The Modern Method of Training for Running, Walking, Rowing & Boxing

16 PEDESTUIANISM. CHAPTER H. ADVICE TO TEAINEUS. T RAINING is tlie processof getting a man wliohas to performany muscularfeat, from a state of obesityand almost total incapability into a perfectstate ofhealth, whichis shownby the great increaseof strength, activity,wind,and powerto continuegreat exertionand pace to the extent of his endowments,or as it is teimed by the trainers to develophis bottom,which is the correct designation of the whole of the above jualifications combined. It is this acquired power whichenables the pedestrian to perse­ vere in his arduous task, apparently in despite of nature, which but for his thorough pre­ paration would have long before been utterly prostrate. So much is dependingon, and so many results accruing to the efficiency of the trainer, that a few words of friendly advice to that officialwillnot be out ofplace;foralthoug i the veteran has learned the precepts^ given belowby heart, yet there is alwaysa beginning to all occupations. As a rule, a great pedestrian is not qualifiedat the outset of his career as a trainer to undertake the care of mostmen, m consequence of there beinga leaven of the re­ membrance of the manner in which he went through his work, etc., which will in most ADVICE TO TKAINEES. 17 instances render him less tolerant than is re­ quisite to the man of mediocre talent. Another difficulty is to find onewithsufficient education and forethoughtto be ableto study the different constitutionsof the men under his rule. The aboveare only a fewof the objections; but all are ofconsequence, so muchdependingupon the treatment of the man independent of his daily routine ofexerciseand diet. The manwhogoes first into training is like an unbroken colt,and requiresas muchdelicate treatment. The temper of the biped ought to be studied as carefully as that of the quad­ ruped, so that his mind can be carefully pre­ paredfor his arduous situation,whichis one of abstinence,and in somecases total deprivation, whichalways tries the patience and frequently the temper of the competitor, who in these cases should be encouraged by word and ex­ ample, showing that the inconveniences he is undergoingare but the preliminarysteps to the attainment of that health, strength, and elas­ ticity of muscle which have caused so many beforehim to accomplish almost apparent im­ possibilities. Such a trainer is worth a hun­ dred of those who have no judgment in the regulation of the work whicha man may take without in any way making him anxious to shun his duty or to turn sullen. Let the trainer bear in mind and alwaysremember that a tit of ill-temperis as injuriousto the man in training as any other excess. In many in­ stances,from a supposed well-founded cause of 2