Why? The Science of Athletics

CONSIDERATIONS IN CONDITIONING ATHLETES 25 it Is the degree of its adaptability that represents its power. The degree of adaptability, and, therefore, the "power", is contingent upon training. Actual experiment has determined the rate and the amount of increase in crest– load that can be brought about by such means. One of these experiments was carried out with a man who started with the very low crest-load of 2,ooo foot-pounds, and played tennis, or handball, or took what the Americans call setting-up exercises for one hour a day over a period of nine weeks. At the end of one week the crest-load had risen to 4,ooo foot-pounds, to 6,ooo foot-pounds at the e!ld of the second week, and then did not increase any more during the next three weeks, but later advanced to 7,ooo foot-pounds by the end of the sixth week. Further experiments in the gas analyses of the air the man exhaled showed that, as the result of training, he absorbed a greater proportion of oxygen and that the quantity consumed was materially affected by training. This increase was due, in all probability, to an improve– ment in the blood circulation. The main results of the experiment were the obtaining of proof that training produces a gain in strength, accompanied by a better supply of oxygen to the active muscles, so that lactic acid was more readily converted into glycogen and the respiration was moderated under strain. Training tables must be prepared with due regard to the requirements of exercise, rest, nutrition and health habits and the curriculum should be based upon such contributions to organic development as involve the big-muscle activities. In this connection it may be said that a boy needs from five to seven hours a day big-muscle activity, if he is to build an organic foundation to carry him properly through life, and for that reason, if for no other, the evil practice of giving children home-work to do should be utterly and completely abolished. A child is, from the physical standpoint, inactively employed in school for I