The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-10-22
HEALTHY ATHLETES.
EUGEN sANDOW, THE STRONG MAN.
GIVES HIS VIEWS ON THE SUBJECT
He Says the System Of Training Which Is.
Usually Employed Does Not MAKO -.
Healthy Man Radical Difference Ia
tween 1t and His Own Method.

have read with great interest the Irtf-
Gle under the heading. lis the Athlete
Healthy" which appeared in the 81
James Gazette, and il is with much pleas
ure that set out to say few words upon
a subject which / can, without coneeif- lay
claim to know as thoroughly as any man
breathing. / have studied IL all my life,
and though am still quite young man
dare say that few men of any age have,
devoted more attention tophy steal culture
and all that appertains to it. i am not
speaking merely of physical Development
as exemplifled in myself-although may
be pardonod if contend that /, in my own.
person. am an irrefutable proof of the cor
rectness of my theories-but my convic-
lions are based ON much wider grounds
l have tested my theories upon others, and
in every instance such experiments have
brought about the same results. There
are good many people, believe, who.
think that / am merely phenomenally
strong man who is himself ignorant of the
sources of his strength and who argue that
my $50 called system of physical culture
Is, to use a common expression, SO much
"showman's patter." That this Is not
the case hope to show. i have gone into
the subject in "a scientific manner and with
the sole desire of wrestling from nature the
secret of identifying and developing the
body In that think have succeeded
The athlete i'm the sense that the word
is commonly used is in my mind, no 9Th
lete at ALL for real athlete must be "a.
healthy man. But this is perhaps u little
beside the point As has been stated, by
an athlete is usually meant the man who
has been trained, and it is really OH this.
hot ai,,in STR Oft IN.
in the best sense of the word, that 1 am
asked to give my opinion. l say mol The
training which an oarsman or "a runner UNI
dergoes not only does not conduco to
health, but is positively pernicious and
dangerous. Training, so far as amateur
athletes are concerned, is largely a matter
of dieting and living by hard and fast.
rules. 1t means living for a considerable
length of time under entirely different
conditions from those which man has
been accustomed to. This is altogether
wrong, as it goes directly contrary to- ma
ture. Nature gives man n craving for
certain articles of food and drink, aud tho
fact that a man does crave for them shows
plainly that these things will do him good
The pleasure he gets in having that W hichs
he desires will help him to digest and as
simulate it. OF course | am speaking of
inc nOrf1ldl man, nOJ Ol INC ,.
| the glutton or the obese man. This theory
| is, | am aware, contrary to the ideas of
| many medical men, but know something
| about the construction and duties of the,
| internal organs as well as of the bones and
muscles and hold to it Notwithstanding
! But most people have practically found
| that this is the case. So the young man
who prior to his period Of training has
| been living an ordinary life suddenly finds
| himself denied many of the little luxuriess.
| such as his glass of beer and his tobacco.
J he has been accustomed to indulge in
! And on the top of this he has to do an ex-
| ira amount of hard physical work-thes
engine has to put out more energy by the
aid of fuel which is perhaps utterly un-
{ suited to it. Yes it may be said that is
quite true, but the proof of the pudding is.
! in the eating This noxious system does
turn out the young athlete in capital con-
dition. That, would answer, largely de-
ponds upon what you mean by condition
Certainly the university oarsman cradled
in this system appears to benefit by it, but
does he really? say no; that he not only
weakens his whole constitution, but docs.
not produce anything like the amount OK
| muscle and ego which he might obtain.
! by more judicious methods with a 1.-THE OF
the exertion.
To my mind, the building up of u fine
physique is similar to the building of n
house. You do not put massive roof
upon thin walls; you are careful that
every brick is truly laid; you make quite.
| sure of your foundations before you pro-
coed further And thus should il be in
the development of the human body. lie
can be done no other way. But rs il so in
the case of the trained athlete? Muscle,
ycs-a lump here and n lump there, bus
how often do you find one with every
muscle in his body perfectly and symrnet-
really developed? Not in one case out OF
10. 0O0 In the other 9, 800 cases the devei-
opment is exceedingly irregular; the man
with good biccps has poor chest, ha with
fine calf has very inferior development in
the upper part Of Lis body. Not only this,
but the smaller muscle, arc, in the niaio--
ity of trained men, almost nonexistens,
and they are really tho most Important
constituting as they do the connecting
links of the whole fabric The muscles
which appear on the surface are valuable
but they are not all important; those
which are deeper seated have their part TO
play in supporting and sustaining the
others while they are at work. Further
many of the chief internal organs ara
largely muscular; If the machine is To
work smoothly and safely, they must ba
sufficiently strong to bear the strain Inn
posed by the violent exertion of the ex-
ternal muscles. Muscular Developments
must be distributed equally all over, in
side and out, il it is to be a source of real
strength. A man with huge arm may
be actually weaker than another individ-
ual with only half his development IL tho
formers heart and lungs are not proper
tionately powerful These, then, are. i
think, the great mistakes of training. In
stead of endeavoring to build up the body
gradually in natures own way, it aims at
developing by violent methods certain
muscles which are required for the per
Torrance of specific feats.
let the would be athlete live his ortff-
nary life so long as 1t is a temperate one;
let him eat and drink what his fancy die
tates and what experience has taught him
ngrces with him; let him smoke IL he has
| been accustomed to do so. He need M;
deny himself nor live life of strict ssceti-
cism. But If he exercise every one Of his
} muscles in turn and put his mind as well