Show I S 'S IAn II I I i i An Authoritative Sport i Fea Feature ture by the Foremost Foremost Fore Fore- most Sporting Writer I Ian 7 an and d C Cartoonist in In I p America E- E How to Become as Fit as Any Trained Athlete Some Some Hints S s on Modern American Athletic Methods That Have Put Health and Vitality First and the Old Time Physical Culture Stunts Into the Scrap Heap By ROBERT EDGREN A little athletic training is just as good for the ordinary citizen as for the tha college athlete Every man or boy needs training of some sort And now that the athletic idea is growing so tremendously all over the country the man who doesn't spend at least an afternoon a week at some outdoor sport ranks with the well known dodo The whole idea of athletics has changed in the past ten years thanks thanks' to the publio public interest in school college and international sport Not long ago the popular notion of an athletic man was a husky individual with his chest pushed out And 2nd nd his right arm violently contorted to show a The advertising pages of the old magazines illustrated the delusion They were filled with pictures of physical culture professors covered with knotted muscles and with long flossy hair and beautifully retouched eyes and eyebrows They all ran to the Greek god idea in feature and the Hercules idea of bulk And it was all wrong The average citizen who believes a lot that he ho sees in the advertisements fell hard for the bulging chest and the abnormal biceps which seemed to him to indicate marvelous strength and endless end less lea endurance Each average citizen aforementioned paid for a course in bulgy chest and knotty biceps instruction bought a afew afew afew few heavy iron dumb dumbbells dumb bells some In In dia dian clubs and various patented and high priced weight lifting devices and started out with the of be becoming becoming becoming be- be coming more bulgy and knotty than the professor himself As a rule he I found that all the physical culture apparatus ap ape the the weights and the tho dumbbells dumb bells and all that that that-didn't didn't do anything S but produce a feeling of excessive weariness Then after after- a while along alone came the opposing school By mall mail the sors 60 now told you to avoid all apparatus I I take to escape certain I the exercises muscle I b with bI binding I empty P effect fe hands n of t S handling hea heavy weights and upon rising in the morning sUck stick your head out of ot I the window and take twenty-six twenty deep I breaths S but There Ive I've was often e some noticed tU merit that In the tho the reaction later professors with their light exercises and window breathing still sUit showed photographs pho- pho of the marvelous chests and the bumpy biceps Bulging Bulging Muscles All Right In Pictures But But But- And right here I am going to let you i Into a secret known to every successful 1 I athlete The pouter pigeon chest cheat and the big upper arm are a fake a fraud a delusion and a snare It comes to to to do work to show strength and endurance In an emergency they arent aren't rth two two- toots in a roundhouse A few fewS 4 very very few few athletes athletes have had them S put qt they were the exception And there therea thereS I S wei a always better men of natural build found who could beat them at nt their s1 e l S Jo or anything from a fight tight to a MaraS Mara Mara- thor S give me the evenly smoothly bulU fellow who hasn't a n bulge in his makeup S n Hell He'll come through first at the finish School and d college athletic sports have hare havedon done don a marvelous lot of or good for this country country- Weve We've become accustomed to seeing boys and men who trained out of door who weren't muscled like Uke a German Ger erman er- er man wrestler and who could beat the world In any competition The Olympic fames Iame held in Athens London and Stockholm Stock Stock- Stockholm holm boim opened the e eyes of ot the world to the benefit of ot American athletic train train- ing In Athens with the American team In 1806 1906 I 1 was greatly impressed by the floe fine appearance of the German Swedish and Danish competitors They were al almost almost al- al most all aU big broad chesty men with flat backs back and thick necks and bulging muscles In the parado parade they looked fit to outclass the loose swinging singing light footed American youngsters But when the test came the Americans were overwhelmingly over over- superior It was the same way at London After that European countries began to wake up tip They sent for American athletes to toS S teach them the American way of train train- ing log Lightbody the great middle distance distance dis dis- tance runner from Chicago went to Germany Germany Germany Ger Ger- many and revolutionized athletics there Ernie Hertberg went to Sweden and was given charge of the Swedish athletes When the Olympics came In Stockholm the Swedes had a surprisingly strong team So did the Finns linns who had adopted American methods And the French and the Germans too showed shoed the benefit of breaking away from the old strong arms Idea in athletics American Athletes Train In Natural Way The American way is the natural way We dont don't believe in using weights and dumb-bells dumb to develop muscles all an over a a. mans man's body and then calling the man manan manan an athlete We Ve train a man to make I hint him ae as near physically perfect as pos pos- f t 1 albie hie Physical perfection isn't shown in bulging muscles As a rule the bulging knitted t d men make poor soldiers They h be able to pull a truck out of the mud but bu they dont don't last And when speed Ie la wanted they lack the speed