Success in Athletics and how to obtain it

SU·CCESS IN ATHLETICS: HOW TO OBTAIN IT CHAPTER I THE BUILD OF THE ATHLETE-THE IMPORTANCE OF \ WELL-FORMED FEET THE most val'uable asset of the athlete is well-formed feet, and it is surprising that so little attention has hitherto been paid to the development of the muscles which control the arches of the feet, on which, as we shall show, everything depends. We begin, therefore, with a short study of the foot; but the reader is advised to refer constantly to the special exercises given in the Appendix. In the human foot there are as many muscles as there are in the hand, and the foot ought to be able to make prehensile or grasping movements, though with a facility, of course, less than that of the hand (see fig. r). Yet when we remember that our British ancestors in the days· of the Roman Invasion were capable of running along the poles of their chariots, between the horses, to engage in combat against the phalanxes of Rome, we recognise that we have lost much of the power and nimbleness of the foot. Again, in the far back centuries, our poor human ancestors, ill-equipped with weapons of offence or defence, had I