ATHLETICS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 77, Issue 84, 10 April 1934, Page 8

ATHLETICS

QUESTION OF STALENESS views of Experts A BALANCED CORRECT DIET Writing in an English paper on the mystery of athletes’ staleness, F. A. M. Webster pens an article of considerable interest to New Zealand athletes. Webster asks how many athletes in the past have left their championship •chances behind them on the trainingtrack, and proceeds to quote two very interesting examples. In .1920, W. A. Hill, in completing his preparation for the Seventh Olympiad at Antwerp, ran in his final trial perhaps the fastest 100 metres that has ever been timed. At Antwerp he went through two rounds of the 100 metres with such fire and dash as led us to believe that he must win the title, and yet he went, right out of the semi-final, won in slower time than he had shown, simply because he had made his big effort in that final trial at home. Hill’s trouble was that of 90 per cent, of athletes who never achieve the championship honours they are quite capable of winning simply because they, or their trainers, do not realise that the reaching of the peak of perfection is inevitably followed by a sort of mental athletic relapse. It is a mysterious condition of uncertain duration, which, as in the case of Hill, may develop a few weeks after one’s personal record has been broken in training; or it may supervene immediately after one’s best performance in competition, as in the case of the Cambridge Blue G. C. Weightman - Smith, who made a world’s retold of 0.14 3-5 in the semi-final of the Olympic 110 metres hurdles in 1928, but was beaten into fifth place in the final next day by his fellow-South African, S. J. M. Atkinson, in 0.14 4-5. Adverse Reactions. This horrible state of mental stalcness reacts adversely upon the muscles and the nervous system, but it can be avoided by “tapering off” the work as soon as the athlete shows signs ot doing performances in training that he has not previously produced. This is particularly important to British athletes at the present moment, for nothing is more 'certain than the fact that the athlete who reaches the zenith of his form durinc the next few days will not again reproduce that form in championship competition. Another English authority who considers that staleness is the athlete’s greatest bane, says that its approach is very hard to detect, and its advent both sudden and devastating. He points out that more athletes suffer from being over-trained than undertrained. That observation is not applicable to New Zealand, where lack of regular first-lass competition is perhaps the chief reason why New Zealand performances are not as high as those in older countries. He goes on to say that the most marked signs of staleness are unaccountable loss of weight, which may be as much as 51b. in 24 hours, and a considerable reduction in perspiration after exertion. The eyes are dull and sleepy looking after the night’s rest, and there is a general lassitude and disinclination for work. The teetotaller should increase his drink allowances by half a pint and keep away from the track altogether for two or three days. The nonabstainer should increase his ale allowance by the same amount at one of his meals, while in both cases a quinine and iron tonic should be taken once daily until normal weight has been regained. An American View. It is interesting to secure an American view on the question. Here is the •considered opinion of two highly qualified experts, one of them a doctor;— “Staleness is a form of chronic fatigue brought on by long-continued strenuous participation in sports or athletics. It is marked by feelings of weariness, lassitude, irritability, loss of weight, inability to concentrate, and other symptoms. Staleness may be mental or physical. Mental staleness comes about not through overexertion, but because of too long concentration. Too much of anything is just too much, regardless of whether the thing was originally pleasurable or not. The man who has too much to eat feels disgusted with the sight of food. The golfer or tennis player who has been playing every day for months may experience this same revulsion against the game. If he does have such a feeling, the only thing to do is to give the game a vacation until he begins to feel a renewed interest. “Staleness is brought about by a continued gradual accumulation of fatigue products in the bodv. If the training is carried on in sensible moderation the player becomes thoroughly rested and refreshed between practices, but if the work is overlong and strenuous, then the accumulation of wast products from day to day will eventually result in a state of acute staleness which can only be relieved by an absolute rest for some days. Some of the old-lime trainers had a favourite prescription for staleness, consisting of whisky and ‘whoopee’ Probably this prescription had its basis in the trainer's limited experience in forms of relaxation. All that is needed for staleness is a few days’ from nxen-isp and worry.”