Athletics of To-Day 1929

Some Points in Athletic Science 347 does not u get the needle" is very rarely successful in any event calling for the sudden production of a high horse-power. I have in mind such events as the sprints and hurdle races. This excitement is really nature's method of preparing the athlete for the coming struggle. In every man's body, deep buried near the kidneys, are the suprarenal glands; these glands, during emotion, produce adrenalin, which enters the blood stream and strengthens and quickens the heart beat. This organ is further aided in its work by a rise in body tempera– ture. Wise coaches have understood something of this, and I well remember the careful use the late S. A. Mussabini made of his thermometer before sending a highly strung subject, such as H. F. V. Edward, out to run a race. Mention has been made of Nurrni jogging as far as two miles to limber up for a five mile race. Why did he do it ? I think the answer is to be found in the fact that the athlete at the beginning of exercise does not reach his full rate of oxyg n consumption for two or three minutes. This means that, without limbering up, he would be worlring well under power for that period of time. One finds an analogy in th case of the motor-car, which do s not" pull" well for some distance if one starts driving as soon as the ngine picks up. That is why chauffeurs run their engines for som time on a cold morning before they se k to engage the g ar . Ther must therefore be a certain expenditur of energy in limbering up befor com– petition, if the heart, lungs and mu cl , through oxidation, are to work at full power right away, wh n the effort is required of them. There are other and ev n m re important rea ons both for limbering up an f r the maint nance of warmth. I suppose very one knows that th cust m of starting rac s by dropping a handkerchief was abandoned in favour of a pistol tart b caus man r acts mor quickly to sound than to ight. It is known also that the sprinter loses a considerable time in the starting proc ss. Much of this loss is due to slow reaction. Men make better times up to 440 yards in the warm, oxygen-laden atmosph re of California and South Africa than in Europe. But why ? The higher oxygen value has some-