Success in Athletics and how to obtain it

THE BUILD OF THE ATHLETE 3 whose occupation necessit,ates prolonged standing– for example, a waiter-is easily noticeable, and is occasionally derided by an unsympathetic observer. Few athletes, of course, have perfect feet; but the degree of lowering in the arches varies, as doe!'! the power to raise the arches. A vicious reaction spring– ing from ill-formed feet ascends upwards from the foundations of the body-structure ; even headaches are produced by the lack of spring in the feet, due to the falling of the arches, and the consequent shock given to the spine and cranium. Much could be written concerning the evil influences of ill-shaped feet and defective footwear, which throw the "stance," or natural posture of the body, out of its erect position, and prevent ·its easy retention by the bony structure, the ligaments, and the muscles of the body. A frequent complaint by athletes when "in train– ing" upon hard tracks is "shin soreness"; this is a pain or soreness in the neighbourhood of the shin– bone. The muscles on the outer side of the leg 1 are overstretched. They play an important part in supporting and bringing the arches of the foot into " taut " curves. Every muscle in the body is more or less on the stretch, like so many pieces of elastic, ready to obey our command, so that when a movement is desired, it is brought about in the infinitesimal portion. of a second without-to use a nautical phrase -" the hauling in of the slacks." Shin soreness is due to the overstretching of the muscles on the outer side of the leg, owing to the lowering of the arches of the foot and the resultant overstretching of these muscles. The pernicious in~ 1 The leg is that portion of the lower limb which is between the knee and the ankle ; the thigh is that portion between the hip and the knee.