MIND AND MUSCLE

Hawera Star, Volume LIII, 10 June 1933, Page 8

MIND AND MUSCLE

TRAINING OF ATHLETES WHERE KEENNESS TELLS. AT THE CRACKING POINT.

We may approach the playing of games in general from two- angles-, in the first place, we may consider our favourite branch of -sport as a means of maintaining our general fitness and of creating for us a pleasant diversion from the usual routine of the day; or we may go - farther and endeavour to bring ourselves within the limelight of the althletic stage, writes SquadronLeader P. C. Livingstone, of the B.A.F. Medical Service, in the “Daily Mail.” j 80-th of these attitudes towards sport in its many and varied branches have their value in the production of bodily fitness, but. it is one thing .to take our pleasures lightly and quite another to face them with seriousness and with the determination to battle and to win. Herein lie the important general principles of training, both with regard to the body and the mind. - That there is a different -physical standard demanded for the several commoner forms of sport is self-evident. ' Let ns take as our standard the physical and mental fitness demanded in such contefsits as the Marathon, the boat race, an important boxing contest, or an Association football final, and let us consider the very severe strain that such I struggle's put upon the contestants and I the factors which make such endeavours possible. THE BODY’S PART.

Our bodies, when considered in terms of athletics, are made up of the heart and blood vessels, the lungs, the nerveis, and the muscles. In the untrained man, the heart is concerned -with the duty of supplying blood to the tissues (named above) in a leisurely fashion, sufficient for their peaceful needs. The oxygen which is taken up by certain blood cells (the red cell's) during their passage through the lungs is carried along in the blood-Stream, and is used by the tissues 1 in the normal processes of health. From the activity of the -tissue's through (th e pro cess of walking, etc., certain waste products are formed, among which wo may name carbonic acid and muscle acid (sarcolac.tie acid). These products off bodily activity, if over-accumulated, cause fatigue. Thev ate therefore got rid of by means' of the blood-stream again, and exhaled from tire lungs. The nerves are maintained in a state of efficient action ia a similar manner, and the delicate nerve endings demand their nourishment if bodily tone is to be maintained. Let us see what will happen, then, should our untrained man suddenly be called upon to undergo some great physical strain, e.g., run a quarter-mile at full speed, box three hard -rounds, cycle a mile at high pressure.

WHY THEY FAIL. At first his heart will respond and send in-creasing blood to all points of his body. His blood pressure now tends to rise." This .causes- nror.e heart effort,, and this cannot bo effectively kept up. The blood volume drops in spite of quickened pulses, the heart dilates and weakens in force of beat, the tissues cannot get their needed oxygen and cannot conversely get rid of their Qiarmful acids, -which are now forming rapidly. So they are poisoned, as it. were, and fail to respond. This untrained man drops back seriously fatigued, and fails. Incidentally, he may cause severe and lasting injury to his body. Hence the tremendous importance of careful and regulated training. During such preparation the heart muscle thickens (hypertrophies) and can take on successfully the extra load thrown upon it. The lungs give greater space for the absorption, of oxygen and the removal of the poisonous products of tissue and muscle wear and -tear. But we may overtrain our man, so we must proceed cautiously. The overtrained athlete is detected in several ways. He exhibits signs of early weariness, ceases to -enter happily into tests of endurance at practice-, and becomes a changed being. Just as important is the mental or psychological outlook of the athlete towards extreme physical stress. The problem of the influence of “mind over body” in what may be termed higher athletics is a very big and very important one. WHEN IT COUNTS.

It tells enormously at the “cracking point” in a race. In a moment of intense physical strain the body, may seem to -say- -to the mind, “Is it worth it?” The mind may answer, “No”_ or “Yes.” The moments, when- this crisis may arise are at the period of “second wind,” a condition associated with certain of the so-called “internal seere : tions,” and during -the last phase of a contest, when “absolute fatigue” set's 111 The greatest athletes . maintain, that “No race is lost till it is won’; in other words, so long usv a tight is being waged there can be no let up, however one-sided it may he. This is the finest resolution in all sport It is the summation of physical ttn-ess, determination, and confidence merged into one. It is that property in human mental .construction th-a-t -causes a. competitor to labour on and on, though Iris mind is numbed almost 1 into unconsciousness. Actions then become automatic. The complex movements that are demanded in the struggle, be it running or rowing or boxing, are carried on. through the medium of -the subconscious mind. When sight is dimmed, and the voices of the shouting crowd seem as though coming from the far distance, and.the limbs feel as though weighted intolerably with lead and yet -they keep moving and moving, then is man. showing to his fellow-man the power of mind over body, and thus lie has attained the highest peak in the athletic mountain range. ;