Athletic Sports (extract)

Physical Characteristics of the Athlete start with, and by dint of systematic ex­ ercise and correct habits of living, this young man has worked his way up through the htty, sixty, seventy, and eighty per cent classes to a position approximately near the ninety per centclass. The meas­ urements on this line may be reasonably considered to define his normal propor­ tions, whereas the parts remaining on the so-called normal or typical line are the only ones in which he is defective. The point,then, which is of the great­ est significance is, not to see how many of your measurements comein the centre of the chart, but to first endeavor to straighten your own line, wherever it may be, and then carry itforward as near the one hun­ dred per cent line as possible. In other words, endeavor to obtain a symmetrical figure, then strive for afull-orbed and har­ monious development of all parts of the body. By so doing you will help raise the standard of the mean, and assist in deter­ mining the exact ratio between the differ­ ent heightsand girths that exists in a fully developed man. We haveseen that excellence in athlet­ ics is not incompatible with a fine figure and a superb development. The tendency, IOO