, 1885-11-17
EFFICIENT TRAINING ron ATAlsrEs.
An Experienced Hand Gives HI. Views
smoking. Drinking and Exercise.

An EHperienesi Hand Gives His Views
smoking. Drinking and Exercise.
Sow York Tines
"Now, - said an experienced athlete,
'let me give you a few points about
training. 1 mean training for running
and walking. Tho methods Of preparing
for a sparring match or a rowing race
are necessarily different in many de
tails. Athletic games, such as are given
at the meetings of the New York, Man
haitian, Olympic, and other clubs, are
becoming more and more popular, and
a few words about the way OF training
for them may be interesting. First of
all al athlete cant smoke and do good
work. Myers never smokes. Neither
does any other good runner or walker
that | know Of. Smoking is prohibited
in all branches Of athletics. The college
lad who goes into training for II boat race
stops smoking when he begins training,
and when the race is over he begins
smoking again. Then the following
year he wonders why IL takes him 80
long to get into shape.
The man who goes into athletics with
the intention Of staying in should give
up smoking for good and all. lie
shouldn't sit in q where much
smoking is going on. lie shouldn't ride
in a smoking car where the atmosphere
isn't 1T for the human lungs under any
circumstances. Did you ever have to
run a few blocks to catch n train Well,
perhaps you remember that when you
reached the cars your throat was as dry
rs a new pine chip and your lungs felt
cold} Well, a well-trained athlete would
be free OF these sensations and would
En1 htH.anIF kr,athfna "a. lna. 1na.
draughts with perfect freedom. Your
breathing would be short, uncomforta-
BILE, aud more or less s%tertorous. The
chief cause of il would be smoking.
The use of tobacco dries and irritates
the throat and lungs, and when you
come TO pump air in and out as you do
under strong exertions these organs
become parched and dry. 1t takes a
long time to drive out of the system
these effects of tobacco.
"As to drinking, there is one car
dinal rule-you must drink as little as
you can get along with, even of water.
You don't want TO swallow anything
that is fattening, and even water has a
tendency that way. Secondly, you
most emphatically can not drink
whisky, brandy, gin, or any other hard
liquor at all. All of them are bad for
the throat and not good for the stomach.
/ don't say that an athlete who has
~over-exerted himself should not take a
glass of brandy. 1t will act as a slim
ulant and will be all the more effective
because no is not accustomed to it.
Beer, ale and stout are the only safe
drinks Tor an athlete. They are not
only harmless, when used with modera-
ton, but they are positively beneficial.
A man can't eat a much more invig-
Grating and substantially nourishing
meal than a good juicy steak, washed
down with n bottle of stout. And l
think that, except for men of bilious
temperament, ale is a better accom-
paniment for meals than water. Good
ale has a certain AMOUNT of sustenanee
in it, and it gives tone to the stomach.
Beer will do no harm if drank spar
ingly, but am inclined to think hat it
is not as good as ale. Wine, in my opin-
ion, should be let alone. For some
classes of athletic work, used as an in
%vigorator during the progress of the eff
fort-as in six-day walking know it
has been employed to advantage; but,
ms a rule, it is safer to let it alone. In
regard to eating, one general rule
may be laid down. An athlete should
have nothing to do with any food which
simply tickles the palate and does not
tend to strengthen and harden the
body. Solid, substantial nourishment
should be his aim. Pie, cake, and rub
bish of that sort should be thrown, like
physic, to the dogs. By theiway, it is
just as as well to note that tea and cof-
fee don't do an athlete any good. lie
may drink them, but sparingly. Too
much Of them will play havoc with the
nerves, and the nerves should be like
steel in a good athlete.