Why? The Science of Athletics

CONSIDERATIONS IN RELATION TO COMPETITION 151 activities help in the elimination of lactic acid, while the warming of the muscle fibres, by means of gentle exercise, lessens their viscosity and makes them more "fluid': and therefore more ready for rapid action. Failure to limber-up properly invari- Conclusion ably results in unsatisfying performances, usually a good _deal below what is known to be the athlete's proper standard. There is also a risk of muscular strain and injury, if maximum effort is attempted without sufficient preliminary warming up. In the foregoing connection, experiments have been carried out with the finger ergograph· for the purpose of recording muscular .contraction, and it has been proved that the highest degre~ of contractility is not reached until a few preliminary contractions have been made. Massage tests (and massage ·is a passive- form of exercise where the athlete is concerned) have shown that a man can perform the same feat a great many more times after massage than he can when starting straight from rest. These things.show that a muscle needs warming up before it can produce its maximum output of work. This, of course, applies particularly to events like the shot put, the throws and the start of a sprint race, in all of which sudden explosive force is required. That is why, in the case of the athlete who omits to limber-up properly, we so often see the sprinter either pull a muscle, or get left at the post because, among other things, his "pick-up'' is not functioning at top efficiency. -It is also why so many first-class shot putters fail to reach the final ; or, if they do reach the final, produce their best puts in the last three attempts, which only finalists are allowed. The principle of "snap" and the sudden exertion of fcrce is important in all the field events.