student
at Yale, Camp rowed, boxed, played tennis, and frequented the school’s gymnasium in his spare
time. He also ran track for the university and was a varsity baseball and football player. It was
that latter sport that constituted his most enduring and ultimately influential interest. First as a
player, and then as a coach, Camp introduced so many innovations to the gridiron — including
the line of scrimmage and the system of downs — that he became known as the “Father of
American Football.”

During WWI, Camp’s athletic know-how was marshaled by the U.S. military, which made him an
advisor on physical fitness. Concerned that the old style of calisthenics then employed by the
troops was not sufficiently effective in getting them in fighting shape, the brass asked Camp to
create a new program of exercise. His answer was the “Daily Dozen” — a short routine of
physical movements designed to keep the country’s sailors and soldiers healthy and nimble,
without inducing excessive fatigue.

After the war, the Daily Dozen spread by word of mouth and caught on with top-tier
businessmen and CEOs — executives who spent a lot of time sitting behind a desk, and wanted
to restore some of their old vim and vigor. Camp was asked to write some magazine articles on
his regimen, and these became so popular that he then produced a pamphlet on the program
which sold close to half a million copies. This smash success was followed by the creation of a
bestselling set of phonograph records, which offered audio instruction in doing the Daily Dozen,
and finally a full book on the subject. Companies, banks, societies, and clubs all across the nation
invited Camp to demonstrate the routine for their executives, employees, and members. The
Daily Dozen became not just a national, but an international craze, with people around the world
trying Camp’s exercise routine for themselves.

What Is the Daily Dozen?

The Daily Dozen that Walter Camp taught the U.S. military, and then the entire nation, consisted
of exercises he had created and practiced himself over six decades of life. The movements were
born both of a dissatisfaction with existing forms of calisthenics — which Camp thought were
too rigid, hard, and boring — and from a concern that we’re very familiar with today: that the
creation of modern technologies and conveniences were robbing people of the “primal” health
and agility once known to their wild ancestors. Camp’s philosophy on fitness didn’t sound too
different than that espoused by present day groups like MovNat, lamenting as he did that
modern citizens “are caged creatures, even though we do not see the bars that imprison us” and
devising the Daily Dozen as “a substitute for the normal activities of mankind in the primitive
state.”

The Daily Dozen wasn’t supposed to be a difficult workout, but was rather to be “done lightly
and naturally, more in the spirit of recreation and pleasure than with lips compressed, lungs
heaving, and muscles tightly flexed.” It was “not meant to be exhausting but refreshing.” Rather
than aiming to build a large, ripped physique, the program was designed to exercise “the unseen
and usually unremembered muscles” — to impart “greater suppleness” to the body, enhance
posture, and increase “your resistance to fatigue, your grace and muscular coordination and
poise.” Basically, the Daily Dozen kept you nice and limber. Camp also touted the routine as
being a great help for constipation. And its light exercise was not only meant to benefit the
physical body, but also the mind’s capacity for “brain work.”

The Daily Dozen was of especial use to those approaching midlife, who noticed an encroaching
stiffness and who sat a good portion of the day, but was deemed healthifying for folks of all ages.

Camp touted his Daily Dozen system as “the simplest, shortest, least exhausting and most
exhilarating form of calisthenics, or set-up exercises, that can be devised to meet the present
conditions of life and civilization. All superfluous movements are thrown into the discard,
combinations are effected in order to save time.” Part of its appeal was that it could be done
without any equipment, in an area no larger than a bedroom, and completed in only 7 to 8
minutes.

Though the routine itself was neither particularly strenuous, nor time-consuming, Camp
recommended being very consistent about its implementation. The Daily Dozen was to be
performed seven days a week, at least once, and optimally 3 times (morning, mid-day, and
evening), a day — depending on one’s condition, age, and needs. He also recommended
supplementing the routine with 10 hours of outdoor “play” to maintain one’s overall health and
vitality. Camp felt the Daily Dozen’s rejuvenating, rhythmic movements were quite enjoyable to
go through, making this requirement of regularity easy to stick with.

