Why? The Science of Athletics

~ CHAPTER V HUMAN MECHANISM (CONTINUED) Blood Functions-Athletic Achievement Dependent upon Oxygen-Oxygen Debt. Blood Functions in Relation to the Athlete THE blood performs many functions in relation to human beings generally and, for our purpose, in relation to the active athlete in particular. It is by means of the blood-stream that fluid food is conveyed to the organs, and it is the red corpuscles that carry our all-essential supplies of oxygen, while the white corpuscles wage ceaseless warfare against any tissue-destroying bacteria which we may absorb. The blood-stream also removes the waste products of exercise, such as carbon dioxide, which is finally got rid of in the lungs, and soluble nitrogenous waste, which is disposed of by the kidneys. A normally healthy man weighing, let us say, r68 lbs. has approximately I r/4 gallons of blood, the manifold value of which depends, as we saw in the last chapter, upon the regularity of its circulation through the human system. Every type of machine, whether human or mechanical, requires some form of energy in order that it may work, and that energy is supplied by burning fuel of one kind or another, and, except whe:r;e water-power is employed, combustion is essential, so that energy is set free by fuel combining with the oxygen of the atmosphere to form carbonic acid and water. . In the case of the human machine energy is supplied by the combustion of the food we eat. The nourishment we take in is absorbed by tiny organs 77