Why? The Science of Athletics

134 WHY?-THE SCIENCE OF ATHLETICS stretches his tendons and loosens his joints, but, by g<;:>ing through the movements of his event, reminds his muscles of the order in which he is going to bring them into action, and so rehearses their working in the right sequence. This is far more important than appears at first sight. Maximum success in the field events depends to a very large extent upon the exact proportion of contributory effort applied in exactly .the right order. For example, the shot putter who goes on to the field and straight into the competition in a_haphazard manner is as likely as not to finish his glide across the circle by landing squarely upon both feet. If he does so he sacrifices continuity and breaks up the rhythm of the whole action. Whereas. the practice of one or two preliminary glides, without delivery, and even without having the missile in hand, would have prevented him from committing that particular fault. Or, again, a shot putter who does not limber-up properly is very apt to rely far tob much upon the speed of his glide and ·the strength of his putting arm, so that he does not knit these two essential parts of the evolution into one cohesive whole and therefore shoots out his putting arm long before the shoulders are really square to the front. If the athlete, and particularly the field event man, will only run through his event in slow time and then take a few light tries before the competition comme:n,ces, he will save himself a great many very bitter disappointments. There is one thing all athletes _should remember about limbering-up. A man commencing exercise, or making an effort, often feels very tired, but after a little time his fatigue begins to disappear and he actually becomes invigorated. This circumstance provides one of the best possible arguments in favour of limbering-up properly, because limbering-up brings about a redistribution of the circula- tion. · The fact of a man being tired when he commences exercise merely means that his circulation has accumulated