Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1906-10-16
PERIL IN ATHLETICS
PHYSICAL SXERClsE SHOULD BE
 TAKEN iN MODERATION

Neakens tiae Heart and Nerves and
 Lowers Vitality
 Once beyond the bounds of mode~a. ton, physical exercise and physica training sot only weaken the heart f. q lifetime, predispose to pneumonia cause pulmonary tuberculosis and make extra possible dozen other ills, but they unfit Il man from being the ideal husband and father
 Dr. Robert F. Coughlin of Brooklyn Says the New York Times, has teen collecting statistics upon and follow ing the careers of athletes for years He examined the contestants i'll anna teur boxing matches, and the abnormal development of the best of them struck him. Magnificently developed as to their muscles, they were far from be- ing men of normal health and strength Beyond certain point the muscular training was at the expense of their vitality. It took away from the heart and lungs. There was scarcely an or gan of the system not affected and made less efficient It seemed worth while to explore further into the cause
 ''In regard to the benefit to be de- rived from athletics" says the doctor lone has only to remember the physiol- ogy of exercise to become convinced of the fact that exercise, per SC, may be very beneficial The point to bear in mind is to advise the person to stop before fatigue becomes evident. We can do this readily when the athlete is interested in games for the mere exer- else, but such advice cannot be offered when his aim is to excel in an athletic contest Here is where athletics do great harm, and it would be safe rule to advise against all forms of athletics in the nature of contest.
 Athletics may be said to be bene ficial until the heart begins to be mark edly hypertrophed. This is the dan ger signal
 Hypertrophied is the medical mans way of saying enlarged-that is. the walls or muscles of the heart increase in size. Though this is tile danger signal,' there is no real danger here. only q warning. The danger comes when, in consequence of additional eX- ertion, the heart diiates, it's interior grows larger, displaciag the delicate machinery, causing the valves to leak. Then come "MuYHllrs," and though Il man may live for years with weakened valves he may die any day and any moment.
 Does physical exercise. then, build up tie general health and make better man out of q man? There seems to be d question, with some scientific men saying today very en- phatically. Not unless that physical exercise is very moderate indeed
 Health, one of the big English au- thorities (Sir Michael Foster, puts it, does not exist 1t is like happiness. Each has goal or limit which, While seemingly attainable, eluaes perfect possession. The body consists of number of mechanisms which have the closest and most exact relations, and as they approximate to harmony there is health, but when disordered there is i'll health.
 Not necessarily does man by phys ical training and much exercise be- come q better man, nor does he even get better health. Here is the striking of the day.
 To obtain good health. muscle build- ing is not necessity. One cannot judge of persons health by the size and hardness of the muscles. We have seen that the converse may be true. To obtain health one must not be in a perfectly trained condition ow- ing to the effects of severe training oa the nervous system. There is no eyi. deHce to prove that athletics and mus cle building improve the constitution. One should always keep in mind the fact that built up or hypertfoaAie5i muscle has a tendency to degenerate. The heart, being muscular organ, shares in this tendency.
 Bat the athlete is a man who goes through the seyerest physical strain and training. If he boxes, runs, is a gymnast, a football player, wrestler, an expert at baseball or tennis. any sport requiring violent exercise and the constant keeping in trim for it, all the rest of his body is sacrificed for the overdevelopment of these special muscles, and the rest of it must some how suffer.
 All the body should develop together. as it were. Body and mind should be built up evenly. If overathletics does nothing else it produces q wearing and tearin" nervous strain.
 When it comes to the actual athlete. the man who specializes on some form of physical force and muscle power, these conditions are greatly ag@ravat- ed. Severe athletic training and mus cle building it is now an acknowledged fact of science, are at the expense Of the nervous and Glandular systems.
 An experienced atli!ete,' says one authority, gave as his opinion that man sacrifices certain part of his life every time he enters contest of any
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