Why? The Science of Athletics

WHY?-THE SCIENCE OF ATHLETICS Where there is free, rapid and continuous movement, as in running, the rapid exercise efforts of the body aid materially in increasing the circulation and accelerating the return flow of blood to the heart. Athletic Achievement Dependent upon Oxygen Oxygen is necessary for the supply of energy, and training increases the supply of blood, and hence of oxygen, to the muscles to the maximum. The importance of oxygen must surely be appreciated readily, be£ause it is the constituent of the atmosphere which combines with things when they burn and it is the burning of food-stuffs within the living cells that produces heat and allows work to be done. Now what happens when we take in our supplies of_ oxygen? l'vfention was made in an earlier part of this volume of the necessity for sleeping in an airy room and of the sleeper breathing through the nose. It is equally important that a person should, during the day-time, get plenty of fresh air, taking it in by way of the nostrils. We have seen, in relation to the blood-system, that the flow starts from the heart along a large channel, the aorta, passes on tb elastic arteries, enters the lesser veins, and finally conveys nutritive material to the muscles themselves through the very thin walls of the tiniest of our tubelets, the capillaries. Our hreathing apparatus, made up of air-passages, is not dissimilar. It is wise to breathe througl:!_ the nose, because that organ is supplied with a sort of warming chamber, so designed by Nature that the air we breathe is tempered before it reaches our lungs, a richer supply of blood becoming automatically available to deal with the more exacting conditions of wintry weather. In addition, the hairs in the nostrils function as sieves for the hindrance of the passage of foreign bodies. Air is also moistened in the nostrils, and we have a mucous membrane perform– ing various useful functions. One of the reasons why: it is essential that we should