Physical Jerks

The telescreen gives an ear-splitting whistle at seven-fifteen, and Winston wrenches his body out of bed. He is naked, as pyjamas cost too many clothing coupons, and he puts on a dingy singlet and shorts. A piercing female voice orders the thirty-to-forty group to take their places for the Physical Jerks. Winston springs to attention in front of the telescreen and mechanically performs the exercises, wearing the required expression of grim enjoyment. A violent coughing fit attacks him, and the instructress singles him out by name, ordering him to bend lower. He manages to touch his toes for the first time in several years, but the experience fills him with hatred for the Party's regimentation of the body.