Athletic ability is a fine combination of speed skill endurance and strength You Yott notice DoUce that T put strength last lut U Usually speed Peed and endurance where skill is I. equal are better than mere strength And now about the training ideas that I Intend to bring out for tor the benefit of those who haven't had time or opportunitY opportunity 5 to learn wh why American athletes lead the world They are ideas that can any man to keep in good physical condition condition and and after all that is more Important Im- Im portent than breaking records and win win- ning contests I know the ideas are good for I have haTe competed in amateur athletic sports of various kinds for twenty five Tears rears being on championship teams all allover allover over America in A Athens and In London and Wid feel feet fit for twenty twenty- twenty five five years eara more Nothing il to O Excess the Secret of ConI Con Con- g i I Th fint and most important thing thine for tor any nia man who wants to keep In athletic I I condition year ear after arter year is to do noth noth- lag InC to excess Do not eat eat drink or train I to excess Take time enough for tor sleep The greatest athlete I ever knew knew knew-a a pro pro- one told One told me what he lie considered considered considered consid consid- ered the e secret et of his own success and h he was bus busy jas J sy breaking worlds world's atonal lonal weight throwing records until well past the half He Ite spent as much time as possible In the sunshine and Uld 4 ie he slept ten tell hours a night Once he was In a series of contests with a nun num ber of great professionals gathered from sit all over lh the i country nry He trained hard until three days das before th the th event Then he disappeared He Me returned just in time Ume to go Into his competitions and he won everything He JIe was as then about 45 is years ears old old but he broke half hall a dozen records on that one ono day How did you do it I asked Ill tell teU you said he I trained until I was fit Then I slipped away by myself and ana went down loWn to Monterey Nobody Noody No- No body ody bothered me there 1 i went aion along vhs the beach and laid down on the dr dry sand s-ind out in the sun eun and siept I J slept as much mucha as a 1 I could out in ni the sun sun SUII I took a a. I. I light hot shot II rid in long dong 01 r-f r a n w while h fd rd ro to toss s a IW i m mt Z ami allt then hen K- K down arid and arida a cep aJa agan t I got so o plumb full fun of ofen en err thaT rha when l ime me back backI I felt fell as if there wasn't any limit to what I U could erdO do In a lesser way the same training would be good for any man fresh air sunlight sleep and a little exercise Theres There's energy in sunlight All the energy en ergy of all the coal in the world came from the sun The man who can bottle up a a. little sun energy and fresh air energy energy energy en en- ergy in his own system is much better of off than the man who goes Into a gymnasium gymnasium gym gym- breathes stuffy air from the steam baths and the hot room and Juggles juggles Jug jug- dumb-bells dumb and weights The next important thing in training for condition Is to choose some exercise that Is Interesting The mental effect of the training is as important as the physical effect effect In in fact Is inseparable from it IL Every successful athlete is In Interested Interested interested in- in in the event vent in which he excels If It he wasn't he couldn't succeed The fine thing about tennis golf golt baseball baseball baseball base base- ball and other outdoor games is that they are intensely interesting to the players Its It's hard work to go through a alot alot alot lot of the old time training stunts with stunts with the dumb-bells dumb and all that sort of oC thing In an outdoor game anyone can do ten times as much real work without becom- becom When training its it's always a good thing to stop without becoming exhausted Its It's all right to become tired but after acter that its it's time to stop Exhausted muscles do donot donot donot not benefit by being forced to continue under strain How Mike Murphy Put His Men In Shape I remember Mike Murphy and a very I enthusiastic quarter miler at Travers is isI is- is land The athlete had finished the Jog I ordered by Mike He lIe didn't want to toI I stop He lie wanted to practice sprints enough said Mike Go Inand in inand and anti dress But Mike I haven't anything else to todo todo todo do this afternoon I feel teel like running some more I feel perfectly fresh Yes said Mike l and that's the way I want you to feel day after tomorrow Go and get et dressed Mike Murphy had the right idea America Is going in for tor the light quick natural open air games The American business man has Ims little time to 10 walk but once or twice a a. week ho he plays tennis or golf and when he has a vacation he spends it in hunting fishing swimming or or tramping over a a. golf course These in world for forthe forthe forthe are Ue the finest exercises the the average man who wants to keep In good gooel condition They are absolutely necessary necessary necessary essary for perfect for perfect good health Of course a a. man who works hard during the week at some outdoor labor has a a. great ad ad- vantage He lie doesn't need to Jiggle about with a tennis racquet or a golf ball He lie doesn't need to train Theoretically for him the best training would be a day of rest and arid recuperation like those Indulged indulged In Indulged In- In in by my friend the professional athlete Who who spent two days sleeping on the dry sand at Monterey Copyright 1916 by the Press Pu Publishing Publish ing Co |