Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1907-01-12
The Methods Employed Twenty
Years Ago to Put Man
In Condition.
WAS QUITE DIFFERENT THEN.
Tom Eek, the Veteran Trainer. in n
story Tells of Many Changes
Since Days of Yorc.

III tiiS IAst twenty years III tHs tTelll-
ing of athletes. The man who is most
" responsible for this change is Tom
Eek, the veteran manager and trainer
Of champion bicycle riders and in oth-
or branches of sport. Tom Eek has
been an athlete from the time when he
was a BOY and has trained athletes for
the past thirty years. More men have
pions of America, champions of the
world, and holders of American and
worlds records than any man in the
world. Here is what he says:
When | was n boy / lived up in Can
ada and the woods were full OF athletes
In those days. and naturally | took
hand in the game with the rest. Il. w.
Johnson of Barrie, Canada, was the all
round athlete of the world at that time,
with seven worlds records to his credit.
No other man in the world ever held
seven worlds records at one time. AT
that time / was driving trotting horses,
being the youngest driver in Canada.
When | started into the trotting horse
business on my own account. | was on
ly 16 years old. My father, who has al
ways been pronounced one of the best
horsemen in Canada, called me 10 one
side the day | left home for Barrie
track. He said: Now, young fellow.
remember there are lots of people who
know something ard you can learn
something every day, so don't get
swelled UP and not listen to all that is
going on" He also said there are a
lot of horses that go wrong each year,
get burnt up inside and are full of fe-
ver their hair will become dry and
stand up straight and when they sweat
1t viii be sticky and white foam breaks
out ON the horse, his legs will swell and
his feet are feverlsh. The only cure
for this Is TO turn the horse out to grass
for five or six weeks. Then you have
got to begin all over again to put your
horse into condition. Now, says he:
THE only way to prevent this is to give
your horse some grass every day."
This j followed out to the letter, and
some of the older trainers gave me the
laugh, as they thought my horses would
be soft all the season and not be able to
stay in hard fought races. But / did
not have one horse go wrong at any
time. campaigned my horses all
season and raced them on the ice In the
winter races.
READ BOOKS ON TRAINING.
When l quit the trotters and began
TO train for athletics, read every book
the old English lines of training and
diet. Naturally / staretd in on the old
schedule. First 1t said you are to rise
at or in the morning, take a glass
| of sherry with an egg In it, walk out
two or three miles and back before
breakfast. Then sit down to stale
bread, a couple of chops and tea; some
times egg was allowed either poached
or boiled. Dinner consisted OF roast
beef or mutton, more stale bread,
pint of old ale. very little potatoes, as
they Were counted too starchy, and veg
etables were not wanted at any meal,
as they We're supposed to make you too
soft. Pie or pudding was not on the
list, only once In a while you were all
lowed rice or custard pudding.
supper was served with more stale
bread, chops of steak, a cup of tea and
sometimes more old ale. This was your
diet day In and out
My first experience was with the
sherry and egg before breakfast But
one trial was enough. / found out II
did not agree with me. i had the head
ache and the flve-mile walk was too
much on virtually an empty stomach,
so | cut that out. But / stuck to the
diet for q long time. But l would
get cramps In my legs and sometimes
IN my stomach. My muscles were too
hard. IL you remember in old times
an athlete would say feel my arm, feel
my leg, they are hard as steel. To
say a mans muscles were as hard as
nails and hard as steel was an old say
ing, and they came pretty near to that
twenty years ago. great many ath-
letes died from fevers contracted while
I'm training. 1t was caused by the
diet they were living on. the same as
horses that were being burnt up and
had to be turned out to grass. | be-
gan to think over all these things and
what my father told me about the
horses and the grass came into my
mind.
BECAME \ VEGETABLE FIEND.
/ had been reading about vesetarians
and some wonderful feats of endurance
that could be accomplished on vege-
table diet. | thought | would try some
vegetables with my meals, and added
potatoes. corn, cabbage, turnlps, car
rots, cauliflower. onions and any vege-
table | liked, or tho6e that agreed with
ne. began to ind out / sweat freer
my skin was taking on a better glow
and color ! cut out the old ale and
other stimulants and | soon found out
II could do a good performance on
old ale, ! could do n better one without
H. l added frult to the list. an allowed
little light pie or pudding, and in aft
or years | came % the conclusion an
athlete could eat any wholesome food
that agreed with him. There are foods
you may IKE hut there may be some
foods that do not like you. Cut them
out, no matter how much you may
like them. AZ this stage of the game.
some 70 years ago a rubbing board IN
dressing room was unknown. / erect.
ed the first one In use at Lynn, Mass,
when Jack Prince WAS champion OF
America, and l was the first TO mas
sage an athlete after his work. / re-
member how the rest OF the men stood
around and watched me massage and
fix Prince up. / used the first blankets
TO wrap my men up In when through
their work. keeping them covered up
on the body while / fxed up their legs
then reverse, covering the legs while
working on the body
Now that form OF treatment is used In
every college, athletic club and train
ing quarters In the world. The result
has been that instead of the old, hard as
steel muscles, our athletes have the
elastic muscles, and every record IN the
world that stood as the hest In the
world 20 years ago has been beaten,
with the exception OF two or three and
they are freak records, aud have not
been tried for, and don't doubt for one
minute that there are a thousand ath-
letes IN America today that could beat
the best worlds records OF 20 years ago
The tracks ana climate have not
made this change; Il has all been due to
the change IN the system of diet and
training, / believe | have done a good
deal for the development OF speed for