Athletics (British Sports Library)

FOR PARENTS AND SCHOOLMASTERS 21 its beats. .In other words, a heart with a pulse beat of 60 to the minute will do the same amount of work as another heart with a pulse beat of 72. But why should one be concerned if his heart, beating 60 times to the minute, sends the same amount of blood through his arteries as his comrade's heart beating 72 to the minute? " I have made a very careful study of this ques~ tion from the standpoint of medicine and applied athletics. Not only have I kept a careful record of the effects which athletic competition has upon the average boy, but I have obtained the testimony of athletes who were also physicians. The consensus of their opinion is that the athlete who takes good care of himself and does not acquire the habits of drinking and cigarette-smoking has absolutely no reason to fear any evil after-effects from the so– called 'athlete's heart.' On the contrary, a system of sane athletic work is sure to strengthen the heart and make it less liable to injuries from sudden strain put upon it or from excitement." This is the well-considered opinion of an eminent authority, based upon lifelong experience and experiment, and it is one to which the rest of us are bound to pay good heed. We now come to the consideration of what is injurious to the juvenile athlete. In the first place, too strenuous and too frequent