How to Do the Daily Dozen Exercises

Below you’ll find illustrations and instructions on how to perform the Daily Dozen exercises. The
whole routine should take you less than 10 minutes, and leave you with plenty of pep and
pizzazz, vim and vigor.

Honestly, it’s quite relaxing and limbering.

Exercise #1: The GRIND

Turn the palms of the hands squarely upwards and keep the head well up and the shoulders back.
Make the motion almost entirely from the shoulders; feel that you are lifting, as it were, and lift
slowly so that the effort is felt in the muscles back of the shoulder.

Make six-inch circles with hands, five times forward, five times backward.
Exercise #2: The GRASP

Pay particular attention to keeping the head up as the body goes forward. Keep the eyes fixed on
a point directly in front of them when you are erect and do not let the eyes wander from that
point while you are going down and coming up. Exhale while the body is going forward and
inhale as it rises. In going backward the movement should be very slight, just enough to secure a
slight pull on the abdominal muscles, but not to put any strain on them.

Repeat ten times.

Exercise #3: The GRATE

The arms should be lifted from the shoulders with the backs of the hands upwards and elevated
at an angle of exactly 45 degrees. When the arms come down they should never sink below the
horizontal but be kept firmly under control.

Repeat ten times.

Exercise #4: The CRAWL

Raise left arm, and let the right hand crawl slowly down toward the right knee, curving left arm
over head. The hand that rests on the thigh should slide down while the other curls over the
head. The motion is largely made just above the hips (like the pivot in golf). When the body
comes up for the reverse movement, it should be held erect, with the arms extended straight
out from the sides. Then reverse the motion previously made.

Repeat ten times.

Exercise #5: The CURL

Head and shoulders should go slightly back as clenched fists are brought in the arm pits. Take a
full inhalation as this motion is made and then exhale slightly as the hands are put out straight in
front. Continue exhaling as they sweep down past the hips and up behind the body as the body
goes forward. When this final position is reached, exhalation is complete and inhalation begins
slowly in order to reach its maximum when the body is once more erect and the fists are bought
into the arm pits.

Repeat ten times.

Exercise #6: The CROUCH

The body should be kept in an erect position and the balance maintained on the balls of the feet.
It is good practice after complete control is acquired to balance, in the lowered position, while
moving slightly from side to side. This will still further strengthen the arches of the feet.

Repeat five times.

Exercise #7: The ROTATE

Hunch shoulders upward and forward as you inhale; pull shoulders downward and backward as
you exhale.

Repeat ten times.

Exercise #8: The REVOLVE

For the first part of the exercise, cross your arms below the waist, then raise them above the
head in a circular motion, with the arms revolving to face outward. Start the circle back down
with the arms outward, revolving to face inward again at your waist. For the second half of the
exercise, begin with the arms facing inward at your sides; let them revolve outwards as they rise
and cross over your head, and then start the circle back down with arms facing inward.

Repeat five times in each direction.

Exercise #9: The ROLL

Bend the head forward, then to the right, then backward, and then to the left. For the second
half of the exercise, reverse the direction.

Repeat five times in each direction.

Exercise #10: The WEAVE

Keep the extended arms in line with the shoulder, turning the body at the waist and letting the
forward hand touch midway between the feet. This exercise is particularly rhythmic in character.
It is not difficult provided that as the body turns and one hand goes down and the other up, the
face is turned each time slightly toward the upward hand.

Repeat five times for each hand.

Exercise #11: The WAVE

Move only from waist, as you make a circle with your clasped hands. No extreme motions are
desirable but simply a steady, rhythmic swing of the body. The more closely the arms are kept to
the ears the more effective is this movement.

Repeat five times in each direction.

Exercise #12: The WING

Pay particular attention to getting the breathing rhythmic. Exhale as the body goes down and
inhale as it goes up.

Repeat ten times.