Why? The Science of Athletics

352 WHY?-THE SCIENCE OF ATHLETICS appetite ; irritability, restlessness, drawn features and sunken eyes. The physical evidence is only apparent when staleness has actually set in, the other symptoms should give the experienced coach due warning. The first symptom to watch for is a desire upon the part of the athlete for more than the normal amount of sleep he is getting. The right safeguard is to give Nature a chance of restoring the balance: of the man's nerve reserves ; the cure, if staleness has set in, is rest, preferably accompanied by change. Brain and Body will not Function at Maximum Effort Simultaneously It is rio uncommon thing, both in athletic training and in daily life, to see a Berson's power's dissipated through the wastage of physical power and nervous energy which follows unnecessary fatigue from both mental and physical over-exertion, or from a species of over-exertion which comes from unwise attempts to combine the production of big mental and physical efforts at the same period. The man who is coaching athletes who are also students will do well to watch this point, because such men are making a two– fold demand upon their resources- their nerve-power~ and such lads need careful handling and still more careful nursmg. Mental and physical fatigue is a natural outcome of exertion, and there is only one true type of exhaustion in this connection, which is the exhaustion of the nervous forces. It may be brought on by failure to appreciate the true value of rest. Without, however, approaching anywhere near to the danger line, any coach who keeps graphs of the work of his charges will agree with my contention that it is not possible to work both body and mind at maximum pressure at one and the same period. If a boy is studying for an important examination at the same time that he is training for a competition of equal importance from the athletic view-point, it is the curve of the graph of his physical work which will show a downward tendency.