Athletic Training

THE ATHLETIC HEART 155 (I) Do not smoke. If one has acquired the habit of smoking let it be confined to a cigar or a pipe, .but neither of these should be in– dulged in during the training period, and one will be far better off never to cultivate the habit, and if it has been started to break it if possible. I hate cigarettes, for I have seen many boys and young men ruined by them. There is not a single good thing which can be said in their behalf. Shun them as you would a deadly poison. I could relate a good many incidents in which boys and young men seriously injured their lives through cigar- \ ettes. An athlete is the last person in the world who should smoke cigarettes, either in training or out of training. I know that some athletes indulge in cig– arettes during their training, and some are foolhardy enough to insist that they are not injured thereby. It is true that some ath– letes do smoke and continue to win, but in such cases they win in spite of the injury smoking does to the constitution. Such per- · sons should consider how much better they would be if they refrained from smoking. Since the revival of the Olympic games I knew